Cunningham Surname

2,031st
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 269,987 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Northern Ireland

Cunningham 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 Surname

Cunningham Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States175,6101:2,064197
England26,3541:2,114258
Australia14,3201:1,885237
Canada13,2341:2,784345
Ireland9,8131:48074
Scotland9,6461:55571
Jamaica4,8931:587103
Northern Ireland4,0131:46053
New Zealand2,9611:1,529189
South Africa2,9021:18,6692,356
Wales8261:3,746409
Saudi Arabia4771:64,6879,689
Bahamas4481:874171
Panama4381:8,932845
Thailand3531:200,10933,123
Argentina3201:133,57311,296
Trinidad and Tobago2751:4,960802
Germany2701:298,16830,684
Spain2371:197,26613,567
Costa Rica1901:25,158810
Mexico1811:685,78010,700
Brazil1681:1,274,25243,696
Nicaragua1681:35,8401,240
Singapore1201:45,8981,743
France1051:632,59782,532
Netherlands911:185,57326,340
Switzerland911:90,2529,968
Philippines871:1,163,65892,852
Dominican Republic851:122,7405,063
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines821:1,374297
Sweden671:146,96710,337
Jersey581:1,710267
Belize531:6,7071,050
Isle of Man491:1,751323
Zimbabwe491:315,06631,156
Portugal471:221,6658,706
Norway441:116,87015,419
Honduras431:205,0342,280
India431:17,838,730274,051
Belgium421:273,73032,801
Turks and Caicos Islands421:817116
Chile391:451,70411,842
Malaysia391:756,26235,302
Malta361:11,952723
Ecuador301:530,19511,121
Bermuda271:2,418390
Hong Kong241:305,6453,095
Denmark231:245,42219,084
Guyana221:34,6463,602
China201:68,366,0783,721
United Arab Emirates201:458,11423,187
Peru181:1,765,78523,952
Botswana171:128,64318,229
Czechia171:625,49860,070
Gibraltar161:2,122483
Israel161:534,85239,210
Japan161:7,990,26843,922
New Caledonia161:17,2644,719
Antigua and Barbuda151:6,611774
Cayman Islands131:4,915636
Nigeria131:13,626,366237,812
Guam121:13,3432,098
Italy121:5,096,391108,968
United States Virgin Islands121:9,1981,357
Indonesia111:12,022,654410,938
Venezuela111:2,745,82529,869
Bahrain91:149,8455,469
Croatia91:469,84536,710
Guatemala91:1,786,9636,100
Liberia91:489,83723,279
Finland81:687,08836,047
South Korea81:6,405,0321,091
Afghanistan61:5,358,86425,178
American Samoa61:9,2931,961
Qatar61:393,00055,922
Russia61:24,020,509493,300
Vietnam61:15,441,0093,090
Mozambique51:5,452,3144,256
Austria41:2,128,85991,203
Brunei41:104,6832,048
East Timor41:303,982255
Guernsey41:16,1101,225
Iraq41:8,755,41423,373
Kuwait41:950,17418,811
Namibia41:602,35012,421
Romania41:5,019,46862,922
Swaziland41:324,550996
Uzbekistan41:7,732,28643,643
Cyprus31:294,9598,690
Egypt31:30,645,251132,600
Georgia31:1,248,51528,066
Kenya31:15,393,30077,493
Slovakia31:1,778,817104,392
Tanzania31:17,647,204107,932
Colombia21:23,887,03632,612
Ethiopia21:48,773,13129,601
Jordan21:4,421,21822,351
Macau21:300,8151,009
Mauritania21:2,047,43230,537
Mongolia21:1,412,64416,950
Oman21:1,843,9869,590
Puerto Rico21:1,775,0706,602
Taiwan21:11,722,37363,559
Albania11:2,914,05529,474
Aruba11:103,4772,586
Azerbaijan11:9,649,12247,873
Barbados11:287,4482,772
British Virgin Islands11:31,5941,029
Cambodia11:15,487,14614,824
Cuba11:11,522,71617,380
Djibouti11:914,9321,612
Greece11:11,079,790145,225
Hungary11:9,816,27773,288
Iran11:76,782,524277,718
Kazakhstan11:17,682,496204,010
Kyrgyzstan11:5,972,65499,197
Laos11:6,588,3231,961
Latvia11:2,050,04660,295
Libya11:6,243,9746,186
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
North Macedonia11:2,101,47231,546
Mali11:16,969,0354,067
Morocco11:34,476,099111,471
Myanmar11:51,937,9852,166
Pakistan11:178,643,885213,220
Papua New Guinea11:8,153,717181,784
Saint Kitts and Nevis11:55,1991,294
Saint Lucia11:178,7813,800
Serbia11:7,144,94838,459
Seychelles11:92,3931,532
Sierra Leone11:7,089,6311,533
Sri Lanka11:20,808,56018,521
Sudan11:37,510,19514,259
Turkey11:77,821,422191,047
Uganda11:39,039,279258,887
Vanuatu11:263,2762,086
Zambia11:15,849,92253,989
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland8,6531:51267
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland7,1171:52683
England6,8031:3,583511
Wales1761:8,911546
Isle of Man441:1,233178
Jersey81:6,4851,119
Guernsey11:32,6562,283
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States34,6821:1,448149

Cunningham (331) may also be a first name.

Cunningham 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

(English) Dweller at a Royal Manor [Old English cyning-, royal + hám, home, manor, &c.] (Celtic) belonging to Cunningham (Ayrshire), stated to be a corruption of an obscure Celtic name.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

The name of Scottish settlers, widely adopted as modern form of Irish surnames-see Cunnegan supra and Dougan infra. Bibl; IF 104

A Guide to Irish Names (1964) by Edward MacLysaght

Place name in Ayrshire, Scotland.

South African Surnames (1965) by Eric Rosenthal

(Scottish) One who came from Cunningham (rabbit farm), in Ayrshire; one who came from a royal manor.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

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

(Scotch), Churn home or district? Cuning, a butter- churn. It may be King's home; but the Earls of Cunningham bear for Arms a shakefork, which accords better with a dairy than with a palace.

Surnames (1857) by Bernard Homer Dixon

A location name in Ayrshire.

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Cunningham Last Name Facts

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

The last name Cunningham occurs in The United States more than any other country or territory. It can also be found as a variant:. Click here to see other potential spellings of this last name.

How Common Is The Last Name Cunningham? popularity and diffusion

The surname Cunningham is the 2,031st most prevalent family name on a worldwide basis. It is borne by around 1 in 26,992 people. The surname Cunningham occurs mostly in The Americas, where 73 percent of Cunningham live; 70 percent live in North America and 70 percent live in Anglo-North America. It is also the 481,336th most frequently held first name in the world It is held by 331 people.

This last name is most commonly occurring in The United States, where it is held by 175,610 people, or 1 in 2,064. In The United States it is most numerous in: Texas, where 8 percent are found, California, where 8 percent are found and New York, where 5 percent are found. Excluding The United States this last name occurs in 136 countries. It is also common in England, where 10 percent are found and Australia, where 5 percent are found.

Cunningham Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Cunningham has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people carrying the Cunningham last name increased 506 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it increased 387 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Ireland it increased 113 percent between 1901 and 2014; in Scotland it increased 136 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Wales it increased 469 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Cunningham Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those holding the surname is predominantly Catholic (79%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the Cunningham last name are 10.07% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than The US average, with 56.84% registered to vote for the party.

The amount Cunningham earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 6.97% more than the national average, earning 370,191 kr per year; in Peru they earn 168.87% more than the national average, earning S/. 52,121 per year; in South Africa they earn 24.34% more than the national average, earning R 295,488 per year; in United States they earn 1.03% less than the national average, earning $42,704 USD per year and in Canada they earn 5.18% more than the national average, earning $52,258 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Search for Another Surname

Cunningham 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 Cunningham
  • 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