This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'at the dun'; Middle English dun, a hill; v. Downe.

Thomas de la Dune, Close Roll, 2 Edward I.

Gilbert atte Dune, Essex, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Gilbert de la Dune, or Dunne, Essex, ibid.

Henry de la Dun, Devon, Henry III— Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

(a) Nick, 'the dun, 'a dull brown, a name given from the complexion of the bearer. 'Dunne of hewe': Rom. of Rose, 1213.

Simon le Dun, Derbyshire, Henry III-Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

William le Dunne, Devon, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Robert le Dun, Norfolk, ibid.

William le Dun. Calendarium Inquisitionum Post Mortem.

1597. Married — Richard Whitbey and Janne Dunne: St. James, Clerkenwell.

(Anglo-Celt. and Celtic) 1 Of Dark-Brown Complexion [M.E, dun, Old English dun(n, Welsh dwn = Irish dunn, donn —Gael. donn] Henry le Dun .—Hundred Rolls Dun(a or Dunn(a was a common name among the Anglo-Saxons.

2 Dweller at a Hill or Hill-Fort [Middle English dun, Old English dún, Gaelic and Irish dún = Welsh din] Gilbert atte Dune.—Hundred Rolls Cp. Doon(e.

Ó Duinn or Ó Doinn One of the most numerous names in the midland counties. Formerly O’Doyne (of Iregan). IF 132 etc; SIF 158; Map Leix

(Irish) The dark-brown complexioned one; grandson of Donn (brown).

Dun, Dunne, Dunna, were Anglo-Saxon personal names, and Done, Donne, &c. are in Domesd. Kemble considers them "adjectives relating to the dark colour of the persons," but Mr. Ferguson rather fancifully connects them with thunder, and with Thor, the god of thunder. But that the surname is sometimes local is shown by its H.R. forms, De Dun, De la Dune, &c. Anglo-Saxon, dun, a hill.

Gaelic, Dun, a heap, hill, mount; a fortress, a castle, fastness, a tower. Dunn, Saxon, brown, of a dark color, swarthy.

Dunn. —This ancient name has three separate homes, the principal one in Northumberland and in the North and East Ridings in the north of England, whence it extends into southern Scotland, another in the midland counties of Warwick and Worcester, and a third in the south of England in Dorset and Devon. In the reigns of Edward I. and Henry III. the surname of Dun was particularly frequent in the east of England, especially in Essex. There are three or four different explanations of the name, all of which may be in some regions correct. Thus it may refer to the dark complexion of the person in one locality, or it may be derived from Dun or Dunne, an Anglo - Saxon personal name in another, or it may have a local signification from the Saxon "dun," a hill in a third locality, since De Dun occurs in the Hundred Rolls. It is, however, possible that it may also be a contraction of Dunning, seeing that in the four counties in which Dunning occurs it is always associated with several Dunns. Dunning has, like Dunn, the same three centres of distribution—in the north, in the North and East Ridings, in the Midlands, in Warwickshire, and in the south of England in Dorset and Devon.