# Donaldson (surname)

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

A surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 36,558 |
| US rank (2010) | 950 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 8,445 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.3% (35,387 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Donald + -son.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Donaldson 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) | 72% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 22% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.5% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 2.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Donaldson in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

## People named Donaldson

- Lou Donaldson, American saxophonist (1926–2024)
- Clayton Donaldson, association football player
- Josh Donaldson, American baseball player (born 1985)
- Walter Donaldson, American songwriter (1893-1947)
- Jared Donaldson, American tennis player
- James Donaldson, British-American basketball player
- Thomas Leverton Donaldson, British architect (1795–1885)
- Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson, American inventor and educator
- Ted Donaldson, American actor
- John Donaldson, American chess player
- Sam Donaldson, American journalist
- Jesse M. Donaldson, American politician (1885-1970)

and 1 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Donald, Denault.

## 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.