Misplaced Pages

Donald

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from Donald (given name))

Page version status

This is an accepted version of this page

This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 5 January 2025. This article is about the given name. For the businessman and politician, see Donald Trump. For other uses, see Donald (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Ronald.

Donald
Pronunciation/ˈdɒnəld/
GenderMale
Language(s)
Origin
Word/name
  • Domhnall
  • Dómhnall
  • Dòmhnall
  • Domhnull
  • Dòmhnull
DerivationProto-Celtic *dumno-ualos
Meaning"world ruler", "world wielder"
Other names
Short form(s)Don
Pet form(s)
Cognate(s)
  • Domnall
  • Dónal
  • Donal
  • Donall
  • Donnell
  • Dolan
  • Dyfnwal
  • Dumnagual
Derivative(s)Donella

Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name Dòmhnall. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *Dumno-ualos ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -d in Donald is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the Gaelic pronunciation by English speakers, and partly associated with the spelling of similar-sounding Germanic names, such as Ronald. A short form of Donald is Don. Pet forms of Donald include Donnie and Donny. The feminine given name Donella is derived from Donald.

Donald has cognates in other Celtic languages: Modern Irish Dónal (anglicised as Donal and Donall); Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, Domhnull and Dòmhnull; Welsh Dyfnwal and Cumbric Dumnagual. Although the feminine given name Donna is sometimes used as a feminine form of Donald, the names are not etymologically related.

Pronunciation
Irish: Dónall
Pronunciation: [ˈd̪ˠoːnˠəl̪ˠ]
Manx Gaelic: Dolyn
Pronunciation: [ˈdðolən]
Scottish Gaelic: Dòmhnall
Pronunciation: [ˈt̪õːəl̪ˠ]

Variations

Old Irish Modern Irish Hiberno-English Scottish Gaelic Scottish English Scots
Domhnall Dónal Donal Dòmhnall Donald Donnald

Kings and noblemen

Domnall or Domhnall is the name of many ancient and medieval Gaelic kings and noblemen:

Given name

Domhnall

Donnell

Don

Donal

Dónal

Donald

Donaldo

Donnie

Donny

Fictional

See also

References

  1. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 78, 402, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  2. Koch, John T. (2006), "Dyfnwal ap Tewdor", in Koch, John T. (ed.), Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, pp. 639–640, ISBN 1-85109-445-8
  3. Koch, John T. (2006), "Domnall Brecc", in Koch, John T. (ed.), Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO, p. 604, ISBN 1-85109-445-8
  4. Norman, Teresa. Names Through the Ages. Berkley Books, 1999. pp.129, 136
  5. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, p. 346, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  6. Mark, Colin (2006), The Gaelic-English Dictionary, Routledge, p. 714, ISBN 0-203-22259-8.
  7. Maceachen, Ewan (1922), Maceachen's Gaelic-English Dictionary (4, revised and enlarged ed.), The Northern Counties Newspaper and Printing and Publishing Company, pp. 467–469.
  8. MacFarlane, Malcolm (1912), The School Gaelic Dictionary prepared for the use of learners of the Gaelic language, Eneas Mackay, p. 144
Irish-language given names
Native masculine names
Native feminine names
Germanic-derived
masculine names
Bible-derived
masculine names
Bible-derived
feminine names
Latin/Greek-derived
masculine names
Latin/Greek-derived
feminine names
See also
Name listThis page or section lists people that share the same given name.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article. Categories: