Donovan is an Irish surname, Ó Donnabháin, that means "dark brown" or "dark-haired", from donn, brown, and dubh, black, describing the coloring of an early ancestor. The Scottish singer Donovan made it a plausible first name in the 1960s, and it has since become a staple of American boys' naming. Donovan peaked at number 176 in 2003 and has gently declined, from number 282 in 2015 to number 496 in 2025.