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

Donathan, 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 Donathan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Donathan in America

Donathan is the 19955th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Donathan surname appeared 1,344 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 Donathan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Donathan 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 Donathan

The surname DONATHAN has its origins in the British Isles, specifically in England and Ireland. It is believed to have emerged in the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century. The name is thought to be derived from the Old English words "dun" meaning "hill" and "athan" meaning "valley," suggesting that the name may have originated from a place name or a topographical feature.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name DONATHAN can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from the year 1191, which mentions a person named William de Donathan. This provides evidence that the name was in use during the late 12th century in England.

In the 14th century, the DONATHAN surname appeared in various historical records, including the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire, which mentioned a John Donathan in 1348. This suggests that the name had spread to different regions of England by that time.

The DONATHAN surname also has ties to Ireland, where it may have been introduced during the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. One notable figure bearing this name was Sir John Donathan, an Irish knight who fought alongside King Edward III of England during the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century.

Another prominent individual with the DONATHAN surname was Thomas Donathan, born in 1562 in Oxfordshire, England. He was a renowned scholar and author who wrote several treatises on theology and philosophy during the Elizabethan era.

In the 17th century, the DONATHAN surname can be found in various parish records across England, such as the parish of St. Mary's in Devizes, Wiltshire, where a baptism of a child named Elizabeth Donathan was recorded in 1631.

Other notable individuals with the DONATHAN surname include:

1. William Donathan (1675-1743), a wealthy merchant from Bristol, England, who was involved in the West Indies trade.
2. Jane Donathan (1736-1812), an English author and playwright who wrote several popular plays in the late 18th century.
3. Robert Donathan (1820-1892), a Scottish-born architect who designed several iconic buildings in Melbourne, Australia, during the Victorian era.
4. Elizabeth Donathan (1868-1946), an American suffragist and activist who campaigned for women's voting rights in the early 20th century.
5. Sir John Donathan (1901-1978), a British diplomat who served as the Ambassador to France from 1954 to 1960.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Donathan

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

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 Donathan 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 Donathan 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 Donathan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!