Donavan
Derived from the Gaelic name Donndubhán, meaning "dark-brown" or "brown one."
Name Census estimates that about 7,761 living Americans carry the first name Donavan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Donavan today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donavan births was 2002 (270 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donavan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Donavan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.8K
~ 1 in 44,164 Americans
Peak year
2002
270 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,225
Tracked since 1919
Census
Donavan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,500 people with the first name Donavan, which placed it at #3,283 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,283
National first-name rank
People counted
6.5K
6,500 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donavan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donavan is White at 43.8%. The next largest groups are Black (29.6%) and Hispanic (13.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Donavan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Donavan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.8% · 2,845
- Black or African American29.6% · 1,923
- Hispanic or Latino13.1% · 853
- Two or more races8.8% · 571
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 189
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 119
Gender
Gender distribution for Donavan
Out of the 8,248 babies given the name Donavan since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Donavan as a male name
- Ranked #3,225 in 2024
- 37 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (270 births)
Donavan as a female name
- Ranked #14,371 in 1997
- 5 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1997 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donavan appears almost entirely male. Of the 6,502 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Donavan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donavan from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,430 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donavan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Donavan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donavans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. California, Texas, Michigan recorded the most babies named Donavan, while Iowa, Kansas, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 137 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donavan
The name Donavan originated from the Celtic and Gaelic languages, with its roots tracing back to ancient Ireland and Scotland. The name is derived from the word "donndubhan," which means "brown-haired chief" or "dark-haired leader." This suggests that the name was initially given to those who held positions of authority or leadership in Celtic communities.
In the early Middle Ages, variants of the name, such as Donovan and Donaghue, began to appear in historical records and manuscripts. One of the earliest known references can be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, which mentions a King Donnubhan who ruled over a region of Ireland in the 7th century.
As Christianity spread throughout Ireland and Scotland, the name became associated with various saints and religious figures. One notable example is Saint Donovan, an Irish monk who lived in the 6th century and established a monastery in County Wexford, Ireland.
Throughout the centuries, the name Donavan has been borne by numerous notable individuals. In the 12th century, Donovan O'Brien was a powerful Irish king who ruled over Thomond (present-day County Clare) and played a significant role in the Norman invasion of Ireland.
During the Renaissance period, Donovan Arundell (1473-1546) was an English Catholic priest and one of the leading scholars of his time, known for his contributions to theology and philosophy.
In more recent history, Donavan Brazier (born 1997) is an American middle-distance runner who won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 2019 World Athletics Championships.
Donavan Dilon (1935-2007) was a renowned American actor and filmmaker, best known for his roles in iconic films like "Chinatown" and "The Godfather Part II."
Another notable figure is Donavan Freberg (1926-2020), an American author, voice actor, and satirist who worked on various television shows and commercials throughout his career.
These examples showcase the enduring presence and diverse backgrounds of individuals who have carried the name Donavan throughout history, reflecting its Celtic origins and its journey across different cultures and time periods.
People
Donavan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donavan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Donavan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donavan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,761 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donavan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 44,164 US residents.
Is Donavan a common name?
We classify Donavan as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,248 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donavan most popular?
The single biggest year for Donavan was 2002, when 270 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donavan is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donavan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,500 people with the name Donavan, or 2.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,283 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Donavan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Donavan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donavan appears almost entirely male. Of the 6,502 people counted with this name, 99.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Donavan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donavan is White at 43.8%. The next largest groups are Black (29.6%) and Hispanic (13.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Donavan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Donavan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.8% (2,845 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Donavan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donavan a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Donavan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Donavan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donavan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Donavan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Donavan?
Want to know how many Americans are named Donavan? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.