How common is the surname Donnelly?

31,505 people in the United States had the surname Donnelly in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,800 Americans. It ranked 1,114th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Donnelly?

In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Donnelly identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Donnelly?

Meg Donnelly, American actress and singer (born 2000), followed by Joe Donnelly.

Where is the surname Donnelly most common?

Wikidata records people named Donnelly in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

Is the surname Donnelly getting more or less common?

More common. 30,919 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 31,505 in 2010, up 1.9%.

The surname Donnelly

An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 31,505 people in the United States.

3 syllables Soundex D540

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

Origin

Irish origin

From the Irish surname, from Ó Donnghaile (“descendant of Donnghal”), from donn (“brown-haired”) + gal (“valor”).

Donnelly 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 31,505 people named Donnelly in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,800 Americans. That is up 1.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 30,919.

#1,114

rank among US surnames

31,505

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1.9%

change since 2000 (was #1,036)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#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
#1,110	Carrasco	31,575	9,778
#1,112	Donahue	31,563	9,782

Who is named Donnelly

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

94% of people named Donnelly identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.3% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 94%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.3%
Black (not Hispanic) 1.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.2%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Donnellys

12 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Meg Donnelly
American actress and singer (born 2000)
Joe Donnelly
American politician, born 1955
Ignatius Loyola Donnelly
American politician (1831-1901)
Ruth Donnelly
Actress (1896-1982)
Euphrasia Donnelly
American swimmer, 1905–1963
Jennifer Donnelly
American writer of young adult fiction, born 1963
Jack Donnelly
British actor, born 1985
Liza Donnelly
American cartoonist, born 1955
Jamie Donnelly
Actress, born 1947
Phil M. Donnelly
American politician (1891-1961)
Stella Donnelly
Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist, born 1992
KAWS
American artist and art collector (born 1974)

Notable Donnellys come mostly from the United States (10), the United Kingdom (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Donnelly

Donnelly has the Soundex code D540, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D540.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Donnelly come from?: From the Irish surname, from Ó Donnghaile (“descendant of Donnghal”), from donn (“brown-haired”) + gal (“valor”).
How common is the surname Donnelly?: 31,505 people in the United States had the surname Donnelly in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,800 Americans. It ranked 1,114th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Donnelly?: In the 2010 Census, 94% of people named Donnelly identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Donnelly?: Meg Donnelly, American actress and singer (born 2000), followed by Joe Donnelly.
Where is the surname Donnelly most common?: Wikidata records people named Donnelly in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
What type of surname is Donnelly?: Donnelly is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Donnelly getting more or less common?: More common. 30,919 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 31,505 in 2010, up 1.9%.