The Donnelly surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 31,505 people carried this name — #1,114 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 9,360 people counted. That is up 2% from 30,919 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Donnelly surname

From the Irish surname, from Ó Donnghaile (“descendant of Donnghal”), from donn (“brown-haired”) + gal (“valor”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Donnelly» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 240 births for the Donnelly name in 1890.

They were registered in all four provinces, most of all in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 10,700 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. 12 of them were indexed under other spellings of the name.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 135
Leinster 64
Connacht 22
Munster 19

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 122 people named Donnelly live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in City of Buenos Aires.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

City of Buenos Aires 45
Buenos Aires Province 40
Santa Fe 37

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

34 people named Donnelly live in Switzerland.

They live in 6 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Bern.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Bern 8
Geneva 6
Zurich 6
Ticino 5
Zug 5
Vaud 4

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 25 people named Donnelly.

Most of them — 18 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 5 départements, most often French Guiana.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 18
French Guiana 3
Charente-Maritime 1
Côtes-d’Armor 1
Meuse 1
Yvelines 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In the Nordic population registers

50 people named Donnelly are counted in Sweden and Finland.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 28
Finland (2026) 22

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.

In Scotland’s registers today

Donnelly was recorded 187 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 110th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 229. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

Donnelly in American newspapers,
1879–1899.

Newspaper page from The Benton Record carrying the name Donnelly
The Benton Record 1879-04-04
Newspaper page from The Weekly Clarion carrying the name Donnelly
The Weekly Clarion 1880-05-05
Newspaper page from The Anaconda Standard carrying the name Donnelly
The Anaconda Standard 1899-01-25

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 304,060 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Donnelly in Australian newspapers,
1810s–2000s.

80,291 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Donnelly. The most, 13,933, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in the Australian Capital Territory, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 41,467
Queensland 13,835
Victoria 10,535
South Australia 5,429
Tasmania 5,278
Western Australia 2,572
ACT (Canberra) 985
Northern Territory 21

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Donnelly.

Who carried it

People named Donnelly,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Dan Donnelly
    Dan Donnelly 1788–1820 · athlete
  • Ignatius Loyola Donnelly
    Ignatius Loyola Donnelly 1831–1901 · writer
  • Nicholas Donnelly
    Nicholas Donnelly 1837–1920 · Catholic priest
  • Richard Grant Augustus Donnelly
    Richard Grant Augustus Donnelly 1841–1905 · politician
  • Frederick William Donnelly
    Frederick William Donnelly 1866–1935 · politician

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 271 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Donnelly,
in the records of 8 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States12,357 records

12,357 records of the Donnelly name in the United States
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 4,880
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 3,152
  • Other U.S. records 4,325
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Verne George Donnelly

    Born 1932; from Marysville, California. U.S. Navy, pilot; declared dead 1972 in North Vietnam. Buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, California.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Lowery C. Donnelly

    Born 1909 in Tennessee. Enlisted 1941 at Los Angeles, California; machinist. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2000, buried at Rose Hills Memorial Park, Whittier, California.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Mary Donnelly

    Arrived at New York in 1835 aboard the Tally Ho from Liverpool, aged 23; laborer. From Billsborough, Ireland; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 12,357 records for Donnelly in the United States.

Counts: NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · New York State, Open NY (police and firefighter memorial rolls). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia2,345 records

2,345 records of the Donnelly name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 773
  • Tasmanian Names Index 513
  • Other Australian records 1,059
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Sarah Donnelly

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Waverley, sailing from London Dublin in 1847. Native of Armagh. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1851. Married 1851 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 33.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Mary Donnelly

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Blackfriar, sailing from Kingston in 1851. Native of Tyrone. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1854. Married 1854 in Launceston, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Patrick Donnelly

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Elizabeth & Henry, sailing from Kingston in 1845. Native of Monaghan. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1852.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 2,345 records for Donnelly in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

Canada254 records

254 records of the Donnelly name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 127
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 40
  • Other Canadian records 87
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Sarah Donnelly

    Killed in the Halifax Explosion of 1917, aged 27; buried at St John's Cemetery, Halifax.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Moses Donnelly

    Came to Ontario in 1874 aboard the Polynesian, bound for Hamilton, Ontario; Irish.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Charlotte Maria Donnelly

    Buried in 2001 at St. Mary's Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 90.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.

Showing 3 of 254 records for Donnelly in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

New Zealand90 records

90 records of the Donnelly name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 53
  • Thames-Coromandel District cemetery records 34
  • Other New Zealand records 3
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William Ian McLaren Donnelly

    Died 1956, aged 54; buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William James Donnelly

    Buried in 1921 at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 58.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record John Patrick Donnelly

    Died 1968, aged 79; buried at Omaka Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 90 records for Donnelly in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

United Kingdom88 records

88 records of the Donnelly name in the United Kingdom
  • Stirling Council burial records 41
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 39
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 8
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record James Donnelly

    Buried in 1903 at Ballengeich Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 57.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Sarah Donnelly

    Buried in 1828 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 80.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record R. Donnelly

    South Staffordshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 88 records for Donnelly in the United Kingdom.

Counts: Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Ireland21 records

21 records of the Donnelly name in Ireland County Galway graveyard records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Hugh Donnelly

    Died 1982, aged 24; buried at Moylough, Co. Galway.

    Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Kate Donnelly

    Died 1923, aged 67; buried at Dunmore, Co. Galway.

    Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 21 records for Donnelly in Ireland.

Counts: Galway County Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Netherlands7 records

7 records of the Donnelly name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 5
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 2
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Ellen Donnelly

    Died 1962 in Rotterdam, aged 80.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Bernard Donnelly

    In the population register of Broxburn; born 1913 in Broxburn.

    Open Archives, West Brabants Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 7 records for Donnelly in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

France5 records

5 records of the Donnelly name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Thomas Donnelly

    Born 1919 in Great Britain; died 1998 in Dunkerque (Nord).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Marie-Catherine Donnelly

    Born 1960 in La Garde; died 2000 in Jonzac (Charente-Maritime).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 5 records for Donnelly in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Donnelly.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Donnelly is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Donnelly volume
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