FAMILY NAME HISTORY

BLAZON OF ARMS: Bendy sinister of fourteen or and vert, overall a lion rampant sable.

Translation: Or (gold) represents the Sun. Vert (green) denotes Hope and Joy,  Sable (black) denotes Constancy.

CREST: An antelope's head couped at the neck attired or.

MOTTO: Et tu Brute?

Translation: And you, Brutus?

The English surname Dunning is of patronymic origin, being one of those names derived from the first name of the father of the original bearer. In this case, the surname denotes "son of Dunning", from the Old English personal name Dunn, "the dark, swarthy one". The earliest written reference to the surname Dunning dates back to the eleventh century and includes one Eluuard Dunning, of Shropshire, who is recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086. Gilberius filius (son of) Dunning appears in the Pipe Rolls for Cambridgeshire in 1166. Johannes Dunnying and Alicia Downnyng are both recorded in the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire in 1379. Hervey Dunning is listed in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire in the same year. John Dunning is recorded in the Feet of Fines for Norfolk as the sheriff of Norwich in 1432. John Dunning married Martha Cole in St. George's Church, Hanover Square in 1768. The surname Dunning is also an independent Scottish surname of local origin, that is, derived from the place where a man once lived or held land. In this case, it comes from the place name Dunning in Lower Strathearn in Perthshire and simply denotes one who came from Dunning. Early recorded instances of this surname in Scotland are plentiful and include a reference to the founder of the old family of Dunning, Anechal, thane of Dunning, who witnessed a charter in 1199, (Charters, bulls, and other documents relating to the Abbey of Inchaffray, Edinburgh, 1908). Gillemichel De Dunin, Anechol's son and successor appears in records circa 1208 (ibid.p.25). A notable bearer of the name was William Archibald Dunning (1857 -1922), the American historian.