Dorning History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Etymology of Dorning

The original Gaelic form of the Irish name Dorning was Ó Duirnin or Ó Dornian, possibly derived from the word "dorn," which means "fist." 1

Early Origins of the Dorning family

Early History of the Dorning family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dorning research. Another 164 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1596 and 1700 are included under the topic Early Dorning History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dorning Spelling Variations

Individual scribes in the Ireland during the Middle Ages would often record a person's name various ways. How the name was recorded depended on what that particular scribe believed the proper spelling for the name pronounced to him was. Spelling variations revealed in the search for the origin of the Dorning family name include Durnan, Durnane, Durneen, Durnin, Durnain, Dornan, Dornain and many more.

Early Notables of the Dorning family

More information is included under the topic Early Dorning Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Dorning family

In the late 18th century, Irish families began emigrating to North America in the search of a plot of land to call their own. This pattern of emigration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s cause thousands of Irish to flee the death and disease that accompanied the disaster. Those that made it alive to the shores of the United States and British North America (later to become Canada) were, however, instrumental in the development of those two powerful nations. Many of these Irish immigrants proudly bore the name of Dorning: Nicholas Durnan who settled in Virginia in 1734; Charles Durnin settled in Newcastle in Co. Delaware in 1827; John Durnin arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1868.