Dundon

There is no easy answer to the derivation of the surname Dundon. Like all surnames, its source is more or less lost in the mists of time. However, there are a number of theories:

Characteristic Derivation

The name is perhaps an anglicisation of the French sobriquet "dondon", and its variation "dandin". This was applied to persons with a heavy and ungainly gait.

Locational Derivation

The name can be interpreted as an anglicised form of the Gaelic surname Dondun, which, in turn, is a gaelicised form of the Anglo-Norman name De Auno. This latter name was introduced to County Limerick, Ireland in the thirteenth century, and is ultimately derived from the French place name Aunay. This, in turn, comes from the French aunaie, from the Latin alnetum, meaning "alder grove".

The locational name Dundon, as in the hamlet of that name in Somerset, derives from the old English for "valley by the hill".

Although not often found outside Counties Limerick and Cork, the name has English variations in Dando, Daddow, Dauney, Dawney, and Dawnay. Interestingly, there is a locational juxtaposition of the villages of Compton Dando, Compton Dundon and Dundon in Somerset, which demonstrates habitation names mirroring the variations in personal names.

Early References

One of the earliest references to a variant of the name is to one William de Alno, who was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086.