Donoghue
An Irish surname from O’Donoghue, ultimately meaning “descendant of Donnchadh,” a personal name often explained as “brown warrior” or “brown chief.”
The #9,810 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 93,559 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Donoghue is an Anglicized form of Irish O’Donoghue, from O’Donnchadha or related spellings. The underlying personal name Donnchadh is usually analyzed as donn, “brown” or “dark,” plus cath, “battle,” giving a sense like “brown warrior”; older writers also glossed it more loosely as “brown chief.” The surname therefore means “descendant of Donnchadh.”
History
The name is especially associated with Ireland and appears in several spellings, including Donohoe, Donagh, Donaghy, and Dunphy. Irish surname scholars of the 19th and early 20th centuries grouped these forms together as related Anglicizations of the same Gaelic family name. In modern usage, Donoghue is one of the better-known standard spellings.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is part of a larger Irish naming cluster that produced several quite different-looking English spellings from the same Gaelic root.
From the historical record
“Donkin. See Dunkin Donne. A loc. n., Perth Donoghue. Irish (brown chief) Oonough. See Donoghue Dorben. See Dawbin Dordery, Dordry. From Audrey or Aldrey, Norm.”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)