Lanning
A surname of uncertain origin, probably tied either to an old Germanic personal name or to Cornish place-name forms.
The #4,078 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 35,443 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The evidence is mixed. One 19th-century source treats Lanning as related to an old English or Germanic personal-name tradition, while a Cornish source groups it with forms that may share a local place-name origin. Because the excerpts do not give a single clear derivation, the safest conclusion is that Lanning is a surname with a likely local or patronymic background, but not one whose roots can be pinned down confidently from these sources alone.
History
The name appears in English surname lists by the 19th century and was known in both English and Cornish onomastic discussions. In Cornwall, similar-looking surnames are sometimes linked to native place-name elements beginning with lan-, meaning an enclosure or church site, but the excerpted evidence stops short of proving that for Lanning specifically. The surname is now best known as an American and English family name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A Cornish source explicitly notes that Linyon, Lunyon, Lanine, Lanning, and Lanyon may be variants or related forms, showing how fluid surname spellings could be in older records.
From the historical record
“LANNERGY. From root of Lenborgy, q, v. LANNING. See Lanton. LANTEGLES, LANTEGLOS. From Lanteglos-by- Fowey ; or Lantegles, Lanteglos in Camelford parish ; from lan-egles, the church enclosure. Pryce renders LanUeglos^ the true church (lante, truth). LANTHOIS. From lan-ihouSy the downward church, or lan-thew^ the…”
— Patronymica Cornu-Britannica; or, the etymology of Cornish surnames