Cuninghame Surname

1,589,322nd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 128 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
South Africa
Highest density in:
Scotland

Cuninghame 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.

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Cuninghame Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
South Africa521:1,041,87963,251
England281:1,989,93178,001
Scotland151:356,92115,763
Australia111:2,454,155103,534
Canada101:3,684,559191,443
United States61:60,409,8221,028,827
Mexico31:41,375,40271,397
Czechia21:5,316,734169,646
Northern Ireland11:1,845,03620,648
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland41:1,107,46726,093
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland81:467,90212,875
England71:3,482,19689,582

Cuninghame 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.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

The northern district of Ayrshire, containing many parishes, whence the old earls of Glencairn. Conyngham and Cunynghame are varieties of this name.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

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."

The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames (1862) by Clifford Stanley Sims (1839-1896)

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.

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

Cuninghame Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Cuninghame Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Cuninghame is more commonly found in South Africa than any other country or territory. It can also occur in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of Cuninghame click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Cuninghame? popularity and diffusion

Cuninghame is the 1,589,322nd most commonly occurring family name internationally It is held by approximately 1 in 56,933,952 people. The surname Cuninghame is mostly found in Africa, where 41 percent of Cuninghame are found; 41 percent are found in Southern Africa and 41 percent are found in South Bantu Africa.

Cuninghame is most widely held in South Africa, where it is borne by 52 people, or 1 in 1,041,879. In South Africa it is most prevalent in: KwaZulu-Natal, where 90 percent live and Western Cape, where 10 percent live. Aside from South Africa Cuninghame is found in 8 countries. It is also common in England, where 22 percent live and Scotland, where 12 percent live.

Cuninghame Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Cuninghame has changed through the years. In England the number of people bearing the Cuninghame surname increased 400 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Scotland it increased 188 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Cuninghame Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those carrying the surname is chiefly Presbyterian (75%) in Ireland.

The amount Cuninghame earn in different countries varies greatly. In South Africa they earn 3.23% less than the national average, earning R 229,956 per year; in United States they earn 59.33% more than the national average, earning $68,750 USD per year and in Canada they earn 6.05% less than the national average, earning $46,675 CAD per year.

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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 Cuninghame
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis