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

Donlan, 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 Donlan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Donlan in America

Donlan is the 22880th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Donlan surname appeared 1,119 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 Donlan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Donlan 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 Donlan

The surname DONLAN is an anglicized form of the ancient Irish Gaelic name Ó Donnalláin, which originated in County Limerick, Ireland. The name likely derives from the Gaelic words "donn" meaning brown or dark, and "lán" meaning full or complete, suggesting it may have referred to someone with a dark complexion or hair color.

DONLAN is a variant spelling of the more common Irish surnames Donnellan and Donellan. Some of the earliest records of this name appear in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, dating back to the 12th century. The name is also found in the Pipe Rolls of County Limerick from the 13th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the DONLAN surname is found in the 1659 Census of Ireland, where a Michael Donlan was listed as residing in County Limerick. The name also appears in various land and property records from the 17th and 18th centuries in Counties Limerick and Clare.

Notable individuals with the DONLAN surname include:

1. Patrick Donlan (1849-1923), an Irish-American politician who served as the 44th Governor of Idaho from 1923 to 1927.
2. James Donlan (1872-1949), an Irish-American labor leader and co-founder of the United Mine Workers of America.
3. Mary Donlan (1878-1954), an Irish-born American vaudeville performer and actress.
4. Thomas Donlan (1891-1968), an Irish-American artist and illustrator known for his works depicting scenes of rural Ireland.
5. Michael Donlan (1925-2010), an Irish-American author and historian who wrote extensively on the Irish diaspora in America.

The DONLAN surname has also been associated with various place names in Ireland, particularly in counties Limerick and Clare, such as Donlanstown and Donlansfort, which may have been named after early bearers of the name who settled in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Donlan

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

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

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

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