Name Origin
Over the centuries many explanations have been given for the unusual Scottish name Cunningham.
One of the more romantic suggestions for the origin of our name is a mythical link to the story surrounding King Arthur. In this story it was argued that King Arthur is remembered from the Gaelic version of his name, which is Cion Aodha; and Cionaodha is the Gaelic version of the Brythonic name Cunedda, where Aodha was the ancient Celtic Sun God and God of Fire.
It is thus argued that both Cion and Cun (Kion and Kun), which appear in the word Cuning, mean “the King”, or “the head” (The Chief), as in Ken and Pen. This then links to the modern name, because the modern form of Cunedda and Cionaodha is the name Kenneth, which seems to argue the name Cunningehame perhaps linked to a person with this name
It is also argued that Cunedda and Cionaodha both translate as “head dragon”. Dragon is derived from Aodh, the God of Fire, and Aodha, with an “a” added at the end of the name, means the son of Aodh. “Thus, through the use of “dh” as a diphthong, “where dh” and “dd” were anciently pronounced as “th”, the name Aodha then becomes the modern name Atha, which is now written as Arthur. This means the name Arthur relates to dragons, not bears.
As can be seen, within this romantic reconstruction, the Gaelic and English versions appear to match, and with the word Hølme (which means a small island in Old Swedish) being pronounced Halme, Cunningesholme could then perhaps be translated to Isle of the Dragon King.
In Arthurian lore, Einion Yrth ap Cunedda was Uther Pendragon, the father of King Arthur. Yrth is Uther. Cunedda translates as Pendragon. Uther Pendragon had two sons, Owain Ddantgwyn and Cadwallon Lawhir. The name Cadwallon means Battle Leader and Lawhir means long hand. The Leader of Battles with the long hand was King Arthur of Mt Badon.
The reality, however, is the name Cunningham means King’s Island, and it probably links to the Castle where the Kingdom of Strathclyde was ruled from – Alt Clut, Dumbarton Castle, the castle perched on top of a small rocky island on the shores of the River Clyde.
The origins of Clan Cunningham have recently been revised through the careful studies by our historian and current High Commissioner, Derek Cunningham. and a summary can be found in the in the section dealing with the start of the clan, from the 900s to the start of the 13th century.
