The
Irish surname
In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...
Donough originally appeared in Gaelic as Mac Donough, which means son of Donnchadh or son of Donagh, a personal name composed of the elements donn meaning ‘brown-haired’ or "dark" from
Donn
In Irish mythology, Donn ("the dark one", from ) is an ancestor of the Gaels and is believed to have been a god of the dead. Donn is said to dwell in Tech Duinn (the "house of Donn" or "house of the dark one"), where the souls of the dead gathe ...
a Gaelic God; and chadh, meaning "chief" or "noble".
Spelling variations of this family name include:
Donoghue,
Donaghoe,
Donaho,
Donahoe, Donough,
Donahue
Donahue is the Americanized version of Irish surname Donohoe, which, in turn, is an Anglicized version of the ancient Irish name "Donnchadh" (sometimes "Donncha").
Donncha was a common “first name” in 9th century Ireland, and when the use o ...
,
Donahow,
Doneghoe,
Donehue,
Donighue,
Donohoe
Donohoe or O'Donohoe is an Irish surname, reduced Anglicized form of ''Gaelic'' Ó Donnchadha ‘descendant of Donnchadh’, a personal name (sometimes Anglicized as Duncan in Scotland), composed of the elements ''donn'' = ‘brown-haired man’ ...
,
Donahugh,
Donohough,
Donohow,
Donohue
Donohue is a surname of Irish origin abbreviated from O'Donohue (). Notable people with the surname include:
* Adam Donohue (born 1990), Australian rules footballer
* Charles D. Donohue (1880–1928), New York politician and judge
* David Dono ...
,
Donaughue,
O'Donoghue
Donoghue or O'Donoghue is an anglicised form of the Irish language surname Ó Donnchadha or Ó Donnchú.
Etymology
The name means "descendant of Donnchadh", a personal name composed of the elements ''donn'' "brown-haired an and ''cath'' "batt ...
,
Dunphy,
Donaghie,
Donaghy and many more.
First found in
County Kerry
County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...
, where they held a family seat from very ancient times.
References
{{Reflist
Surnames of Irish origin