English
The surname Donn is of Scottish and Irish origin.It is derived from the Gaelic 'Donn',a byname for a person with a dark or swarthy complexion;from the Gaelic 'donn' dark,brown.It may also be derived from the Old English 'dun',signifieing dweller at a hill or hill fort.The Irish branch of this family was one of those specially mentioned in the mid sixteenth century official orders as hostile and dangerous to English interests.To the Scottish it is a habitational name from Dun in the Tayside region of Scotland;it is derived from the Gaelic 'dun' fort.This is the name to which the practice during the present century of resuming the discarded prefixes Mac and O does not apply,the form O'Donn or O'Dunne is seldom if ever seen today.The name dates as far back as the eleventh century were a William Dunn is recorded in historical archives.A Rear Admiral of the American armada bore this name,a Herbert Omar Dunn,inventor of the 'Dunn anchor'.Another American to have borne this name is that of the famous Irish-American author,Finlay Peter Dunn.One of the first fore fathers to bring this name to America is that of a Richard Dunn,who emigrated to America in 1647 from Bristol,England;he settled in Newport,Rhode Island.This name is the one hundredth and forty-ninth most common surname in America.