Ninian Surname

945,594th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 277 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Philippines
Highest density in:
Scotland

Ninian Surname Definition:

S. "Ninian appears in the Scottish Calendar at Sept. 16. In Bede he is Nynia (ablative); Alcuin in a letter to the monks of Whithorn written before A.D.. 804 calls him Nyniga (genitive); in the same document the Latinized form Ninianus appears for the first time.

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Ninian Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Philippines1481:684,04270,291
England761:733,13240,828
Scotland161:334,61415,044
Canada141:2,631,828153,264
Papua New Guinea81:1,019,215101,897
Wales71:442,07621,198
Malaysia51:5,898,845196,803
Qatar11:2,357,99976,403
Solomon Islands11:580,02922,243
South Africa11:54,177,704343,732
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Scotland371:101,1685,037
England41:6,093,842135,151
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States71:7,174,098302,835

Ninian (472) may also be a first name.

Ninian Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

S. "Ninian appears in the Scottish Calendar at Sept. 16. In Bede he is Nynia (ablative); Alcuin in a letter to the monks of Whithorn written before A.D.. 804 calls him Nyniga (genitive); in the same document the Latinized form Ninianus appears for the first time. Nynia, Nyniga probably represent the British name Nynnyaw Later we have in vernacular Scots Ringan, and in Gaelic Truinnean. An early instance of the former is Rineyan in 1301 (Bain, II, p. 311); still earlier is the Norse Rinan, if Rinansey, now North Ronaldsay in the Orkneys, is rightly explained as Ninian's Isle" (Watson I, p. 290-294). In Shetland we have S. Ninian's Isle in Timothy Pont's map (1608) named "S. Tronon's Yle." This "may be read either as a misprint for St. Ronon's Isle, or possibly as St. Tronon's, seeing that St. Ninian has been known in some other districts as St. Trinyon" (Goodie, p. 32). The name appears in Rabelais as S. Treignan. David Rinyhiane, witness in St. Andrews, 1504 (Soltre, p. 78) is probably Sir David Ringane, presbyter in Dunfermline, 1512 (Laing, 289). David Niniane was reidare at Scony, Fife, 1574 (RMR.). Vernacular Scots Ringan was a common forename in the sixteenth century and later: Ringan or Ringean Armstrong was brother-german to Will of Kinmont, and Rinion Armstrong was executed in 1624. Thomas Ninian was servitor to George Chrystie, 1683 (BOEC., VIII, p. 146), and a complaint was made by Mergeret Ninian in Dysart, 1690 (Dysart, p. 54-55). Rowie's Ninian, i.e. Ninian son of Robert was a sixteenth century Borderer. Renzion (z = y) 1574, Rynyon 1592.

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

Ninian Last Name Facts

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

The last name Ninian (Oriya: ନିନିଆଁ) has its highest incidence in The Philippines. It may also occur in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of this surname click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Ninian? popularity and diffusion

Ninian is the 945,594th most frequently used last name worldwide, held by approximately 1 in 26,308,830 people. It occurs predominantly in Asia, where 56 percent of Ninian are found; 55 percent are found in Southeast Asia and 53 percent are found in Fil-Southeast Asia. Ninian is also the 391,811th most frequently held first name internationally. It is borne by 472 people.

This surname is most frequent in The Philippines, where it is borne by 148 people, or 1 in 684,042. In The Philippines it is mostly found in: Soccsksargen, where 53 percent are found, Western Visayas, where 29 percent are found and Caraga, where 6 percent are found. Aside from The Philippines this last name is found in 9 countries. It is also found in England, where 27 percent are found and Scotland, where 6 percent are found.

Ninian Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Ninian has changed through the years. In England the number of people bearing the Ninian last name rose 1,900 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Scotland it contracted 57 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Nainian92135/
Gninian928/
Nignian921/
Niniang921/
Ngingian864/
Noiniang862/
Ninihane860/
Nignan8329,965/
Ninjan83258/
Ninyan83139/
Niniam83108/
Ninion8325/
Nunian8320/
Ninhan8319/
Ninean832/
Nenian831/
Ngnignian801/
Gninion771,390/
Noiniam77120/
Nuiniam7753/
Nunnian7752/
Ninehan7719/
Naignan776/
Ninjang775/
Nainiam775/
Nionion772/
Ninjant771/
Nignank771/
Gninyan771/
Nignane771/
Niniong771/
Neenian771/
Nainion771/
Nainyan771/
Nainhan770/
Niñan7348/
Nenejian7123/
Gninihon719/
Ninggion711/
Ninhyang711/
Nignagne711/
Gnignion711/
Ninham67462/
Nignon67423/
Negnan67115/
Neniam67106/
Ninhon67105/
Nunjan6717/
Ninjam6714/
Nignam677/
Nginyahan674/
Njgnan674/
Ninyon672/
Nimjan672/
Ngnignang671/
Nenhan671/
Nnainyang671/

Ninian Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Ninian in the Oriya language
ନିନିଆଁnini'am-

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Ninian Reference & Research

Guild of One-Name Studies Ninian Profile Page - Information about the Ninian One-Name Study, including origin of the name, frequency, distribution, historical occurrences and data held. The surname appears to have originated in Scotland.

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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 Ninian
  • 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