boy's name
Donagh
DUN-uh
- Origin Irish
- Gender Boy
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (Ireland)
- Births on record 1,030
Ireland
#146
2025 births
Donagh is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "brown-haired warrior," and it is the same name as the Scottish Duncan by a different route. It ranks 146th in Ireland and appears in no other market we hold.
- Donagh is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2017, when 50 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 1,212 babies in Ireland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1964.
Donagh over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 1960s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 72 |
| 1970s | 119 |
| 1980s | 71 |
| 1990s | 77 |
| 2000s | 149 |
| 2010s | 329 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 213 |
What Donagh means
Donagh means brown-haired warrior, or brown chieftain. The compound joins donn, brown — generally read as describing hair — with cath, battle, so it describes a fighter rather than a color alone.
Where Donagh comes from
Donagh anglicizes the Irish Donnchadh, from donn, brown, and cath, battle. Its historical bearer is Donnchad mac Briain, son of Brian Boru, who took Munster after Clontarf, spent decades contesting the High Kingship with his nephew, was deposed in 1063 and went on pilgrimage to Rome — where he died, and where tradition says he took the Irish regalia with him. The same name in Scotland became Donnchad and then Duncan, which is why the king Macbeth kills in Shakespeare carries a name Irish parents are still using. The English pairing with Denis is by sound alone: Denis is Greek, from Dionysos, and has no connection. Donagh, Donnacha, Donncha and Donnchadh all appear separately in Irish records.
Donagh in use
Donagh ranks 146th in Ireland with 37 births in 2025 and is rising in our data with a peak in 2017. Our records carry it from 1964, the earliest year our Irish data reaches. It appears in no other market we hold — not even Northern Ireland — and the several other spellings are counted separately, so the sound is more common in Ireland than any one entry shows.
How popular is Donagh?
In 2025, Donagh was given to 37 babies in Ireland, ranking #146 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Irish figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. The Central Statistics Office began recording the síneadh fada in 2018, so accented and unaccented spellings are counted separately from that year on. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Donagh
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Donagh also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Donagh over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Donagh in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Donagh
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Donagh — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Donagh
What does the name Donagh mean?
Donagh means "brown-haired warrior," from donn, brown, and cath, battle.
Is Donagh related to Duncan?
Yes — they are the same name. Duncan is the Scottish development of Donnchad.
How do you pronounce Donagh?
DUN-uh, two syllables. The gh is silent.
Is Donagh the Irish for Denis?
They were paired by sound, but Denis is Greek and unrelated.
Is Donagh a girl's or a boy's name?
Donagh is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
When was Donagh most popular?
Donagh peaked in 2017, when 50 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Donagh a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Donagh currently ranks #146 in Ireland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.