Dunigan
An Irish surname, likely an anglicized form of an older Gaelic name that was reshaped in English spelling.
The #8,828 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 83,197 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Dunigan is generally treated as an Irish surname of Gaelic origin, but the exact original form is not fully settled in the older literature. It is often connected with surnames like Donegan and Donnagan, which may derive from a Gaelic personal name beginning with donn-, meaning 'brown' or 'dark.' The English spelling has been unstable, producing forms such as Donnegan, Donegan, Dunnegan, and Dunigan.
History
The surname is found among Irish families and appears in English-language records in several spelling variants. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century surname dictionaries often group Dunigan with a cluster of related Irish names rather than giving a single firm derivation. In the United States it has remained a relatively uncommon Irish-American surname.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries sometimes list Dunigan alongside a whole family of similar-looking Irish names, reflecting how often clerks and immigrants reshaped the spelling from one record to the next.
From the historical record
“(3 "OonriASAin, Donnegan, Dun- negan, Donegan, Dunigan, Dongan, Diingan, Duncan, etc. 0 "DonriAiTi, Donnan.”
— Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish names and surnames