Quote Originally Posted by Downix View Post
Which begs the question, where do those Downes from Ireland, Wales and Scotland come from?

But was not aware of Dun being a hill fort, I shall take note of that. Still, to figure out which Noah Downs was the father to my g-g-g-grandfather Thomas.
In Ireland, the surname Down(e)(s) can be an Anglicisation of Ó Duinn, which means 'descendant of Donn'. Donn is the Irish word for 'brown'. On rare occasions, it is an Anglicisation of Ó Dubháin, meaning 'descendant of Dubhán', a personal name meaning 'little dark one'.