Donaldson
A patronymic surname meaning “son of Donald,” from the old Gaelic personal name Donald.
The #950 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 8,445 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Donaldson is a patronymic surname built from the personal name Donald plus the English/Scots suffix -son, meaning “son of.” Donald comes from Gaelic Domhnall, a long-standing northern name usually explained as “world-ruler,” though older popular explanations sometimes differ. In form, Donaldson is the more English-looking version of a name especially common in Scotland and along the Border.
History
The name is strongly associated with Scotland and the Anglo-Scottish Border, where it appears beside shorter forms such as Donald and variants like Donalds. Historical surname dictionaries treat Donaldson as simply “See Donald,” showing that it was understood as a straightforward derivative rather than a separate clan or place-name surname. It remains a common surname in Scotland and has spread widely to other English-speaking countries through migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers noted Donaldson among a cluster of surnames formed from the personal name Donald, alongside Donalds, MacDonald, Donnison, and Donkin.
From the historical record
“DONALDS. See Donald. DONALDSON. See Donald. DONCASTER. A town in Yorkshire. DONE. A great Cheshire family, whom Ormerod designates as " a race of Warriors who held Utkiuton (supposed to be the ' Done' of Domesday), as military tenants of Yenables, from the time of King John. The chiefs of this house will be”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom