Donahoe History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

The many Irish surnames in use today have long rich histories behind them. The name Donahoe originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Donnchadha, which means son of Donnchadh or son of Donagh. 1

Early Origins of the Donahoe family

The surname Donahoe was first found in County Kerry (Irish:Ciarraí) part of the former County Desmond (14th-17th centuries), located in Southwestern Ireland, in Munster province, where they held a family seat from very ancient times.

Early History of the Donahoe family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Donahoe research. Another 76 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1640, 1811, 1812 and 1893 are included under the topic Early Donahoe History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Donahoe Spelling Variations

During the Middle Ages, scribes recorded people's names as they saw fit. As a result, surnames often had many spelling variations. For Donahoe some of these variations included: Donoghue, Donaghoe, Donaho, Donahoe, Donough, Donahue, Donahow, Doneghoe, Donehue, Donighue, Donohoe,Donahugh, Donohough, Donohow, Donohue, Donaughue, O'Donoghue, Dunphy, Donaghie, Donaghy and many more.

Early Notables of the Donahoe family

Another 28 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Donahoe Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Donahoe Ranking

In the United States, the name Donahoe is the 10,240^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Donahoe migration to the United States +

Irish families began leaving their homeland for North America in the late 18th century. These families were usually modestly well off, but they were looking forward to owning and working on a sizable tract of land of their own. This pattern of emigration continued until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine sparked a major exodus of destitute and desperate Irish people. These people were not leaving for a grant of land in North America because by this time the East Coast had reached its saturation point and free land was scarce. They were merely looking to escape the disease, starvation, and hopelessness that Ireland had fallen into. Although these unfortunate immigrants did not receive a warm welcome by the established populations in the United States and what would become Canada, they were absolutely critical to the rapid development that these two nations enjoyed. They would help populate the western lands and provide the cheap labor required for a rapid industrialization. An examination of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many early bearers of the name Donahoe or one of its variants:

Donahoe Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Willis Donahoe, who landed in Texas in 1835 3
Thomas Donahoe, who arrived in Mobile County, Ala in 1842 3
Timothy Donahoe, aged 22, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1849 3
James Donahoe, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1856 3
John Donahoe, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1856 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Donahoe migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Donahoe Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Mrs. Bridget Donahoe, aged 40 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Numa" departing from the port of Sligo, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle in August 1847 4
Ms. Catherine Donahoe, aged 23 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Wellington" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in October 1847 4
Mr. Jeremiah Donahoe, aged 28 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Odessa" departing from the port of Dublin, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle in August 1847 4
Mr. John Donahoe, aged 27 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Saguenay" departing from the port of Cork, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle in October 1847 4
Ms. Margaret Donahoe, aged 20 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Covenanter" departing from the port of Cork, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle in August 1847 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Donahoe migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Donahoe Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. James Donahoe, English convict who was convicted in London, England for life, transported aboard the "Fanny" on 25th August 1815, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 5
Mary Donahoe, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Abberton" in 1846 6
John Donahoe, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Lady Bruce" in 1846 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Donahoe (post 1700) +

Roger O. Donahoe, American politician, Member of South Dakota State House of Representatives, 1891-94 (5th District 1891-92, 4th District 1893-94)
Joseph P. Donahoe (b. 1891), American Democratic Party politician, Bail commissioner; Member of Massachusetts State Senate Seventh Suffolk District, 1935-36; Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Massachusetts, 1944
John Michael Donahoe, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Oklahoma, 1972
Eileen C. Donahoe, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 2008
Dorothy M. Donahoe, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 1960
Daniel M. Donahoe, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1864
Daniel J. Donahoe, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Connecticut State House of Representatives from Middletown, 1908
Patrick R. Donahoe, American 73rd United States Postmaster General
John Donahoe (b. 1960), American businessman and the President and CEO of eBay Inc
Patrick Donahoe (1811-1901), Irish-American publisher
... (Another 4 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 25)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 28th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) ABBERTON 1846. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1846Abberton.htm
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) LADY BRUCE 1846. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1846LadyBruce.htm