Origins Available: English,
Scottish
Doun is a name of ancient
Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in an area that was described by a downward slope. The surname was originally derived from the
Anglo-Saxon word
dun which means a hill.
Early Origins of the Doun family
The surname Doun was first found in
Sussex. Another branch was located at Roosdown in
Devon. "This place, which was formerly a parish, was anciently called Ralphdown, from its owner, Ralph de Downe, in the reign of Henry II."
[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Early History of the Doun family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Doun research.
Another 657 words (47 lines of text) covering the years 1270, 1226, 1066, 1350, 1327, 1379, 1407, 1445, 1779, 1810, 1619, 1805, 1549, 1628, 1609, 1666, 1712 and are included under the topic Early Doun History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Doun Spelling Variations
Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore,
spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Doun family name include Down, Downe, Downer, Doune, Douner, Dounner, Downner and many more.
Early Notables of the Doun family (pre 1700)
Distinguished members of the family include Andrew Downes, also known as Dounaeus,
(c. 1549-1628), English classical scholar, one of the seven translators of the Apocrypha for the King James Version of the Bible...
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Doun Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Doun family to Ireland
Some of the Doun family moved to
Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 87 words (6 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 Doun family to the New World and Oceana
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for
Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Doun surname or a spelling variation of the name include:
Doun Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Tho Doun, aged 25, who landed in New England in 1635 [2]CITATION[CLOSE]
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) - Clement Doun, aged 22, who landed in Virginia in 1635 [2]CITATION[CLOSE]
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)