6,513 Global DUNLEAVY Family Members

DUNLEAVY Family History

Recorded in the myriad and contrasting spellings of Aleavy, Aleevy, Dunleavy, Dunsleve, and the patronymics MacDunlevy, McDunlevy, MacDunleavy, McDunleavy, with MacGlew, McGlew and McGlue, this is a surname of two claimed nationalities, but a single Gaelic origin. Whether Irish or Scottish, it is a much corrupted dialectal derivative of the ancient Mac Duinnshleibhe, meaning 'the son of Don of the mountain' or similar, from 'sliabh', a mountain. Most surnames of West Scotland are to be found in (mainly) Northern Ireland and vice versa, although sometimes, as with this surname, the spellings have strayed to a point where the relationship is not easy to understand.