Donovan

Irish

"dark"

Donovan Origin and Meaning

The name Donovan is a boy's name of Irish Gaelic origin meaning "dark".

One of the first of the appealing Irish surnames to take off in this country, this boys’ name has long outgrown its "Mellow Yellow" association, which came via the single from a sixties singer-songwriter named Donovan.

Donovan was Scottish-born Donovan Leitch, whose name was probably inspired by his father Donald's. He proved to be an adventurous, celestial namer himself--three of his children are Astrella Celeste, Oriole Nebula and Ione Skye.

Another potential namesake is retired pro bowl quarterback Donovan McNabb.

Donovan was in the USA Top 1000 as early as 1900.

Related options are surname Donegan and place name Donegal.

Donovan Rank in US Top 1000

# 466 in the US

Donovan Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 515 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Donovan

• 466 US 2023
• 515 Nameberry 2025
• 955 England 2016

20 Names Similar to Donovan

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Donovan.

• Quentin
• Julien
• Jonas
• Malcom
• Ruben
• Duncan
• Vance
• Morgan
• Niall
• Quinton
• Conrad
• Finnigan
• Seth
• Samson
• Warren
• Troy
• Ivan
• Judah
• Westley
• Roland

Famous People Named Donovan

• Donovan (Philips Leitch) Scottish singer,songwriter
• Donovan Jamal McNabb American NFL football player
• Donovan Warren American football player
• Donovan Bailey Canadian Olympic sprinter
• Donovan Blake American cricketer
• Donovan Ricketts Jamaican footballer
• Donovan Frankenreiter American singer,songwriter
• Donovan Alan Osborne American baseball player
• Donovan Woods American football player
• Donovan Patton American actor
• Donovan Jerome Leitch (b. 1967) English,American actor; son of singer Donovan
• Donovan "Donnie" Jackson (b. 1992) son of actress Shar Jackson
• Donovan Charles Hardy (b. 2003) son of actress Charisma Carpenter
• Donovan Roth (adopted 2006) son of actors Matt Roth and Laurie Metcalf
• Donovan Rory MacDonald Gallagher (b. 2007) son of musician Noel Gallagher
• Donovan Jamal McNabb Jr. (b. 2008), son of NFL player Donovan McNabb
• Donovan Evers Leitch (b. 2015) son of actor Donovan Leitch & Libby Mintz; grandson of singer Donovan
• Jagger Donovan Rooney (b. 2008) son of musician Joe Don Rooney and model Tiffany Fallon
• Landon Donovan American soccer player
• Jeffrey Donovan American actor
• Tate Donovan American actor
• Jason Sean Donovan Australian actor and singer
• Terence Donovan Australian actor, father of Jason Donovan

The name Donovan in Pop Culture

• Donovan character in "The Puzzle Ring"
• Donovan vampire on TV's "American Horror Story"
• Mike Donovan character in Isaac Asimov's Robot stories
• Matt Donovan character on "The Vampire Diaries"
• Donovan character in the manga and anime "Berserk"