Show ContentsDellen History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Today's Irish surnames are underpinned by a multitude of rich histories. The name Dellen originally appeared in Gaelic as Dubhshlainte. The word dubh means black, and Slaine is topographical; it is Anglicized as Slaney, and may refer to the river Slaney.

Early Origins of the Dellen family

The surname Dellen was first found in Leinster, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Dellen family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dellen research. Another 181 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1178, 1202, 1685, 1722, 1753, 1764, 1765 and 1797 are included under the topic Early Dellen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dellen Spelling Variations

Many spelling variations of the surname Dellen can be found in the archives. One reason for these variations is that ancient scribes and church officials recorded names as they were pronounced, often resulting in a single person being recorded under several different spellings. The different spellings that were found include Delaney, Delany, Delane, Delaune, Dalaney and others.

Early Notables of the Dellen family

Notable among the family name at this time was Daniel Dulany the Elder (1685-1753), Irish-born, prominent lawyer and land-developer in colonial Maryland, who held a number of colonial offices; and his son, Daniel Dulany the Younger (1722-1797), born in Annapolis, Maryland, was a Maryland Loyalist politician and Mayor of Annapolis (1764-1765.) His father sent him...
Another 55 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dellen Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Dellen family

In the 19th century, thousands of Irish left their English-occupied homeland for North America. Like most new world settlers, the Irish initially settled on the eastern shores of the continent but began to move westward with the promise of owning land. The height of this Irish migration came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. With apparently nothing to lose, Irish people left on ships bound for North America and Australia. Unfortunately a great many of these passengers lost their lives - the only thing many had left - to disease, starvation, and accidents during the long and dangerous journey. Those who did safely arrive in "the land of opportunities" were often used for the hard labor of building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. The Irish were critical to the quick development of the infrastructure of the United States and Canada. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the Dellen family came to North America quite early: Grace Delaney who settled in Western Bay, Newfoundland in 1740; Thomas Delaney who settled in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland in 1772; John Delaney who settled in Maryland in 1740.


Contemporary Notables of the name Dellen (post 1700) +

  • Elzo L. Van Dellen, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from California, 1952 1


  1. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, February 2) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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