Unknown Dunn (abt. 1718)

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Billy Dunn [send private message]

Biography

est dob based on family

Research Notes

Notes from external profile

The origin of the Scots surname Dunn is a puzzling one indeed. I think it will always be a mystery. Nomenclaturists are at a complete variance on the subject. One thing is for certain, and that it can be surely stated, that Dunn is a very ancient name in Scotland. The name was originally written as "Dun," and Yes, some say that it comes from the Celtic "dun" meaning dark or brown. Others disagree. My family has always contended that it comes from the Gaelic (both Scottish and Irish) word "dun" that means "hill" or "fortress." Early forts were constructed of earthworks and were visually similar to small hills or dunes. (Dun = dune.) Family tradition says that my early Ayrshire ancestors were "the keepers of the fort." As dun means fort, we suspect that we Duns used to keep the prison. We claim a crest that shows a clenched fist holding a key with the Latin motto "Mecum Habita" which means "Dwell With Me," a rather sinister suggestion I would say.

Barber in his "British Family Names" says: "The surname Dun is from Dun, a location in Forfarshire, Scotland." Guppy in his "Homes of Family Names" says: "The surname Dunn occurs in the Lowlands of Scotland, south of the Firths of Fort and Clyde. It is found 16 times in every 10,000 persons in Ayrshire, where it appears more often than elsewhere." Loch Doon and River Doon (Bonnie Doone) are corrupted forms of "Dun," and are located in the same area. The Dunn family figured conspicuously in the covenanter resistance to the established Church in Ayrshire and Galloway in the 1680s. Several of them were put to death for their non-conformity and some were fugitives in the mountains or on the moors until after the Revolution in 1688. The families of James, Robert, and David Dun were all bitterly persecuted during the so-called "Killing Times."

Some other researchers believe that the Dunns originated in the Parish of Duns, in Berwickshire, Scotland, where John Scotus Duns, the great theologian was born. Others suggest that we came up to Scotland from Northumberland during the reign of Kenneth MacAlpin or subsequent thereto; still others point to Ireland for our beginning; still others say we are native to the heather. The name Dunn (sometimes spelled Dun, Dunne, Don or Donne) also occurs in England. It is entirely possible the name is of Saxon origin, coming from the word "dun" meaning in Middle English "a hill;" or so states Charles Waring Bardsley in his "A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames."

Wherever we Dunns originated from will probably always be an enigma. Nevertheless, it's a great old name and one of which we are immeasurably proud. An old Gaelic proverb goes thusly: "Is fearrdeaghh ainm na moran beartais." ... A good name is better than much wealth.

Sources

Acknowledgments

• This person was created through the import of JDS_09_17_10.ged on 09 February 2011.