Origin of the Name Duignan
The origin of the name
Duignan was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name Duignan
include Dignam, Dignan, Duigenan and O'Duigenan. The name Duignan is derived from the Gaelic O'Duidhgeannain sept that was located in the eastern part of Connaught Province and County Roscommon in particular. Families of this sept were among the most learned of Gaelic Ireland .
A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. Irish septs and clans that are related often belong to even larger groups, sometimes called tribes.
Other variants of this name include Doogan and Dougan which are found mostly in Ulster Province in the north of the country. A branch of the original sept migrated eastwards into Counties Cavan, Longford and Westmeath where the variant Dignam and Deignan are found.
The Duignan coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Duignan descendants.