Given name & surname
Donovan
“a brown-haired chief”
Donovan is used as a given name and a surname. One Irish interpretation is “a brown-haired chief.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Irish interpretation is “a brown-haired chief.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Irish.
How it developed
From Irish Ó Donndubháin (“descendant of (a person named) brown & black”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1900. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Donovan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 61,904
- 61,684 boys · 220 girls
- Most popular year
- 2003
- 2,219 babies
- 2025
- 609
- #496 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −35%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 609 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 496 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 34.7% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 2,211 in 2003. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (91). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 49,795 as a first name in 2020; 38,902 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Donovan’s family of names
In English usage, Donovan has a diminutive in Don. Donovan has a related form in Donavan. In English usage, Donovan has a diminutive in Donnie.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 19
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Donovan
- DonovanScottish musician (born 1946)
- Donovan BaileyCanadian athlete, Olympic medalistborn 1967
- Donovan MitchellAmerican basketball player (born 1996)
- Donovan RickettsJamaican association football player (born 1977)
- DijakAmerican professional wrestlerborn 1987
- Donovan ScottAmerican actorborn 1947
- Donovan ClinganAmerican basketball player (born 2004)
- Donovan RuddockCanadian boxerborn 1963
- Don LettsBritish film directorborn 1956
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Donovan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Tristan
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