Dunham is a surname of Anglo-Saxon origination.
The origins of the name may be in the Britannic place name “de Dinan” (Dinan is a walled town in North West France). Alan, Barron de Dinan of Scotland carried the name to the United Kingdom with William the Conqueror in 1066. 1066. [This is unlikely as the Dunham line through Deacon John Dunham of Clophill/Bedfordshire, East Anglia is from the I-M253 Haplogroup originating in Scandinavia - Denmark, Sweden and Finland and likely part of the Viking invasions of the 8th and 9th centuries AD. Pre-dates William the Conqueror. Could be resolved with DNA testing of "de Dinan" family line.] Denham is another variation.
In 1630 Deacon John Dunham emigrated from England to the American Continent and became a deputy in the Legislative Assembly elected to represent the Plymouth Colony.
Variations in spelling of surname Dunham are found across England, including: in Kent, Denham; in Devonshire and Nottingham, Douham; in Norfolk, Downham; and in Dorsetshire, Dynham.
Individuals with the surname Dunham include:
Ann Dunham, Anthropologist and pioneer in the field of microfinance in Southeast Asia for whom the Ann Dunham Soetoro Endowed Fund at the University of Hawaii is named, mother of U.S. President Barack Obama and Maya Soetoro-NgArchie W. Dunham, former President and Chief Executive Officer of Conoco Inc., and Horatio Alger Award recipientCyrus Livingston Dunham, American Civil War Colonel, U.S. Representative from IndianaDeacon John Dunham, Prominent early American settler, Deputy in the Legislative Assembly of the Plymouth ColonyJason L. Dunham, United States Marine Corps Corporal awarded the Medal of Honor by U.S. President George W. Bush posthumously, for whom the United States Navy destroyer USS Jason Dunham (DDG-109) is namedJeff Dunham, American ventriloquist and prop-comedianJeremiah Dunham Botkin, U.S. Representative from KansasJonathan Singletary Dunham, Member of the New Jersey Provincial Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama’s eighth great-grandfather, and the first of Obama’s ancestors to be born in North AmericaKatherine Dunham, American choreographerSir Kingsley Charles Dunham, British geologistLena Dunham, New York-based filmmakerMadelyn Lee Payne Dunham and Stanley Armour Dunham, grandparents of U.S. President Barack Obama who helped in raising him as a child in Honolulu, HawaiiMark Wentworth Dunham, known for the introduction and breeding of Percheron horses in AmericaMike Dunham, American ice hockey playerRansom W. Dunham, U.S. Representative from IllinoisWilliam Dunham (mathematician)William Riley Dunham, member of the Indiana General Assembly, and great-great-great uncle of President Barack ObamaOlivia Dunham, FBI agent on TV series Fringe