Cuningham Surname
Approximately 507 people bear this surname
Cuningham Surname Definition:
This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cunningham,' a district in North Ayrshire, containing a large number of parishes.
1502. Buried — Thomas Conningham: St. Michael, Cornhill.
1711. Married — Robert Hammond and Elizabeth Cunningham: ibid.
Read More About This SurnameCuningham Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 275 | 1:1,318,032 | 92,126 |
| England | 45 | 1:1,238,179 | 56,985 |
| South Africa | 35 | 1:1,547,934 | 78,799 |
| Australia | 30 | 1:899,857 | 54,700 |
| Argentina | 23 | 1:1,858,409 | 95,340 |
| Nicaragua | 19 | 1:316,899 | 3,057 |
| Costa Rica | 12 | 1:398,339 | 3,755 |
| New Zealand | 11 | 1:411,666 | 31,040 |
| France | 10 | 1:6,642,272 | 293,169 |
| Mexico | 8 | 1:15,515,776 | 47,773 |
| Canada | 8 | 1:4,605,699 | 220,704 |
| Panama | 7 | 1:558,894 | 9,437 |
| Brazil | 7 | 1:30,582,047 | 441,004 |
| Scotland | 4 | 1:1,338,454 | 35,497 |
| Northern Ireland | 3 | 1:615,012 | 18,081 |
| Jamaica | 2 | 1:1,434,974 | 11,081 |
| Papua New Guinea | 1 | 1:8,153,717 | 181,784 |
| Peru | 1 | 1:31,784,123 | 64,452 |
| Honduras | 1 | 1:8,816,442 | 9,272 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 1:20,808,560 | 18,521 |
| Ireland | 1 | 1:4,708,939 | 29,543 |
| Wales | 1 | 1:3,094,532 | 44,023 |
| Barbados | 1 | 1:287,448 | 2,772 |
| American Samoa | 1 | 1:55,758 | 3,072 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | 84 | 1:52,737 | 4,367 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 116 | 1:210,132 | 16,406 |
| Scotland | 87 | 1:43,025 | 3,165 |
| Isle of Man | 10 | 1:5,427 | 530 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 4,161 | 1:12,069 | 1,563 |
Cuningham Surname Meaning
From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history
This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Cunningham,' a district in North Ayrshire, containing a large number of parishes.
1502. Buried — Thomas Conningham: St. Michael, Cornhill.
1711. Married — Robert Hammond and Elizabeth Cunningham: ibid.
Of territorial origin from the northern district of the name in Ayrshire. Now a widespread surname, old families having divided into many branches. Wernebald, a vassal of Hugh de Moreville, obtained the manor and vill of Cunningham from his feudal superior. Robert filius Wernebaldi granted the church of Kilmaurs with half a carucate of land belonging thereto to the monks of Kelso, c. 1170, and the grant was confirmed by his superior, Robert de Moreville, and by Robert, son of Robert, son of Wernebaldus (Kelso, 283—285). Robert filius Warnebald (Robert filius Robert filii de Warnebald) married Richenda, daughter of Vmfridus de Berkeley, and made a grant to the Abbey of Arbroath, 1228 (RAA., I, 198). Richard de Cunningham appears as witness to charter by Alan, son of Roland, Constable of Scotland, between 1210—33 (Sc. Peer., IV, p. 224). Alexander de Kuningham witnessed the grant of Kirkbride Largs to the nuns of North Berwick, a. 1190 (CMN, 14). Magister William de Cunigham, rector of the church of Kilmaurs, 1246, and dominus William de Cunyngham, 1269, were charter witnesses (Kelso, 179,282). James de Cunyngham who witnessed gift of the church of Largs to church of Paisley c. 1317 (RMP., p. 237), is probably the individual who had a dispensation to remain in marriage with Helen de Catantilly of the diocese of Glasgow (Pap. Lett., I, p. 224). James de Cogheime was canon of Dunkeld, 1375 (Milne, p. 36), and Sir William de Conyngham appears as dominus de Kylmawrus, 1370 (Kelso, 514). William de Cuningham, vicar of Dundonald, was threatened with excommunication for intruding himself into the administration of the Poor House of Polmadie (domus pauperum de Poimade), 1403 (REG., p. 295). Adam de Cunygam was member of Ayr guild, c. 1431 (Coll. AGAA., I, p. 229). Cunninghams from Ayrshire migrated to Strathblane in middle of sixteenth century, and descendants of Cunninghams of Caprington, Ayrshire, are found settled in Caithness, c. 1624 (Henderson, Caithness families, p. 201—208). Johnne Cromyghame was messenger-at-arms in Fife, 1569 (RPC., I, p. 659), and many of the name appear in Edinburgh in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The name was also carried to France at an early period by Scots emigrants and there appears at different dates as (plural) Coninglants, Coigans, Coningans, Cogingands, and Conyghans (Burton, The Scot t road, I, p. 81). Chonigham and Conigham 1499, Conighame 1568, Conynghame 1424, Cunigom 1654, Cuninggame 1546, Cunyghame 1548, Cunnyngayme 1580, Cunningghame 1556, Cunygam 1480, Cunnygam 1503, Cunyngaham and Cunyngahame 1476, Cunyngame 1553, Cunynghame and Cwnninghame 1608, Cwnygham 1552, Cwnyghame 1550, Cwnynghame 1615, Kyninghame 1653.
The northern district of Ayrshire, containing many parishes, whence the old earls of Glencairn. Conyngham and Cunynghame are varieties of this name.
CUNNGHAME: Local: From the district of Cunninghame in Ayrshire. Malcolm Canmore being hotly pursued by Macbeth took refuge in a barn, where a countryman called Malcolm the son of Friskin, concealed him by forking hay or straw over him; on the accession of Malcolm Can-more to the throne he granted to his deliverer the Thanedom of Cunninghame, and for his arms, argent a shake fork sable, with the motto, "Over fork over."
Local. A district in Ayrshire, Scotland. The name signifies the dwelling of the chief or king, from the Saxon, cyning, Dutch, koning, a leader or chief, and ham, a house or town.
Cuningham Demographics
Cuningham Religious Adherence
in Ireland
Religious Adherence
in Ireland
Cuningham Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Cuningham Come From? nationality or country of origin
The surname Cuningham is held by more people in The United States than any other country/territory. It can appear in the variant forms:. For other possible spellings of this surname click here.
How Common Is The Last Name Cuningham? popularity and diffusion
Cuningham is the 609,992nd most widely held last name throughout the world It is held by around 1 in 14,373,858 people. This surname occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 68 percent of Cuningham reside; 54 percent reside in North America and 52 percent reside in Anglo-North America.
The surname is most frequently held in The United States, where it is carried by 275 people, or 1 in 1,318,032. In The United States it is most common in: North Carolina, where 10 percent reside, California, where 10 percent reside and Florida, where 8 percent reside. Excluding The United States this surname exists in 23 countries. It is also found in England, where 9 percent reside and South Africa, where 7 percent reside.
Cuningham Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The incidence of Cuningham has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the Cuningham last name declined 93 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it declined 61 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it declined 95 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it declined 99 percent between 1901 and 2014.
Cuningham Last Name Statistics demography
The religious adherence of those holding the last name is principally Catholic (70%) in Ireland.
In The United States those bearing the Cuningham surname are 16.02% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than The US average, with 62.79% registered with the party.
The amount Cuningham earn in different countries varies notably. In South Africa they earn 6.41% more than the national average, earning R 252,864 per year; in United States they earn 9.62% less than the national average, earning $38,998 USD per year and in Canada they earn 12.67% less than the national average, earning $43,386 CAD per year.
Phonetically Similar Names
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Cuningham Reference & Research
Cunningham FamilyTree DNA Group - A group collating DNA test results for those who bear the surname, includes results of DNA tests and discussions.
Cunningham FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.
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Footnotes
- Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
- Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
- Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
- Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
- Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
- Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
- Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Cuningham
- To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis