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Surnames by county · Ulster

Most common surnames in County Donegal

Doherty was the commonest surname in Co. Donegal in 1911: 7,939 people, about one resident in 21. It was followed by Gallagher, O'Donnell, Boyle and McLaughlin.

Counts are people living in the county on census night, with spelling variants combined (Sullivan and O'Sullivan count as one name).

Donegal Waterford Dublin Kilkenny Carlow Limerick Louth Tipperary Roscommon Meath Wicklow Cavan Cork Clare Galway Mayo Sligo Leitrim Offaly Laois Kildare Kerry Monaghan Wexford Longford Westmeath Tyrone Antrim Armagh Fermanagh Londonderry Down

The 25 commonest names, 1911

#SurnamePeoplePer 10,00019011926
1 Doherty 7,939 471 2 1
2 Gallagher 7,937 471 1 2
3 O'Donnell 5,006 297 3 3
4 Boyle 4,335 257 4 4
5 McLaughlin 3,712 220 5 5
6 Sweeney 2,435 144 6 6
7 Kelly 1,966 117 7 7
8 McGinley 1,690 100 8 10
9 McFadden 1,657 98 9 8
10 Ward 1,573 93 10 11
11 Duffy 1,570 93 11 9
12 McDaid 1,315 78 13 12
13 McBride 1,285 76 14 13
14 Harkin 1,280 76 12 14
15 Friel 1,210 72 16 15
16 Coyle 1,172 70 15 18
17 Campbell 1,139 68 17 21
18 McHugh 1,116 66 19 16
19 Gillespie 1,071 64 18 17
20 Byrne 1,031 61 20 22
21 Ferry 1,017 60 21 20
22 Carr 931 55 22 23
23 Breslin 895 53 23 24
24 McGee 847 50 24 19
25 Stewart 809 48 27 28

The 1901 and 1926 columns give the name's rank in the county in that year; a dash means it was outside the top 40. Linked names have a full page with meaning, Irish forms and history.

Names most typical of Donegal

Among the 100 commonest Irish surnames, these were the most over-represented in Co. Donegal in 1911, compared with their share of Ireland's population as a whole.

  1. Doherty 10.97× 7,939 people · 471 per 10,000
  2. Gallagher 10.82× 7,937 people · 471 per 10,000
  3. Boyle 9.73× 4,335 people · 257 per 10,000
  4. O'Donnell 9.26× 5,006 people · 297 per 10,000
  5. McLaughlin 6.65× 3,712 people · 220 per 10,000
  6. Sweeney 5.62× 2,435 people · 144 per 10,000
  7. Ward 4.34× 1,573 people · 93 per 10,000
  8. Duffy 3.36× 1,570 people · 93 per 10,000
  9. Curran 2.72× 756 people · 45 per 10,000
  10. McDermott 2.61× 731 people · 43 per 10,000

Questions about surnames in Donegal

What is the most common surname in County Donegal?

In the 1911 census the most common surname in Co. Donegal was Doherty, with 7,939 people, or about one resident in 21. The next most common were Gallagher, O'Donnell, Boyle and McLaughlin. Doherty was still the commonest name in 1926.

Which surnames are most typical of County Donegal?

Compared with Ireland as a whole, the names most over-represented in Co. Donegal in 1911 (among the 100 commonest Irish surnames) were Doherty (10.97× the national rate), Gallagher (10.82× the national rate), Boyle (9.73× the national rate).

Ancestors from County Donegal?

Browse every townland and household in Co. Donegal in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses.

Donegal records on irishcensus.com