Donovan

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Donovan: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Donovan: Recorded every year since 1996, its highest recorded position is #272, and it stood at #785 in 2024.

3registrars recorded it
35times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#272highest recorded position
8groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#654
1997	#725
1998	#850
1999	#718
2000	#817
2001	#728
2002	#722
2003	#865
2004	#749
2005	#1014
2006	#1084
2007	#1014
2008	#818
2009	#1218
2010	#878
2011	#1688
2012	#1086
2013	#1116
2014	#1035
2015	#1236
2016	#946
2017	#1210
2018	#1158
2019	#1506
2020	#1723
2021	#1984
2022	#1179
2023	#2546
2024	#1595

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in England and Wales in every year from 1996 to 2024.

In 2024: #785 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #1595 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #654 among boys in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Boys
Highest recorded1998–2013
Highest recorded position: #272 among boys in Northern Ireland, in 1998 (recorded 1998–2013).
Northern Ireland · Boys
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #1595 among boys in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Boys

Donovan appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Boys, which has ranked it in 29 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 634 births with the name.

Donovan across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Donovan's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Boys	#654 (1996)	#654 (1996)	#1595 (2024)	29 of 29	634 (1996–2024)	34 (2008)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#272 (1998)	#272 (1998)	#398 (2013)	3 of 16	9 (1998–2013)	3 (1998)
Republic of Ireland · Boys	#718 (2012)	#550 (2014)	#785 (2024)	3 of 13	11 (2012–2024)	5 (2014)

Donovan by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Donovan in England and Wales · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	87	4 of 10	22
2000sbusiest	242	10 of 10	24
2010s	234	10 of 10	23
2020s	71	5 of 10	14

Across England and Wales · Boys, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 24 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Donovan appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #272 in Northern Ireland in 1998.

Donovan's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	male	#1595	16	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#2546	8	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#1179	23	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#1984	11	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#1723	13	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#1506	16	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1158	23	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#1210	22	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#946	31	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#1236	21	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#1035	27	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#1116	23	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	male	#1086	25	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	male	#1688	13	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#878	33	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	male	#1218	20	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#818	34	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#1014	24	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	male	#1084	20	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#1014	21	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#749	30	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	male	#865	23	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#722	26	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	male	#728	24	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#817	20	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	male	#718	23	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#850	18	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	male	#725	22	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	male	#654	24	High	Verified
2013	Northern Ireland	male	#398	3	High	Verified
2001	Northern Ireland	male	#280	3	High	Verified
1998	Northern Ireland	male	#272	3	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	male	#785	3	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	male	#550	5	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	male	#718	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #272, first reached in 1998.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 34 births, registered in England and Wales in 2008.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1998, and 16 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Donnie · #509, 26y
Donny · #755, 24y
Dontae · #1229, 27y
Donte · #894, 29y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Gethin · #272, 27y
Kalem · #272, 25y
Aedan · #271, 29y
Alister · #271, 28y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Allister · #272, 17y
Connaire · #272, 10y
Gethin · #272, 27y
Izabella · #272, 30y

Donovan was ranked #272 in Northern Ireland · Boys in 1998. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Donovan and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Donovan without appearing here.

Donovan moved ahead of

Graham Compare
In 2023 they stood at #2546 and #1533 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1595 and #5119.
Keith Compare
In 2023 they stood at #2546 and #2325 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1595 and #3688.
Ross Compare
In 2023 they stood at #2546 and #2160 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1595 and #3254.
Gary Compare
In 2023 they stood at #2546 and #2546 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2024 that had become #1595 and #2671.

Moved ahead of Donovan

Markus Compare
In 2022 they stood at #1179 and #1224 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #2546 and #1108.
Harper Compare
In 2022 they stood at #1179 and #1609 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #2546 and #1207.
Matheo Compare
In 2022 they stood at #1179 and #2018 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #2546 and #1363.
Aksel Compare
In 2022 they stood at #1179 and #1224 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #2546 and #1461.

Moved the opposite way to Donovan

Albie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Donovan went from #654 to #1595 while Albie went from #853 to #19.
Alfie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Donovan went from #654 to #1595 while Alfie went from #119 to #16.
Alfred Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Donovan went from #654 to #1595 while Alfred went from #218 to #81.
Archie Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Donovan went from #654 to #1595 while Archie went from #192 to #10.

Moved the same way as Donovan

Aaron Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Donovan went from #654 to #1595 and Aaron from #33 to #154.
Adam Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Donovan went from #654 to #1595 and Adam from #16 to #35.
Alan Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Donovan went from #654 to #1595 and Alan from #163 to #592.
Alex Compare
Between 1996 and 2024 in England and Wales · Boys, Donovan went from #654 to #1595 and Alex from #43 to #171.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #272 in Northern Ireland in 1998. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Donovan

Donovan at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Donovan across 3 official records

Donovan by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Donovan appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Donovan

Donovan and the names beside it

Donovan moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Donovan

Moved the opposite way to Donovan

Moved the same way as Donovan

Donovan at a glance

Donovan across 3 official records

Donovan by decade in England and Wales · Boys

Donovan appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Donovan

Donovan and the names beside it

Donovan moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Donovan

Moved the opposite way to Donovan

Moved the same way as Donovan