This is a bit off topic, but only just! I have a branch of ancestors, named Doonin, though sometimes written as Doonan, Doonen etc. even Dollon (and transcribed by ancestry as Dellen), in Scotland too. Knowing that at that time, from an 1840 marriage, until about 1880's at least, such ancestors were likely to be illiterate, and also aware of the confusion caused by accent, it is not surprising that a name with so few letters, with so many vowels, caused confusion!
I have looked at Scotland's People, for Lanarkshire, and in terms of new births, of the 38 births between 1855 (1st year of civil reg in Scotland), and 1900, conforming to the Doon*n format, only 7 were Doonin, the rest were Doonan. Of the 7, 6 were from Shotts parish, and the other was very close to it in Holytown. I therefore assume the 'correct' spelling (if such a thing exists, or existed where nobody could read or write is clearly a moot point). My family were the Shotts ones - In Coatbridge/Monklands as well, but that was before 1855.
Anyway, my main point is that I had never knowingly seen the name before I started on my genealogical research, and this is the first time I have seen anyone talk about people of that name on a forum. I am chuffed, as I had at times thought it was not a 'real' name, just a mishearing of another, say Doolin, Dolan, etc. However it has to be said that after I discovered the Doonin's, and thought it was a unique name, one day I had a light bulb moment as I drove to work. I passed a truck emblasened 'Doonin Plant', and after a wee bit of ferreting about found it was a fair sized conglomerate in the greater Glasgow area involved in waste and waste disposal as well as tool hire. They were indeed my relatives, based on the old 'Rag & Bone' business started in Cleland, Lanarkshire 100 years earlier! I had been driving by their vehicles for years and never noticed them, until after I realised the name meant something to me.
Needless to say, they went into liquidation/receivership since then, they are no more!
It is good to hear about others of this name, and to find a possible place they just might have come from. My furthest back relative was a Francis Doonin, born about 1811 in 'Ireland', who married Catherine McIntyre (He was called Dunning on this record). They were on the 41 census at Airdrie (Balockny Clarkston) and by 51 were at Omoa, which became part of Cleland. The mum and Dad (Frank & Catherine), seem to have 'seperated' very unusual in my family at these times. She was there with him in 51 (as Dorner according to Ancestry), but in 1861 he is on his own with 2 younger children. Yet Catherine is on the 81 Census with her daughter Mary Dobbin ( yes she went from Doonin to Dobbin!), and as Catherine Dobbin, mother in law, in the 1891 census. Frank disappears after the 61 census, no death to be found, except one in Dublin, which personally I discount, why would he have gone to Dublin ( or come frome there?) It is well known that the vast majority of immigrants from Ireland to central Scotland came from Ulster, like those mentioned above from Tyrone.
Anyway your posts and stories were an interesting read for me!!
Of course, it is possible that Frank came from further afield than Ulster, even Dublin, and it is possible there was another explanation of them not appearing to live together on the 1861 census, but we do all have to make assumptions as we research, as we cant ask our ancestors directly to explain circumstances to us!!
