The cunningham Surname
cunningham Name Meaning and History
- Scottish: habitational name from a district in Ayrshire, first recorded in 1153 in the form Cunegan, a Celtic name of uncertain origin. The spellings in -ham, first recorded in 1180, and in -ynghame, first recorded in 1227, represent a gradual assimilation to the English place-name element -ingham.
- Irish: surname adopted from Scottish by bearers of Gaelic Ó Cuinneagáin ‘descendant of Cuinneagán’, a personal name from a double diminutive of the Old Irish personal name Conn meaning ‘leader’, ‘chief’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Learn the meaning and history of your first name
Share this page with friends and family
Search for cunningham records
More resources for your cunningham family history
Cunningham message board
Threads: 2484 - Messages: 5096
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The cunningham name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the cunningham family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
- Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the cunningham last name.
- Search for Ancestry members researching one of your specific ancestors.
- Create or update your own Ancestry member profile so that other members can anonymously contact you.
More Tools and Resources
- Search Ancestry.com for all of your cunningham ancestors.
- Create and publish your own family history book using Ancestry Press.
- Learn more about your family history using DNA Ancestry.
- Learn more about family history in the Ancestry Learning Center.
- Visit the Ancestry.com homepage.