Donahue
What is the origin of the last name Donahue?
Meaning and origin
The last name "Donahue" has its origins in Ireland and is primarily found among Irish immigrants and their descendants in the United States.
The longer story
The last name "Donahue" has its origins in Ireland and is primarily found among Irish immigrants and their descendants in the United States. The name is derived from the Gaelic "Ó Donnchadha" which means "descendant of Donnchadh."
Donnchadh is a given name of Gaelic origin, composed of the elements "donn" meaning "brown" and "cath" meaning "battle." As such, the name Donahue can be interpreted to mean "descendant of the brown-haired warrior."
The Donahue surname is most commonly associated with County Fermanagh in present-day Northern Ireland. Fermanagh, situated in the province of Ulster, has a long-standing connection to the Donahue family.
Surname origins are rarely settled: one spelling can have several sources, and families often took a name for reasons nobody wrote down. Check it against the sources below before you rely on it.
#1,112
Donahue was the 1,112th most common surname in the 2010 US Census, with 31,563 people, about 11 in every 100,000.
Who carries it
Surnames like Donahue
Names it is linked with, then names with the same origin and a similar standing.
Check the sources
- Forebears: where Donahue is found around the world
- The Internet Surname Database: a second opinion on the origin
- US Census Bureau: the 2010 surname figures used here
For a name you are serious about, compare the dictionaries: Reaney and Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames; Hanks, Dictionary of American Family Names.