Dunlop
A Scottish and northern English locational surname meaning “from Dunlop,” the Ayrshire place name.
The #7,819 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 72,921 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Dunlop is a locational surname taken from the place of Dunlop in Ayrshire, Scotland. The place name is generally understood as Gaelic in form, with dun meaning “hill” or “fort,” though the exact second element has been explained in different ways by place-name scholars. In surname use, it simply meant a person who came from or belonged to that estate.
History
The surname is recorded very early in Scottish history, and Lower cites a Dom. Gulielmus de Dunlop as lord of Dunlop in the 13th century. The name remained strongly associated with Ayrshire, and later spellings such as Dunlap and Delap developed, especially in Scotland and among emigrant families. The form spread into England and North America through migration.
Origin
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Fun fact
Lower noted that the Dunlop estate was still in the family's possession in his day, a rare example of a surname tied to land held for centuries.
From the historical record
“English records. DUNLOP. (Often corrupted in Scotland to Dunlap and Delap.) Traced to the year ]260, when Dom. Gulielmusde Dunlop was lord of Dunlop in Ayrshire, an estate still in possession of the family. DUNMAN. The same as Downman. DUNMOLL. Qu. Dunmow, co. Essex, famous for its bacon-flitch, the reward of…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom