Donovan
Meaning
surname Ó Donndubháin, traditionally "dark chieftain"
The story
Donovan is the Irish surname O Donndubhain, traditionally read as dark chieftain, and it walked the surname road early: real use from the 1900s on, about 720 a decade by the 1920s, then the folk decade lit it, about 1,800 in the 1960s while a Scottish singer with the surname filled the radio, and the build kept going, 3,800, 4,600, 12,300, cresting at 19,400 in the 2000s, then 12,300 in the 2010s and 4,100 so far this decade, every one of them a boy. All-time: about 61,700 boys to 220 girls. The root underneath is humbler than the title, donn and dub, brown and dark, with a small diminutive tucked on the end, and the name carries its authority anyway: a century in the record, and this decade entirely a boys' name.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Donovan peaked in the 2000s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
260 people · the #21,104 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 21
Among people named Donovan living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Donovan
Most people given the name Donovan in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Donovan deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Donovan truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Donovan fits with your family’s names and surname.
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