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Name

Donovan

/DON-oh-van/ MasculineIrish

Meaning

Donovan is a masculine name of Irish origin meaning “descendant of the dark one”.

Donovan comes from the Irish surname Ó Donndubháin, built on donn, brown, and dubh, black, describing a dark-featured ancestor. The mellow 1960s folk singer Donovan moved it from surname to first name, where it has stayed comfortably ever since.

A fixture in the US boys' top 400 since the 1960s.

Popularity in the United States

Boys

Ranked #495 in 2025 · peak #176 in 2003

Data: US Social Security Administration, top-1000 ranks.

At a glance

Origin
Irish
Gender
Masculine
Pronounced
/DON-oh-van/
Themes
DarkNight

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Questions

  • Donovan is a masculine name of Irish origin meaning “descendant of the dark one”. Donovan comes from the Irish surname Ó Donndubháin, built on donn, brown, and dubh, black, describing a dark-featured ancestor.

  • Donovan is traditionally a masculine (boy) name. It is a fixture in the US boys' top 400 since the 1960s.

  • The name Donovan comes from Irish. Donovan comes from the Irish surname Ó Donndubháin, built on donn, brown, and dubh, black, describing a dark-featured ancestor. The mellow 1960s folk singer Donovan moved it from surname to first name, where it has stayed comfortably ever since.

  • Donovan is pronounced DON-oh-van.

More names that mean dark

Names that share this meaning.

  1. Adham MasculineArabic“black”
  2. Anubis MasculineEgyptian“the jackal-headed god of embalming”
  3. Blake UnisexEnglish“black, or pale”
  4. Ciara FeminineIrish“dark, black-haired”
  5. Cole MasculineEnglish“coal-black, charcoal”
  6. Douglas MasculineScottish Gaelic“dark stream”