Donavan is a spelling variant of Donovan, an Irish surname from Ó Donndubháin, "descendant of Donndubhán", a name built from donn, "brown", and dubh, "dark", so roughly "dark brown-haired". The Scottish singer Donovan brought the surname into use as a first name in the 1960s. Donavan peaked at number 678 in 2002, slipped out of the top 1000 and ranks number 2426 in 2025.