Donahue Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Donahue last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Donahue last name
Meaning of the Donahue last name: descendant of Donnchadh. Donahue is an Irish surname, an English form of O Donnchadha, "descendant of Donnchadh", an old first name joining words for "brown" and "battle". Separate families of the name lived in Kerry, Cork and Cavan, where it was spelled Donoghue or Donohoe. A curious detail of this surname origin: the last name spelling Donahue became usual only in America, after the great emigrations of the 1800s.
Arms associated with the Donahue name
Irish heraldry blends Gaelic and Anglo-Norman traditions, and coats of arms associated with the Donahue surname draw on both, each set out in a short blazon.
Get your full Donahue family history
This is only a glimpse of the Donahue story. The full Donahue history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Donahue coat of arms. Get the full Donahue report.
Donahue name FAQ
What does the Donahue name mean?
Descendant of Donnchadh. Common variants include Donoghue, Donohue, Donohoe.
Where does the Donahue surname come from?
It originates in Ireland, and is also found in the United States, England and Canada.
Is there a Donahue coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Donahue coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Patrick Woulfe, Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall: Irish Names and Surnames (1923); MacLysaght, The Surnames of Ireland; Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).