Find out how popular the last name Donahey is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Donahey.

Donahey, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Donahey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Donahey in America

Donahey is the 40856th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Donahey surname appeared 534 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Donahey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Donahey to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Donahey

The surname Donahey originated in Ireland. It is an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name O'Donnchadha, which means "descendant of Donnchadh". Donnchadh was a popular personal name derived from the Old Irish elements "donn" meaning "brown" and "cath" meaning "battle".

The name Donahey has its roots in County Cork, Ireland, where it was historically concentrated. It first appeared in records as early as the 12th century, with various spellings such as O'Donoghue, O'Donohoe, and Donohoe.

One of the earliest recorded references to the name can be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled at the monastery of Inisfallen on an island in Lough Leane, near Killarney. The annals mention a "Donnchadh O'Donnchadha" in the year 1180.

The Donaheys were a prominent family in the Barony of Muskerry, County Cork, where they held significant landholdings and were considered among the leading septs (clans) of the region. Some notable individuals with the surname include:

1. Donal Og O'Donohoe (c. 1570 - c. 1640), a Irish military leader and Chief of the O'Donohoe clan during the Irish Confederate Wars.
2. Patrick Donahey (1768 - 1837), an Irish-born American soldier who fought in the War of 1812 and later served as a U.S. Congressman from Ohio.
3. Michael Donahey (1879 - 1966), an American politician who served as the 53rd Governor of Ohio from 1923 to 1927.
4. John Donahey (1876 - 1958), an American politician and businessman who served as a U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1935 to 1941.
5. Andrew Donahey (1629 - 1705), an Irish Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Killaloe from 1677 to 1705.

The name Donahey has also been associated with various place names in Ireland, such as Donohoe's Strand and Donohoe's Bridge, both located in County Cork. These place names likely derived from the presence of the Donahey clan in the area.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Donahey

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Donahey.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Donahey was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Donahey has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Donahey was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Donahey, please contact us.

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