Find out how popular the last name Dunnigan is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Dunnigan.

Dunnigan, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Dunnigan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Dunnigan in America

Dunnigan is the 11327th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Dunnigan surname appeared 2,786 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Dunnigan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Dunnigan to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Dunnigan

The surname Dunnigan originated in Ireland and is derived from the Gaelic personal name "Donngán," which means "brown" or "dark-skinned." It is believed to have first appeared in the 12th century in County Tyrone, located in the northern part of Ireland.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. One notable reference is from the year 1182, which mentions a "Donngán Ua Dalaigh," who was a chieftain of the Dál Araidhe, a powerful dynasty in Ulster.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Dunnigan was particularly prevalent in Counties Tyrone and Donegal, where it was often anglicized as "Donnegan" or "Dunegan." It is believed that the modern spelling of "Dunnigan" emerged later, perhaps as a result of pronunciation variations or scribal errors.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname was Cornelius Dunnigan, a Catholic priest who lived in County Tyrone in the late 16th century. He was a prominent figure during the tumultuous period of the Plantation of Ulster, when large areas of land were confiscated from Irish Catholics and granted to Protestant settlers from England and Scotland.

Another notable figure was Sir John Dunnigan (1585-1658), a wealthy landowner and member of the Irish Parliament who supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War. He fought alongside King Charles I's forces and was eventually captured by the Parliamentarians in 1644.

In the 18th century, the name Dunnigan was closely associated with the town of Dungannon, County Tyrone, which was once known as "Dunnigan's Town." This connection likely stems from a prominent local family or landowner who played a significant role in the town's development.

During the Great Famine of the 1840s, many Irish families, including those with the surname Dunnigan, emigrated to other parts of the world, particularly the United States, Canada, and Australia. This diaspora helped to spread the name to new regions and establish it as a recognizable surname in various countries.

Other notable individuals with the surname Dunnigan include John Dunnigan (1834-1915), an Irish-American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota, and James Dunnigan (1933-2022), an American author and military analyst known for his work on military simulations and wargaming.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Dunnigan

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Dunnigan.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Dunnigan was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Dunnigan has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Dunnigan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Dunnigan, please contact us.

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