Cunninghan Surname

671,677th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 445 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Costa Rica

Cunninghan 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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Cunninghan Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States1871:1,938,283125,322
Costa Rica351:136,5732,034
Canada331:1,116,53381,834
Argentina311:1,378,82078,351
Brazil301:7,135,811166,009
Ecuador211:757,42112,901
Panama201:195,6135,661
Nicaragua181:334,5053,129
Ireland161:294,30910,207
Australia131:2,076,59293,242
Venezuela131:2,323,39126,733
Northern Ireland121:153,7538,250
Honduras31:2,938,8147,190
Mexico21:62,063,10283,384
Jamaica21:1,434,97411,081
Scotland21:2,676,90851,579
England21:27,859,030389,889
New Zealand11:4,528,32355,372
Philippines11:101,238,223404,861
Spain11:46,752,036156,870
Dominican Republic11:10,432,93236,508
Albania11:2,914,05529,474
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland4861:9,1151,347
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England11:24,375,369195,128
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States4651:107,99710,802

Cunninghan 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

Cunninghan Last Name Facts

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

Cunninghan occurs most in The United States. It can be found in the variant forms:. For other possible spellings of this last name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Cunninghan? popularity and diffusion

This surname is the 671,677th most frequently held family name on a worldwide basis, borne by around 1 in 16,376,508 people. It occurs mostly in The Americas, where 89 percent of Cunninghan reside; 50 percent reside in North America and 49 percent reside in Anglo-North America.

The surname is most commonly occurring in The United States, where it is carried by 187 people, or 1 in 1,938,283. In The United States it is most common in: California, where 11 percent live, New York, where 7 percent live and Texas, where 7 percent live. Aside from The United States it occurs in 21 countries. It is also found in Costa Rica, where 8 percent live and Canada, where 7 percent live.

Cunninghan Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Cunninghan has changed over time. In The United States the number of people who held the Cunninghan last name decreased 60 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Ireland it decreased 97 percent between 1901 and 2014 and in England it expanded 200 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Cunninghan Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those bearing the Cunninghan surname is primarily Catholic (90%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the Cunninghan surname are 12.49% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 59.26% registered to vote for the political party.

The amount Cunninghan earn in different countries varies somewhat. In United States they earn 26.34% less than the national average, earning $31,782 USD per year and in Canada they earn 12.24% less than the national average, earning $43,600 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 Cunninghan
  • 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