The Dunn surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 141,427 people carried this name — #197 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 2,090 people counted. That is up 3% from 136,955 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Dunn surname

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Duinn (“descendant of Donn”), a byname from donn (“brown, brown-haired”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Dunn» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘at the dun’ — the first of the origins he gives.

An early record he cites: Gilbert atte Dune, Essex, 1273 — Hundred Rolls.

His entry covers Dunn, Dun and Dunne.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 258 · public domain.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 123 people named Dunn live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 46
Entre Ríos 31
City of Buenos Aires 21
Córdoba 14
Santa Fe 11

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

50 people named Dunn live in Switzerland.

They live in 8 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 12
Geneva 10
Bern 5
Vaud 5
Valais 5
Zug 5
Basel-Stadt 4
Schwyz 4

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 40 people named Dunn.

Most of them — 36 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 3 départements, most often Paris.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 36
Paris 2
Allier 1
Nord 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In Poland’s population register

33 people named Dunn have a registered home in Poland.

Of the 94 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 8 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Masovian 14
Greater Poland 5
Lesser Poland 3
Podlaskie 3
Kuyavian-Pomeranian 2
Lublin 2
Łódź 2
Silesian 2

PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.

In the Nordic population registers

76 people named Dunn are counted in Finland and Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.

Counted, by country

Finland (2026) 42
Sweden (2022) 34

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Dunn was found among the farmers of 10 counties.

It was most frequent in Northumberland: 33 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 303. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Northumberland 33
Yorkshire, North and East Ridings 31
Durham 24
Devon 20
Dorset 20
Warwickshire 20
Worcestershire 18
Shropshire 14

And 2 more counties.

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland, 1880s

Dunn was 16 in every 10,000 names in Scotland.

That is about 1 in 625. Its home there, in Guppy’s words: “South of the Forth and the Clyde.” He counted the more than 20,000 names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, taking Scotland as a whole, and listed only the names that reached 10 in every 10,000.

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), appendix: alphabetical list of the most frequent Scottish names, p. 588 — public domain · names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, per 10,000 for the whole country.

In Scotland’s registers today

Dunn was recorded 146 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 157th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 210. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

272 families named Dunn, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 1,471 people lived in those households, 5.4 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 4 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

North Carolina 56
Pennsylvania 51
Virginia 38
New York 33
Massachusetts 27
Maryland 26
South Carolina 22
Maine 7
Connecticut 5
Rhode Island 4
Vermont 2
New Hampshire 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 238 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Dunn in American newspapers,
1898–1921.

Newspaper page from The Central Record carrying the name Dunn
The Central Record 1921-01-13
Newspaper page from The Evening Herald carrying the name Dunn
The Evening Herald 1898-08-17

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Dunn in Australian newspapers,
1810s–2000s.

303,681 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Dunn. The most, 55,306, date from the 1920s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in South Australia, at 1.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 117,024
Victoria 62,158
South Australia 49,483
Queensland 42,405
Western Australia 16,062
Tasmania 14,078
ACT (Canberra) 1,827
Northern Territory 223

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Dunn.

Who carried it

People named Dunn,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Royal C. Dunn
    Royal C. Dunn d. 1959 · politician
  • David Dunn d. 1859 · naval officer
  • Ronald Albert Dunn d. 1972 · accountant
  • Honor Dunn d. 1967
  • Katherine Dunn d. 1891
  • Mary Dunn d. 1846

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Dunn,
in the records of 10 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States23,989 records

23,989 records of the Dunn name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 7,228
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 5,194
  • Other U.S. records 11,567
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Gregory Lynn Dunn

    Born 1949; from Santa Rosa, California. U.S. Army, indirect fire infantryman; killed in action 1967 in Kontum, South Vietnam. Buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery, California.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Gilbert E. Dunn

    Born 1920 in West Virginia. Enlisted 1942 at Huntington; farm hand from Gallia County, Ohio. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1984, buried at Dayton National Cemetery, Ohio.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Michael G. Dunn

    Born 1905 in New York. Enlisted 1942 at Fort Jay Governors Island; bookkeeper from Kings County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1958, buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 23,989 records for Dunn in the United States.

Counts: NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain).

Australia7,105 records

7,105 records of the Dunn name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 3,335
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 1,399
  • Other Australian records 2,371
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Mary Dunn

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Lord Auckland, sailing from Dublin in 1848. Native of Dublin. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1854.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Mary Dunn

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Aurora, sailing from London in 1851. Native of Manchester, Lancashire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1854. Married 1854 in New Norfolk, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record John Dunn

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Waterloo, sailing from Portsmouth in 1834. Native of Fermanagh. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1845. Married 1845 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 34.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 7,105 records for Dunn in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

Canada1,718 records

1,718 records of the Dunn name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 1,311
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 103
  • Other Canadian records 304
  1. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record John Dunn

    Left New York in 1783 aboard the Montague, bound for Port Roseway, aged 45.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John Dunn

    Came to Ontario in 1869 aboard the Prussian, landing at Quebec, bound for Petrolia, Ontario; English.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Alvina Jean Irene Dunn

    Buried in 2001 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 57.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.

Showing 3 of 1,718 records for Dunn in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

United Kingdom337 records

337 records of the Dunn name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 151
  • Stirling Council burial records 108
  • Other British records 78
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record William Dunn

    Born 1866 at Plumbridge. Served in the First World War. Named in the University of Aberdeen roll of service in the Great War, 1914-1919.

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record David Dunn

    Died 1970, aged 76; buried at Bannockburn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Robert Dunn

    Buried in 1818 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 80.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Showing 3 of 337 records for Dunn in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

New Zealand163 records

163 records of the Dunn name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 125
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 24
  • Other New Zealand records 14
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William Dunn

    Died 1918, aged 75; buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Polly Dunn

    Buried in 1952 at Totara Memorial Park Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 31.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 163 records for Dunn in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Netherlands49 records

49 records of the Dunn name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 26
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 20
  • Dutch church registers before 1811 3
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record John Cameron Dunn

    Born 1883 in 's-Gravenhage. Died 1955 in 's-Gravenhage, aged 71.

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Bertram Dunn

    Born 1885 in 's-Gravenhage. Married in 1923 in 's-Gravenhage; "sportleraar".

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 49 records for Dunn in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Germany12 records

12 records of the Dunn name in Germany Germany's First World War casualty lists, 1914–1919
  1. A page of the German First World War casualty lists, 18 April 1918
    Example: German casualty list, 1918
    Casualty list Gustav Dünn

    From Schwanebeck, Oschersleben. Reported dead in the Prussian casualty list of 26 July 1915 (Infantry Regiment No. 26).

    Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)

Showing 1 of 12 records for Dunn in Germany.

Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).

France7 records

7 records of the Dunn name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record John Paul Dunn

    Born 1919 in the United States; died 2000 in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 1 of 7 records for Dunn in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Belgium2 records

2 records of the Dunn name in Belgium Belgian civil registers (births, marriages, deaths)
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Ernest Dunn

    Died 1940 in Gent.

    Open Archives, Archief Gent (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Dunn in Belgium.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Norway2 records

2 records of the Dunn name in Norway Norway's 1910 census
  1. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Census record Charles Dunn

    Census of 1910: Øvre Holmegate, Stavanger; "delikatessehandler", born 1878 in Hull England.

    Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO)

Showing 1 of 2 records for Dunn in Norway.

Counts: Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Dunn.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Dunn is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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