Donovan

What Donovan means

Means “descendant of (a person named) brown & black”

From Irish Ó Donndubháin (“descendant of (a person named) brown & black”), from donn (“brown”) and dubh (“black”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Donovan” (revision 93558265), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Donovan?

US: Falling: down from #282 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #1236 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2003, when 2,211 boys got the name (#176 that year). First in the US records in 1900.

How common

• About 1 in 2,805 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 9,712 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NJ (0.68 per 1,000 boys), KS (0.64 per 1,000 boys), ID (0.58 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Donovan is #495 in the US and #1066 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Donovan were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Donavan56 US
• Donavon16 US
• Donavin8 US
• Donavyn8 US
• Donaven7 US
• Donnovan7 US
• Donovin5 US
• Donivan5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Donavan

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Donovan

Boys

• Gage#973Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 2,939 babies; 235 in 2025
• Conner#864Variant of Connor, meaning “lover of hounds”^*
• Brock#810Variant of Brook, meaning “swamp, marsh”^*
• Keaton#769possibly “hedge, enclosure + farmstead, settlement”^*
• Drake#827“dragon”^*
• Skyler#783Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #360 in 2015, #783 in 2025

For a sister

• Macy#718Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2003, with 1,483 babies; 390 in 2025
• Sydney#348Variant of Sidney, meaning “wide + island”^*
• Mackenzie#228“son, descendant + of Coinneach”^*
• Kaylee#255Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #61 in 2015, #255 in 2025
• Mckenzie#576Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 2000, with 2,528 babies; 517 in 2025
• Madison#40Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1970, with 5 babies

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Donovan’s. Rank is US 2025.