Durkin Family History

Irish (Sligo and Mayo): shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Duarcáin ‘son of Duarcán’ a byname representing a diminutive of duairc ‘surly’. English: variant of Derkin from the Middle English personal name Derkin originally a borrowing from Flemish settlers of Middle Dutch Dierkin a pet form of Diederik (ancient Germanic Theuderic from theud ‘people’ + rīk ‘power rule’); the name was also used as a pet form of Middle English Der(e) (Old English Dēor). Late Middle English -er- frequently changed to -ar- before another consonant and when -er- remained in early modern English it fell together with -ir- and -ur- in a new pronunciation /ər/. Alternatively Derkin may be a variant of Dorking a habitational name from Dorking Surrey from the Old English personal name Deorc + -ingas denoting association. Russian: nickname from durka a familiar form for durak ‘fool idiot’ formed with the possessive suffix -in.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022