Cunnigman History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Scotland
• Ireland

Etymology of Cunnigman

Dalriada, in ancient Scotland, is where the name Cunnigman evolved. It was a name for someone who lived at Cunningham in Ayrshire. However, numerous branches of the Cunningham family spread all over Scotland. Two of the most prominent branches of the Cunningham Clan, the Cunninghams of Corsehill and the Cunninghams of Caprington, trace their ancestry back to the medieval era.

Cunnigman Coat of Arms Creation

The Cuninghames have as their crest a unicorn, and the motto is, " Over fork over."

The unicorn is so named from its having only one horn, which grows out of its forehead. It represents strength, a haughty mind, and one who would rather die than be brought into subjection. The horn was said to possess a powerful antidote against poison, and that other animals were glad to drink of water stirred by the horn.

As to the motto, the story is that Malcolm, the first of the family, assisted Malcolm (afterwards King Malcolm Canmore) to escape when pursued by Macbeth, by forking straw or hay over him. The King afterwards rewarded him by the gift of the Thanedom of Cuninghame, and the figure on the shield like the letter Y represents the shake-fork. The other story is that the motto is derived from the fact that an ancestor had charge of the King's horses, and the shakefork was the instrument by which hay was forked to them. 1

Early Origins of the Cunnigman family

Early History of the Cunnigman family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cunnigman research. Another 119 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1296, 1490, 1520, 1548, 1574, 1575, 1578, 1610, 1630, 1664, 1670, 1716 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Cunnigman History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cunnigman Spelling Variations

Medieval translation of Gaelic names could not be referred to as an accurate process. Spelling was not yet standardized, and names in documents from that era are riddled with spelling variations. Cunnigman has been written as Cunningham, Cunninghame, Cunyngham, Cunnyngham, Cunnynghame, Cummingham and many more.

Early Notables of the Cunnigman family

Cuthbert Cunningham, 3rd Earl of Glencairn; William Cunningham, 4th Earl of Glencairn (c. 1490-1548), a Scottish nobleman; Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn (died 1574), Scottish nobleman and Protestant reformer; William Cunningham, 6th Earl of Glencairn (ca. 1520-1578); James Cunningham, 7th Earl of Glencairn (died 1630), a Scottish peer, member of...
Another 51 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cunnigman Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cunnigman family to Ireland

Some of the Cunnigman family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cunnigman family

Descendents of Dalriadan-Scottish families still populate many communities across North America. They are particularly common in Canada, since many went north as United Empire Loyalists at the time of the American War of Independence. Much later, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the highland games and Clan societies that now dot North America sprang up, allowing many Scots to recover their lost national heritage. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Cunnigman, or a variant listed above: John Cunningham, his wife and son, who settled in Barbados in 1679.