Recorded in a number of forms including Dunabie, Dunbey, Dunabin, Dunbobbin, Dunrobin, Dunbavin, Dunbavand, Dunebin, and Donbavand, these are said to be English surnames, but just possibly of Celtic or Gaelic and Scottish origins. Curiously whilst the spellings would suggest that they originate from the village of Dunrobin in the county of Sutherland in the far north of Scotland, no recordings are to be found in Scotland before the 19th century, and almost all are to be found in the English counties of Cheshire and Lancashire, and even more specifically the area around the cities of Manchester and Liverpool. What adds to the confusion is that the first recording would seem to be that of Anthony Dunbabin of the town of Warrington in Cheshire in 1597. This usually accepted as being a recording too early by at least one hundred and fifty years for any surname of likely Scottish or Irish influence in England, outside of London. Furthermore Black's famous listings of Scottish surnames which over the past century has been shown to be almost completely accurate, makes no mention of any of the surname spellings which we show here. Other recordings which suggest similar ancestry and taken from the early surviving church registers include: Elizabeth Dunabdye, who married Richard Milton at the church of St Benets, Pauls Wharf, in the city of London, on July 29th 1655, and James Dunbee, whose daughter Mary was christened at St Anne's church Manchester, on July 18th 1796.

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