Dorothea

{{Infobox given name

| name = Dorothea

| image=

| imagesize=

| caption=

| gender = Female

| meaning = Gift of God

| region =

| origin = Greek

| related names = Dorothy, Dora, Dot, Dottie, Dolly, Theodora

| footnotes =

}}

Dorothea, also spelt Dorothee (German), Dorothée (French), and Dorotea, is a female given name from Greek {{lang|grc|Δωροθέα}} (Dōrothéa) meaning "god's gift".{{cite web | last=Campbell | first=Mike | title=Meaning, origin and history of the name Dorothea | website=Behind the Name | url=https://www.behindthename.com/name/dorothea | access-date=6 February 2023}} In English it is more commonly spelt Dorothy.{{cite web | last=Campbell | first=Mike | title=Meaning, origin and history of the name Dorothy | website=Behind the Name | url=https://www.behindthename.com/name/dorothy | access-date=6 February 2023}}

People with this name include:

Aristocracy

Countess Palatine Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg (1670–1748), Duchess of Parma
Dorotea Gonzaga (1449–1468), Duchess consort of Milan
Dorothea, Abbess of Quedlinburg (1591–1617), Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg
Dorothea Friederike of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1676–1731), last Countess of Hanau
Dorothea Hedwig of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1587–1609), Princess of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, and Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst by marriage
Dorothea Maria of Anhalt (1574–1617), Duchess of Saxe-Weimar
Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1654–1682), German princess
Dorothea Marie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1674–1713), Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen
Dorothea of Anhalt-Zerbst (1607–1634), Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst
Dorothea of Brandenburg (disambiguation)
Dorothea of Bulgaria (fl. 1370–1390), Queen of Bosnia
Dorothea of Denmark (disambiguation)
Dorothea of Saxe-Lauenburg (1511–1571), queen consort of Christian III, King of Denmark and Norway
Dorothea of Saxony (1563–1587), Saxon princess
Dorothea Sophia, Abbess of Quedlinburg (1587–1645)
Dorothea Susanne of Simmern (1544–1592), princess of the Electoral Palatinate, Duchess of Saxe-Weimar by marriage
Margravine Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach (1661–1705), Countess of Hesse-Darmstadt
Princess Dorothea of Courland (1793–1862), Baltic German noblewoman
Princess Dorothea of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1881–1967)
Princess Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (1685–1761), Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth-Kulmbach by marriage

Saints

Dorothea of Alexandria (fl. 320), martyr
Dorothea of Caesarea (fl. 311), martyr, patron saint of florists
Dorothea of Montau (1347–1394), Roman Catholic saint, hermitess and visionary

Other people

=First name=

Dorotea Bucca (1360–1436), Italian physician
Dorotea van Fornenbergh (fl. 1647–1697), Dutch stage actress
Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war crimes
Dorothea Brooking (1916–1999), British children's television producer and director
Dorothea Coelho, American game show host
Dorothea H. Denslow (1900–1971), American sculptor, educator
Dorothea Dix (1802–1887), American social activist
Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers (1878–1960), English tennis player
Dorothea Dunckel (1799–1878), Swedish playwright
Dorothea Erxleben (1715–1762), first woman doctor in Germany
Dorothea Fairbridge (1860–1931), South African novelist
Dorothea Gerard (1855–1915), Scottish novelist
Dorothea Hoffman (d. 1710), Swedish hat maker
Dorothea Barth Jörgensen (born 1990), Swedish fashion model
Dorothea Jordan (1761–1816), Irish actress and mistress of the future King William IV of the United Kingdom
Dorothea Kalpakidou (born 1983), Greek discus thrower
Dorothea Krag (1675–1754), Danish postmaster
Dorothea Lange (1895–1965), American documentary photographer and photojournalist
Dorothea Lasky (born 1978), American poet
Dorothea Mackellar (1885–1968), Australian poet and writer
Dorothea Macnee (1896–1984) British socialite and mother of Patrick Macnee
Dorothea Maria Lösch (1730–1799), Swedish marine captain
Dorothea Nelson (1903–1994), American librarian
Dorothea Nicolai (born 1962), German costume designer, stage designer
Dorothea Ostrelska (fl. 1577) Swedish court dwarf
Dorothea Phillips (born 1928), British actress
Dorothea Puente (1929–2011), American serial killer
Dorothea Röschmann (born 1967), German soprano
Dorothea Tanning (1910–2012), American painter, printmaker, sculptor and writer
Dorothea Viehmann (1755–1816), German storyteller
Dorothea Waddingham (1899–1936), English murderer
Dorothea Wieck (1908–1986), German actress
Dorothea Wierer (born 1990), Italian biathlete
Dorothea Wyss ({{circa|1430/32}}–after 1487) married Niklaus von Flüe, the patron saint of Switzerland
Dorothee Bär (born 1968), German politician of the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU)
Dorothee Hess-Maier, semi-retired German publisher
Dorothee Kern (born 1966), German biochemist and academic, former basketball player for the East German team
Dorothee Mields (born 1971), German soprano concert singer
Dorothee Sölle (1929–2003), German liberation theologian
Dorothee Stapelfeldt (born 1956), German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD)

=Middle name=

Johanna Dorothea Lindenaer (1664–1737), Dutch writer
Angela Dorothea Merkel (born 1954), former Chancellor of Germany
Christina Doreothea Stuart (fl. 1774), Norwegian artist

=Single name=

Dorothée (born 1953) French singer and television presenter

Fictional characters

Dorotea, woman discovered in the Sierra Morena by Cardenio in Miguel de Cervantes' novel Don Quixote
Dorothea, the subject of the song of the same name by Taylor Swift
Dorothea Arnault, a playable character from the video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
Dorotea Benedetti, a character from the novel Pattern Recognition
Dorothea Brooke, the heroine in the novel Middlemarch