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The downey Surname

downey Name Meaning and History

  1. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Dúnadhaigh ‘descendant of Dúnadhach’, a personal name meaning ‘fortress-holder’ (from dún ‘fortress’, ‘fortified hill’).
  2. Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Maol Dhomhnaigh, or of Mac Giolla Dhomnaigh (see Maloney).
  3. Scottish: habitational name from the Scottish barony of Downie or Duny in the parish of Monikie in Angus (on Tayside), named from Gaelic dùn ‘hill’ + the locative suffix -ach.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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The downey name in History

A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the downey family name as far back in history as possible.

downey Family Facts

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Distribution of downey Families in the US in 1920
Number of downey families
 280-557
 94-279
 1-93
 0
Compiled by Ancestry.com from the 1920 US Federal Census records

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Year

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The information for this map came from Ancestry.com’s US Federal Census Collection.
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