The name "Dore" is most likely to derive from one of two possible origins. It could be the same Old English root as "door", signifying a 'gateway' or pass between two kingdoms. Alternatively, it could be associated with the Cymric (Welsh) 'dwr' (dur) for water, as is also found in Dour in Fife, Aberdeen and Kent, Dorchester in Dorset, Durra in Cornwall, and Doro in Ireland. This Welsh derivation would refer to the streams that meet at Dore. The Limb Brook, River Sheaf, and Meers Brook marked the boundary between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Deira (later Northumbria) and Mercia.