Show ContentsDuning History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The ancient roots of the Duning family belong to the County Cork families, especially from the South-western area known anciently as Corca Laoidhe. In the 11th century in Ireland, the frequency of travel as well as the nation's population increase encouraged many to adopt hereditary surnames so that they would not be mistaken for others that shared their first name. The surname Duning appeared as "Ó Duinnín" in Irish Gaelic. It is a patronymic name, from the most ancient of Irish naming traditions, and means 'descendent of Duinnín'. 1

Early Origins of the Duning family

The surname Duning was first found in County Cork, especially in the south-western part anciently known as Corca Laoidhe. Today the "O" prefix is extremely rare for this surname. Major changes in spellings of names occurred in Ireland after Cromwell's conquest in the early 17th century. The British colonizers Anglicized Irish names by removing Irish prefixes, translating, simplifying and standardizing the spellings. The substitution of O in the place of Mc was probably the most common of these errors. The name Duning lost it's O' at this time, and it has only rarely been revived. Also, in this era, the Gaelic name O' Duinnin of County Kerry was often anglicized to 'Downing'.

Early History of the Duning family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Duning research. Another 253 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1623, 1684, 1860, 1934 and 1984 are included under the topic Early Duning History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Duning Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Dinneend, Dineane, Dinneynd, Dinneyn, Dinneind, Dinneane, Dinneand, Dineent, Dineend, Dineand, Dinnean, Dineynd, Dineint, Dineyn, Dineind, Dinneant, Dinean, Dinneent, Dinneint and many more.

Early Notables of the Duning family

Another 46 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Duning Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Duning migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Duning Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Rich Duning, who arrived in Virginia in 1635 2
  • Richard Duning, who landed in Virginia in 1650 2
  • William Duning, who arrived in Maryland in 1662 2


  1. MacLysaght, Edward, Supplement to Irish Families. Baltimore: Genealogical Book Company, 1964. Print.
  2. 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)


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