Dunlap
A Scottish surname from Dunlop, a place name in Ayrshire, often treated as a variant spelling of Dunlop.
The #890 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,904 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Dunlap is generally understood as a variant spelling of Dunlop, a Scottish locational surname. The name comes from Dunlop in Ayrshire, and older sources connect it with a family recorded there in the 13th century. The place-name itself is usually explained from Gaelic elements meaning a hill or fort, though the exact local formation is not always spelled out in the older surname dictionaries.
History
Older surname works note that Dunlop was later often altered in Scotland to Dunlap, and both forms became established. The name spread widely, especially to the United States, where Dunlap became the more familiar spelling. The form is therefore best treated as a spelling variant of the Ayrshire surname rather than a separate origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th- and early-20th-century surname writers specifically remarked that Dunlap was especially common in the United States.
From the historical record
“LEE, DuNLAY and DuNLEA (sometimes spelt Dunley), DuNLAP and Dunlop, Dunmur, Dunnakin, Dupee, DuPEAUx, DuQuiD ("a smoker"?), Duran, Durgan and DuRGiN, Durkee, Durloo, Durnen, Durning, DuRRELL and Durell, Dustin, Dwelle and Dwelley, DWIGHT,* DwiNELL, DWOTT, DwYER and DWYRE. Eagan, Eames, Eardley% Earnrigo, Easby…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)