# Donahue (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/donahue/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Irish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 31,563 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,112 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 9,782 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.0% (31,251 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Donaghey, Donaghue, Donahey, Donaho, Donahoe, Donahoo |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Donnchadha (“descendant of Donnchadh”), a personal name composed of the elements donn (“brown-haired”) + cath (“battle”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Donahue in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 92% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 3.0% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Donahue in the United States.

## People named Donahue

- Troy Donahue, American actor (1936-2001)
- Phil Donahue, American media personality, writer and film producer (1935–2024)
- Elinor Donahue, actress
- Claire Donahue, American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion
- Jocelin Donahue, American actress
- Christopher T. Donahue, American Army general
- Jerry Donahue, American musician
- James Donahue, athletics competitor (1885–1966)
- Megan Donahue, American astrophysicist and astronomer
- Mitzi Kapture, American actress

## Similar surnames

Donohue, Donahoe, Donohoe, Donoho, Donahoo, Doane, Don, Donna, Dunn, Dean, Downey, Doan.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.