Donovan
Donovan was given to 609 boys in 2025, #496 among boys’ names; 61,904 Americans have been recorded with it since 1900 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 57,500 Americans named Donovan and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (93% of everyone recorded); the median is 23 years old and half are between 15 and 32.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Donovan by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Donovan mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Donovan is “a male given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the senses “descendant of (a person named) brown & black” (Donndubháin) and “brown” (donn) and “black” (dubh).
From Irish Ó Donndubháin (“descendant of (a person named) brown & black”), from donn (“brown”) and dubh (“black”).
/ˈdɒnəvɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Donovan?
#496 among boys’ names, 2025
Donovan fell from #282 in 2015 to #496 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.68 to 0.36 per 1,000.
2,219 babies in 2003, the peak
Donovan peaked in 2003, when 2,219 babies were given it (2,211 boys, #176 among boys’ names). The 609 births of 2025 are 27% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 609 | #496 | 0.36 |
| 2024 | 604 | #506 | 0.35 |
| 2023 | 652 | #468 | 0.38 |
| 2022 | 693 | #448 | 0.40 |
| 2021 | 727 | #425 | 0.42 |
| 2020 | 830 | #374 | 0.48 |
| 2019 | 947 | #352 | 0.53 |
| 2018 | 1,030 | #325 | 0.57 |
| 2017 | 1,061 | #323 | 0.57 |
| 2016 | 1,160 | #306 | 0.61 |
Every recorded year (125)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,304 | #282 | 0.68 |
| 2014 | 1,271 | #284 | 0.66 |
| 2013 | 1,237 | #281 | 0.65 |
| 2012 | 1,272 | #276 | 0.67 |
| 2011 | 1,363 | #254 | 0.72 |
| 2010 | 1,644 | #217 | 0.86 |
| 2009 | 1,741 | #215 | 0.88 |
| 2008 | 1,786 | #214 | 0.88 |
| 2007 | 2,044 | #197 | 1.0 |
| 2006 | 1,967 | #198 | 1.0 |
| 2005 | 2,186 | #185 | 1.1 |
| 2004 | 2,055 | #187 | 1.0 |
| 2003 | 2,211 | #176 | 1.1 |
| 2002 | 1,964 | #190 | 1.0 |
| 2001 | 1,657 | #211 | 0.85 |
| 2000 | 1,718 | #206 | 0.87 |
| 1999 | 1,632 | #210 | 0.85 |
| 1998 | 1,542 | #210 | 0.81 |
| 1997 | 1,449 | #213 | 0.77 |
| 1996 | 1,201 | #246 | 0.63 |
| 1995 | 1,077 | #261 | 0.57 |
| 1994 | 1,110 | #261 | 0.57 |
| 1993 | 1,144 | #249 | 0.58 |
| 1992 | 1,176 | #243 | 0.59 |
| 1991 | 1,059 | #256 | 0.52 |
| 1990 | 849 | #300 | 0.41 |
| 1989 | 773 | #311 | 0.39 |
| 1988 | 672 | #321 | 0.35 |
| 1987 | 630 | #326 | 0.34 |
| 1986 | 495 | #373 | 0.27 |
| 1985 | 460 | #391 | 0.25 |
| 1984 | 332 | #463 | 0.18 |
| 1983 | 278 | #504 | 0.16 |
| 1982 | 280 | #507 | 0.15 |
| 1981 | 289 | #494 | 0.16 |
| 1980 | 344 | #449 | 0.19 |
| 1979 | 317 | #459 | 0.18 |
| 1978 | 293 | #476 | 0.18 |
| 1977 | 324 | #442 | 0.20 |
| 1976 | 348 | #414 | 0.22 |
| 1975 | 338 | #425 | 0.22 |
| 1974 | 369 | #405 | 0.23 |
| 1973 | 378 | #400 | 0.24 |
| 1972 | 403 | #392 | 0.25 |
| 1971 | 479 | #366 | 0.27 |
| 1970 | 501 | #365 | 0.27 |
| 1969 | 478 | #361 | 0.27 |
| 1968 | 283 | #455 | 0.16 |
| 1967 | 227 | #500 | 0.13 |
| 1966 | 175 | #573 | 0.10 |
| 1965 | 132 | #649 | 0.07 |
| 1964 | 119 | #710 | 0.06 |
| 1963 | 102 | #760 | 0.05 |
| 1962 | 103 | #753 | 0.05 |
| 1961 | 119 | #699 | 0.06 |
| 1960 | 75 | #877 | 0.04 |
| 1959 | 86 | #823 | 0.04 |
| 1958 | 74 | #877 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 116 | #703 | 0.05 |
| 1956 | 88 | #792 | 0.04 |
| 1955 | 107 | #707 | 0.05 |
| 1954 | 76 | #828 | 0.04 |
| 1953 | 80 | #801 | 0.04 |
| 1952 | 73 | #823 | 0.04 |
| 1951 | 86 | #752 | 0.05 |
| 1950 | 90 | #720 | 0.05 |
| 1949 | 70 | #816 | 0.04 |
| 1948 | 78 | #767 | 0.04 |
| 1947 | 78 | #779 | 0.04 |
| 1946 | 83 | #717 | 0.05 |
| 1945 | 58 | #822 | 0.04 |
| 1944 | 63 | #790 | 0.05 |
| 1943 | 73 | #764 | 0.05 |
| 1942 | 65 | #798 | 0.05 |
| 1941 | 65 | #771 | 0.05 |
| 1940 | 84 | #660 | 0.07 |
| 1939 | 79 | #667 | 0.07 |
| 1938 | 91 | #624 | 0.08 |
| 1937 | 64 | #765 | 0.06 |
| 1936 | 79 | #662 | 0.08 |
| 1935 | 66 | #759 | 0.06 |
| 1934 | 109 | #567 | 0.11 |
| 1933 | 80 | #651 | 0.08 |
| 1932 | 107 | #575 | 0.10 |
| 1931 | 98 | #591 | 0.09 |
| 1930 | 93 | #637 | 0.08 |
| 1929 | 85 | #666 | 0.08 |
| 1928 | 93 | #649 | 0.08 |
| 1927 | 78 | #742 | 0.07 |
| 1926 | 66 | #814 | 0.06 |
| 1925 | 75 | #760 | 0.07 |
| 1924 | 65 | #851 | 0.06 |
| 1923 | 75 | #758 | 0.07 |
| 1922 | 52 | #980 | 0.05 |
| 1921 | 69 | #828 | 0.06 |
| 1920 | 61 | #879 | 0.06 |
| 1919 | 54 | #910 | 0.06 |
| 1918 | 46 | #988 | 0.05 |
| 1917 | 40 | #1,041 | 0.04 |
| 1916 | 49 | #898 | 0.06 |
| 1915 | 45 | #928 | 0.05 |
| 1914 | 35 | #937 | 0.05 |
| 1913 | 28 | #936 | 0.05 |
| 1912 | 26 | #884 | 0.06 |
| 1911 | 12 | #998 | 0.05 |
| 1909 | 8 | #1,102 | 0.05 |
| 1908 | 5 | #1,432 | 0.03 |
| 1907 | 9 | #940 | 0.06 |
| 1906 | 9 | #868 | 0.07 |
| 1905 | 12 | #712 | 0.09 |
| 1904 | 9 | #825 | 0.07 |
| 1903 | 9 | #808 | 0.08 |
| 1902 | 7 | #952 | 0.06 |
| 1901 | 7 | #878 | 0.07 |
| 1900 | 8 | #982 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Donovan a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Donovan has been given almost only to boys: 220 girls in 125 years of records.
Girls and boys named Donovan: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Donovan, and how old are they?
57,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 93% of the 61,904 Americans ever recorded as Donovan. The median Donovan alive today is 23 years old; half are between 15 and 32.
The 2020 Census counted 49,795 people named Donovan (237 women and girls, 49,558 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 54,466 born in the U.S. The Census count is 9% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 254 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,140 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 4,800 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 11,400 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 27,900 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 12,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Donovan born?
The states with the most babies named Donovan are California, Texas and New York, with 32% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 91 | #376 | 1.1× |
| Texas | 61 | #533 | 0.8× |
| New York | 32 | #506 | 0.7× |
| Florida | 31 | #558 | 1.0× |
| New Jersey | 27 | #315 | 0.6× |
| Ohio | 24 | #444 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 22 | #462 | 0.7× |
| Georgia | 20 | #523 | 0.9× |
| Virginia | 20 | #392 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 19 | #519 | 0.8× |
Where Donovan is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Donovan is most over-represented in Hawaii: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Donovan with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 81,728 babies since 1880, Donovan is the most given (76% of them). In 2025 it was given to 609 of their 706 babies (86%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Donovan
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Donovan and names like it
- Compare Donovan and DonavanBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sDonovan peaked in 2003.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Donovan since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Donovan: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2003The year the most babies were named Donovan.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Donovan alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with DMost given first.