Dunne
Ó Duinn · descendant of Donn
Dunne is Ó Duinn in Irish, said oh DIN, and means descendant of Donn.
Donn means brown or dark haired, and is also the name of the old Irish god of the dead, who gathers the souls at Teach Duinn off the Kerry coast.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Duinn
- His daughter: Ní Dhuinn
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Dhuinn
- The family together: Uí Dhuinn
Where it comes from
Laois
Also spelt
Dunne, Dunn, O’Doyne, Doyne
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.