Dunnington History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancestors of the bearers of the Dunnington family name are thought have lived in ancient Anglo-Saxon England. They were first found by a stream at the hill. The surname Dunnington originally derived from the Old English word Dunestorp which later changed to Donnington. The surname Dunnington is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came.

Early Origins of the Dunnington family

The surname Dunnington was first found in Leicestershire 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 Dunnington family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dunnington research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the year 1532 is included under the topic Early Dunnington History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dunnington Spelling Variations

Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Dunnington include Donnington, Donington, Donnyngton, Donyngton and many more.

Early Notables of the Dunnington family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Thomas Donington, B. Decr. (died 1532), Dean of York and Southwell. "Donington was formally instituted to Aughton by Cardinal Wolsey, as legate 'a latere,' and had, it would appear, obtained possession, but on the Feast of the Assumption, when prepared to say mass and preach the word of God, was ousted by Brian Moorcroft. The latter was chaplain of Edward Molyneux, rector of Sefton, described...
Another 72 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dunnington Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dunnington migration to the United States +

Searching for a better life, many English families migrated to British colonies. Unfortunately, the majority of them traveled under extremely harsh conditions: overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the ocean. For those families that arrived safely, modest prosperity was attainable, and many went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the new colonies. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Dunnington or a variant listed above:

Dunnington Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

James Dunnington, who arrived in Maryland in 1677 1

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)