origin
A Scottish and English surname, Dunlap comes from the Gaelic terms ‘dun’ and ‘lapach’ which means a fort in a muddy location. The spelling variations for Dunlap include Dunlope, Delap and Dunlop. An Irish spelling for Dunlap would be Dunleavy. In England the scattering of Dunlap families are found in the city of London and in many of the southern coastal counties such as Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Berkshire. They are populated also to the north in Lancashire, Cheshire, Durham and Northumberland. In Scotland the Dunlap families originated in Ayrshire which is in southwestern portion of the country. Many settled also in Wigtownshire, Lanarkshire, Midlothian, Renfrewshire and Dunbartonshire. Within the United States the early Dunlap families settled in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Maine and Kentucky.
notable family members
- Frederick “Sure Shot” Dunlap (professional baseball player)
- Scott Michael Dunlap (professional golfer)
- Paul Dunlap (music composer for movie films)
- William Dunlap (18th century playwright)
- Victoria Dunlap (professional basketball player)
- Carla Dunlap (champion bodybuilder)
- Irene Dunlap (author of a book about children)