Explore the Family Name Donais

The meaning of Donais

Altered form of French Daunay: habitational name, with fused preposition d(e) ‘from’, denoting someone from Aunay, the name of several places in France, for example in Calvados, Eure, and Orne. The placename is derived from aune ‘alder’. Compare Daunais, Doner, Doney, and Donner. Some characteristic forenames: French Adelard.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Donais in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Donais saw a slight decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 48,469th in terms of commonality among U.S. surnames, but by 2010 it had slipped to 52,851st. The number of individuals bearing the Donais surname also slightly diminished during this time period, with a count of 409 in 2000 that decreased to 392 by 2010, reflecting a change of -4.16%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#48,469	#52,851	-9.04%
Count	409	392	-4.16%
Proportion per 100k	0.15	0.13	-13.33%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Donais

According to the ethnic identity data from the same Decennial U.S. Census, the majority of people with the Donais surname identify as White, accounting for 93.89% in 2000 and increasing slightly to 95.41% in 2010. In 2000, 2.44% of those with the Donais surname were of Hispanic ethnicity, but there were no recorded individuals identifying as Hispanic in 2010. The percentage of individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander also dropped to zero in 2010 from 1.22% in 2000. Those identifying as part of two or more races made up 1.47% in 2000 and 1.28% in 2010. There were no reported individuals with the Donais surname identifying as Black or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	93.89%	95.41%	1.62%
Two or More Races	1.47%	1.28%	-12.93%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.22%	0%	0%
Hispanic	2.44%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%