| ![Show Contents]() Dunion History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Etymology of DunionWhat does the name Dunion mean? The ancient roots of the Dunion 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 Dunion 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 Dunion familyThe surname Dunion 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 Dunion 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 Dunion familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dunion research. Another 253 words (18 lines of text) covering the years 1623, 1684, 1860, 1934 and 1984 are included under the topic Early Dunion History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Dunion Spelling VariationsSpelling 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 Dunion familyAnother 46 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dunion Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Dunion familySome of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Francis Downing landed in Virginia in 1624; Emanuel Downing and James landed in Salem in 1630; Richard landed in 1653; Susan landed in 1655; and John landed in 1663..
| Contemporary Notables of the name Dunion (post 1700) | + |
- Patrick J. Dunion, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Connecticut, 2000 2
- MacLysaght, Edward, Supplement to Irish Families. Baltimore: Genealogical Book Company, 1964. Print.
- The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 11) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
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