How common is the surname Donahue?

31,563 people in the United States had the surname Donahue in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,782 Americans. It ranked 1,112th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Donahue?

Troy Donahue, American actor (1936-2001), followed by Phil Donahue.

Where is the surname Donahue most common?

Wikidata records people named Donahue in the United States.

Is the surname Donahue getting more or less common?

More common. 31,251 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 31,563 in 2010, up 1.0%.

What are other spellings of Donahue?

Donaghey, Donaghue, Donahey, Donaho, Donahoe and Donahoo.

The surname Donahue

An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 31,563 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex D500

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Donahue is more common than 99.3% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

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

Donahue is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 31,563 people named Donahue in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,782 Americans. That is up 1.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 31,251.

#1,112

rank among US surnames

31,563

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1%

change since 2000 (was #1,026)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,103	Noel	31,768	9,719
#1,104	Valle	31,716	9,735
#1,105	Marino	31,687	9,744
#1,106	Hong	31,670	9,749
#1,107	Springer	31,643	9,757
#1,108	Pickett	31,611	9,767
#1,109	Aguilera	31,581	9,776

Who is named Donahue

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

92% of people named Donahue identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.0% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Donahues

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Troy Donahue
American actor (1936-2001)
Phil Donahue
American media personality, writer and film producer (1935–2024)
Elinor Donahue
Actress, born 1937
Claire Donahue
American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, world champion, born 1989
Jocelin Donahue
American actress, born 1981
Christopher T. Donahue
American Army general, born 1969
Jerry Donahue
American musician, born 1946
James Donahue
Athletics competitor (1885–1966)
Megan Donahue
American astrophysicist and astronomer, born 1962
Mitzi Kapture
American actress, born 1962

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Donaghey
Donaghue
Donahey
Donaho
Donahoe
Donahoo

Surnames that sound like Donahue

Donahue has the Soundex code D500, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D500.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Donahue come from?: Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Donnchadha (“descendant of Donnchadh”), a personal name composed of the elements donn (“brown-haired”) + cath (“battle”).
How common is the surname Donahue?: 31,563 people in the United States had the surname Donahue in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,782 Americans. It ranked 1,112th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Donahue?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Donahue identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.0% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Donahue?: Troy Donahue, American actor (1936-2001), followed by Phil Donahue.
Where is the surname Donahue most common?: Wikidata records people named Donahue in the United States.
What type of surname is Donahue?: Donahue is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Donahue getting more or less common?: More common. 31,251 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 31,563 in 2010, up 1.0%.
What are other spellings of Donahue?: Donaghey, Donaghue, Donahey, Donaho, Donahoe and Donahoo.