# Dunham (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/dunham/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 22,362 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,604 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,807 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.7% (21,772 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdʌnəm/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Donham |

## Etymology

Habitational surname from any of various places in England, from Old English dūn (“hill”) + hām (“homestead”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Dunham in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 9.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Dunham in the United States.

## People named Dunham

- Lena Dunham, American writer, director, actress, and producer (born 1986)
- Jeff Dunham, American ventriloquist and comedian
- Katherine Dunham, American dancer, choreographer, songwriter, actress and activist (1909/1912–2006)
- Stanley Ann Dunham, American anthropologist, mother of Barack Obama (1942–1995)
- Stephen Dunham, American actor (1964-2012)
- Mike Dunham, American ice hockey goaltender
- Duwayne Dunham, American film director and editor
- William Dunham, American mathematician
- Evan Dunham, American mixed martial artist

## Similar surnames

Denham, Donham, Dunnam, Damon, Damian, Denman, Dineen, Doman, Damiano, Domino, Damiani, Dominy.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.