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    The surname Donaldson

    A patronymic surname, carried by 36,558 people in the United States.

    3 syllables Soundex D543

    Donaldson: #950 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Donaldson #950, 36,558 people Donaldson: #950 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Donaldson #950, 36,558 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Donaldson is more common than 99.4% of them.

    Origin

    From Donald + -son.

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

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 36,558 people named Donaldson in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 8,445 Americans. That is up 3.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 35,387.

    #950
    rank among US surnames
    36,558
    people in 2010
    12
    per 100,000 Americans
    +3.3%
    change since 2000 (was #897)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #941Booker36,8408,381
    #942Waller36,8058,389
    #943Parra36,7658,398
    #944Woodward36,7648,398
    #945Jaramillo36,7558,400
    #946Krueger36,7438,403
    #947Rasmussen36,6368,427

    Who is named Donaldson

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

    72% of people named Donaldson identified as white (not Hispanic), 22% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 72%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 22%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
    • Two or more races 2.4%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Donaldsons

    13 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Lou Donaldson
      American saxophonist (1926–2024)
    • Clayton Donaldson
      Association football player, born 1984
    • Josh Donaldson
      American baseball player (born 1985)
    • Walter Donaldson
      American songwriter (1893-1947)
    • Jared Donaldson
      American tennis player, born 1996
    • James Donaldson
      British-American basketball player, born 1957
    • Thomas Leverton Donaldson
      British architect (1795–1885)
    • Nancy Maria Donaldson Johnson
      American inventor and educator, 1794–1890
    • Ted Donaldson
      American actor, 1933–2023
    • John Donaldson
      American chess player, born 1958
    • Sam Donaldson
      American journalist, born 1934
    • Jesse M. Donaldson
      American politician (1885-1970)

    Notable Donaldsons come mostly from the United States (10), the United Kingdom (2) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Donaldson

    Donaldson has the Soundex code D543, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D543.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Donaldson come from?
    From Donald + -son.
    How common is the surname Donaldson?
    36,558 people in the United States had the surname Donaldson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 8,445 Americans. It ranked 950th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Donaldson?
    In the 2010 Census, 72% of people named Donaldson identified as white (not Hispanic), and 22% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Donaldson?
    Lou Donaldson, American saxophonist (1926–2024), followed by Clayton Donaldson.
    Where is the surname Donaldson most common?
    Wikidata records people named Donaldson in the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
    What type of surname is Donaldson?
    Donaldson is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname Donaldson getting more or less common?
    More common. 35,387 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 36,558 in 2010, up 3.3%.