Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Donnghaile
‘descendant of Donnghal’, a personal name composed of the
elements donn ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + gal
‘valor’. It is claimed that most bearers of this surname in Donegal
descend from Donnghal O’Neill, 17th in descent from Niall of the Nine
Hostages; there were also other families of the same name in Sligo and
Cork.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The donnelly name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the donnelly family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the donnelly last name.