The origin of Dairon
This seems to be a pretty rare surname. It's the name of a 19th C Scottish architect James Dairon. It sounds French but the few bearers I can find seem to be mostly Scottish. Any help would be appreciated.
vote up1vote down

Replies

Rare indeed! I can find no reference to a 19th century Scottish architect named James Dairon, which is not to deny his existence, just to note his low profile.
The name looks French, but neither of my French sources, Dauzat's dictionary and Jean Tosti's website, has a notice of the name. Nor, for that matter, do works dealing with British surnames, including Black's "Surnames of Scotland".
I have found a minor French place name, Airon-Saint-Vaast, Pas de Calais, which MIGHT have given the surname, D'Airon -> Dairon, but no evidence of that.
vote up1vote down
89.00He was a master plasterer and a vice president of the geological society Glasgow.
vote up1vote down
I found Mr Dairon in the local cemetery and was intrigued by the name(although anyone who's not a Mc or Mac stands out!) and was wondering about his origins. Sadly he doesn't seem to have had any lasting fame though I found a reference to an obituary for him and some other documents so he seems to have done well enough in his time. Anyway, thank you for your help. I was thinking it may perhaps be an imported Norman surname so Airon-Saint-Vaast is certainly plausible.
vote up1vote down
A glance at this page -
http://www.nom-famille.com/nom-dairon.html
reveals a small Dairon presence in France today. I've also looked at the family search website and there was certainly a Dairon presence in Scotland, mainly Glasgow, in the 19th century.
I would suggest a French origin and an individual or family migrating to Scotland in the 18th-19th century. Maybe a Huguenot family, or one with a mercantile connection with Glasgow. I've also noted a Frenchman named John Baptist Dairon married at Derby. This gent may have been a Huguenot refugee. There are websites occupied with Huguenot family history which could yield further information.
vote up1vote down
I've posted a query about Dairon on a French surname forum. I can't let it lie! Keep checking back here in case we get an answer.
vote up1vote down
wow thanks for your persistence. The results on family search are very interesting. It's strange, if it is a French name, that some of the Scottish bearers came from Argyll. David Dairon married in 1866 (no. 51)and had one son James (58) in Argyll, before moving to Glasgow where he had another James (no. 59) and 2 daughters Isabella and Mary Donald. The second is Edward Dairon (no. 52) who married in Kilberry in 1875. Argyll is remote and unindustrialised and from what I can find about Huguenots most were accommodated in Edinburgh and Glasgow. It's unlikely that anyone would have found reason to move to Argyll from the cities rather than the other way around. A Google search shows that there are still several bearer's in Argyll today. Maybe there is a Scottish origin after all? Or maybe I'm completely on the wrong track. Hopefully you will get an answer on the French board.
vote up1vote down
sorry, scrap all that I just found David Dairon on a family history page http://mackenzie.nimiety.org/individual.cgi?id=@I11238@ and apparently he was born in Glasgow. Haven't a clue why he married in Argyll.

This message was edited 8/19/2007, 5:31 AM

vote up1vote down
Maybe married in his wife's native parish. I checked the UK Telephone Directory. There are four Dairon entries; two in Argyll, one in Dunblane, and a stray English representative in Swindon.
The French forum looks like a dead-end. No replies yet.
vote up1vote down
I gave up too soon. M. Jean Tosti has replied to my query, informing that the French surname Dairon derives from the commune of Ayron in the department of Vienne. The place name is Gaulish, and means something like "forward defence".
vote up1vote down
I'd given up too, I'm glad I checked back. Thank you for your help and please thank M. Tosti too. It's good to finally have an answer.

This message was edited 9/5/2007, 1:26 PM

vote up1vote down