Donal as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Donal

What is the meaning of the name Donal ?

The baby name Donal is a boy name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced DOH-nuhl.

Donal is Irish, Scottish Gaelic in Origin.

Donal is an Anglicized spelling of Irish Dónal, itself a later form of Old Irish Domnall, also written Domnall in early medieval sources. The name belongs to the Goidelic branch of Celtic. Its elements are Old Irish domun, world, and a second element related to rule or command, so the literal sense is world-ruler rather than the unrelated brown-haired interpretations sometimes given in modern lists.

In Ireland, Domnall was borne by kings and dynasts from the early Middle Ages, and the cognate Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall became familiar in Scotland through Gaelic-speaking clans. English Donald is the best-known Anglicized form, while Dónal and Domhnall preserve Irish spelling. Donal appears in modern Irish use and in diaspora records, but in the United States it has remained uncommon, with its highest registrations in the early twentieth century.