Downing Family History

Irish (Cork and Kerry): sometimes of English origin but in County Kerry it is usually an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duinnín (see Dineen).

English: from the Middle English personal name Dun(n)ing Douning (Old English Dunning a derivative of Old English Dunna (see Dunn).

English (Devon): topographic name for someone who lived on the hill an -ing derivative of Middle English doun ‘hill’ equivalent to Downer.

This formation is characteristic of Devon (compare Brooking).