Contents [hide]

Doran History Etymology Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Sources

Doran History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

Etymology of Doran

What does the name Doran mean?

Gaelic is at the heart of all the Irish surnames that can be found throughout the world today. The original Gaelic form of the name Doran is Ó Deoradhain, which was later shortened to Ó Deorain. Both names are probably derived from the word deoradh, referring to an exile. 1

Early Origins of the Doran family

The surname Doran was first found in Leix (Irish: Laois) formerly known as Queen's County, located in central Ireland, in Leinster Province, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the Doran family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Doran research. Another 212 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1523, 1540, 1807, 1814, 1835, 1878, 1885 and 1909 are included under the topic Early Doran History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Doran Spelling Variations

Scribes and church officials, lacking today's standardized spelling rules, recorded names by how they were pronounced. This imprecise guide often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname Doran are preserved in documents of the family history. The various spellings of the name that were found include Doran, Dorran, O'Doran, O'Deorain, Dorain and many more.

Early Notables of the Doran family

Maurice Doran, Bishop of Leighlin who was murdered by his archdeacon in 1523
Charles Guilfoyle Doran (1835-1909), Irish book collector and author from County Cork
Dr. John Doran (1807-1878), Irish poet and historian

Doran Ranking

the United States, the name Doran is the 1,961^st most popular surname with an estimated 14,922 people with that name. 2 However, in the United Kingdom, the name Doran is ranked the 869^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,851 people with that name. 3

Doran migration to the United States +

Ireland saw an enormous decrease in its population in the 19th century due to immigration and death. This pattern of immigration began slowly in the late 18th century and gradually grew throughout the early portion of the 19th century. However, a dramatic increase in the country's immigration numbers occurred when the Great Potato Famine struck in the 1840s. The early immigrants to North America were primarily destined to be farmers tending to their own plot of land, those that came later initially settled within pre-established urban centers. These urban immigrants provided the cheap labor that the fast developing United States and soon to be Canada required. Regardless of their new lifestyle in North America, the Irish immigrants to the United States and Canada made invaluable contributions to their newly adopted societies. An investigation of immigrant and passenger lists revealed many Dorans:

Doran Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Bryan Doran, who landed in Virginia in 1695 5

Doran Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Lough Doran, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 5
Lott Doran, who landed in Virginia in 1706 5
Anne Doran, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1745 5

Doran Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Edward Doran, who landed in America in 1802 5
Felipe Doran, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1804 5
E Doran, aged 28, who arrived in America in 1822 5
Patrick Doran, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1830 5
William Doran, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1838 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Doran migration to Canada +

Doran Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Edward Doran, who arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1749
Edward Doran, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1749
Mr. James Dore U.E. (b. 1771), aged 12 who arrived at Port Roseway [Shelburne], Nova Scotia on December 13, 1783 was passenger number 559 aboard the ship "HMS Clinton", picked up on November 14, 1783 at East River, New York 6
Mr. Joseph Doreal U.E. who arrived at Port Roseway [Shelburne], Nova Scotia on December 13, 1783 was passenger number 375 aboard the ship "HMS Clinton", picked up on November 14, 1783 at East River, New York 6
Mr. John Doran U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 6
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Doran Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Margaret Doran, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1824
John Doran, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1831
John Doran, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1832
Elizabeth Doran, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1833
William Doran, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1833
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Doran migration to Australia +

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

First Fleet

Mr. William Doran, (b. 1767), aged 22, British settler convicted in Lancaster, England in 1788, sentenced to 7 years for stealing, transported aboard the ship "Neptune" leaving in 1789 arriving in New South Wales, Australia in 1790 4

Following the First Fleet, other convicts and early settlers arriving in Australia include:

Doran Settlers in Australia in the 18th Century

Mrs. Alice Doran, (b. 1762), aged 31, Irish house wife who was convicted in Dublin, Ireland for 7 years for forgery, transported aboard the "Boddingtons" on 15th February 1793, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, she died in 1794 7
Miss Doran, Irish settler travelling with mother Mrs. Alice Doran, transported aboard the "Boddingtons" on 15th February 1793, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
Mr. Laurence Doran, (b. 1762), aged 31, Irish attorney who was convicted in Dublin, Ireland for life for forgery, transported aboard the "Boddingtons" on 15th February 1793, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7

Doran Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Patrick Doran, Irish convict who was convicted in Queen's County, Ireland for life, transported aboard the "Atlas" on 29th November 1801, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Miss Mary Doran, Irish convict who was convicted in Dublin, Ireland for 7 years, transported aboard the "Experiment" on 21st January 1809, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 9
Mr. James Doran, English convict who was convicted in London, England for life, transported aboard the "Asiatic" on 5th June 1819, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 8
Henry Doran, English convict from Middlesex, who was transported aboard the "Agamemnon" on April 22, 1820, settling in New South Wales, Australia 10
Mr. Thomas Doran, British convict who was convicted in Surrey, England for 14 years, transported aboard the "Asia" on 19th November 1827, settling in New South Wales, Australia 11
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Doran migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Doran Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

William Doran, aged 44, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Inchinnan" in 1852 12
Mary Doran, aged 30, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Inchinnan" in 1852 12
Patrick Doran, aged 1, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Inchinnan" in 1852 12
William Doran, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Inchinnan" in 1852 12
Miss Margaret Doran, (b. 1863), aged 11 months, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship 'Mermaid' arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 16th February 1864 12
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Doran (post 1700) +

Kelly J. Doran (1957-2023), American real estate developer who founded The Doran Group which built more than 3,750 apartment and townhome units throughout the Twin Cities and Denver, Colorado
Thomas George Doran (1936-2016), American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, the 8th Bishop of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois (1994-2012)
William Donald Doran (b. 1958), American former Major League Baseball second baseman from Cincinnati, Ohio
William Doran (1916-1973), American Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, eponym of Doran's Bend, Isle of Man after his crash there
Colleen Doran (b. 1964), American writer/artist, film conceptual artist, and cartoonist, inducted into the Women Cartoonist's Hall of Fame (2007)
James Robert Doran (b. 1927), former American NFL football wide receiver
Brigadier-General Charles Richard Doran (1892-1984), American Commanding Officer 18th Field Artillery Regiment (1941-1942) 13
Ann Lee Doran (1911-2000), American character actress, active 1922-1988, featured in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), she often appeared with The Three Stooges, Charley Chase, Andy Clyde, and Harry Langdon
Admiral Walter F. Doran (b. 1945), Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) from May 2002 to July 2005
... (Another 12 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Sources +

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/
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships
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)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 25th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/boddingtons
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 14th July 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/atlas
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 2nd June 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/experiment
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Agamemnon voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1820 with 179 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/agamemnon/1820
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 8th January 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/asia/1827
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2012, January 24) Charles Doran. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Doran/Charles_Richard/USA.html