| ![Show Contents]() Dunigan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
Ireland Etymology of DuniganWhat does the name Dunigan mean? The Irish surnames in use today are underpinned by a multitude of rich histories. The name Dunigan originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Donnagain. The first portion of the name is probably derived from "donn," which means "brown," while the second portion of the name is probably derived from and ancient Irish personal name. 1 Early Origins of the Dunigan familyThe surname Dunigan was first found in County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat at Muskerry, later moving to Limerick, Kildare and Dublin. Early History of the Dunigan familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dunigan research. Another 114 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1300, 1395, 1412, 1413, 1634 and 1715 are included under the topic Early Dunigan History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Dunigan Spelling VariationsScribes and church officials, lacking today's standardized spelling rules, recorded names by how they were pronounced. This imprecise guide often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname Dunigan are preserved in documents of the family history. The various spellings of the name that were found include Donegan, Donnegan, Doneghan, Donneghan, Donagan, Donnagan, Donnaghan, Dunnegan, O'Donegan, O'Dunnegan, O'Donnaghan, Dongan, Donegin, Donnegin, Donnagen, Donagen, Donnegen, Donegen, Donnigan, Donigan, Dunnican, Dunican, Dunnigan, McDunnigan, McDonegan, Dongane, Dongin, Dongen and many more. Early Notables of the Dunigan familyNotable among the family name at this time was John Donegan (died 1413), a medieval Manx prelate. After holding the position of Archdeacon of Down, he held three successive bishoprics, Mann and the Isles (Sodor), then...
Another 36 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dunigan Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Dunigan RankingIn the United States, the name Dunigan is the 8,747th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2
| Dunigan migration to the United States | + |
In the 18th and 19th centuries, thousands of Irish families fled an Ireland that was forcibly held through by England through its imperialistic policies. A large portion of these families crossed the Atlantic to the shores of North America. The fate of these families depended on when they immigrated and the political allegiances they showed after they arrived. Settlers that arrived before the American War of Independence may have moved north to Canada at the war's conclusion as United Empire Loyalists. Such Loyalists were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Those that fought for the revolution occasionally gained the land that the fleeing Loyalist vacated. After this period, free land and an agrarian lifestyle were not so easy to come by in the East. So when seemingly innumerable Irish immigrants arrived during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s, free land for all was out of the question. These settlers were instead put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Whenever they came, Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Dunigan or a variant listed above, including:
Dunigan Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- Robert Dunigan, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1873 3
| Dunigan migration to Canada | + |
Some of the first settlers of this family name were: Dunigan Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century- Margaret Dunigan, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1845
| Contemporary Notables of the name Dunigan (post 1700) | + |
- Ricky Dunigan (1973-2013), American rapper from Memphis, better known by his stage name Lord Infamous
- Timothy "Tim" Dunigan (b. 1955), American actor, best known for his starring role as Captain Jonathan Power in Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future
- Matt Dunigan (b. 1960), American former quarterback, coach, and executive in the Canadian Football League, inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, and was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players
- Michael René Dunigan (b. 1989), American professional basketball player
- Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
- "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
- 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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