Donald

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English

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Etymology

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Name of Scottish kings and an early saint, from Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall and reinforced by Medieval Latin Donvaldus ~ Donaldus, from Old Irish Domnall, from Proto-Celtic *Dubnowalos (prince / chief of the world). Doublet of Domhnall.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Donald (countable and uncountable, plural Donalds)

  1. A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.
    • 1816, Walter Scott, Old Mortality, Samuel H. Parker, published 1836, page 232:
      "Country?" replied Cuddie; "ou, the country's weel eneugh, and it werena that dour deevil, Calver'se, ( they ca' him Dundee now) that's stirring about yet in the Highlands, they say, with a' the Donalds, and Duncans, and Dugalds, that ever wore bottomless breeks, driving about wi' him, to set things asteer again, - - -
    • 1980, Laura Furman, The Glass House, a Novella and Stories, Viking Press, published 1980, →ISBN, page 76:
      My friends call me Terry. My husband always used my full name, Teresa. He said it made him feel like he was married to a foreign woman. And I never called him Don or Donny or Donny Joe. I called him Donald from the first time we met.
    • 1991, Frank Chin, Donald Duk, Coffee House Press, published 1991, →ISBN, page 1:
      Donald Duk never liked his name. He hates his name. He is not a duck. He is not a cartoon character. - - - "Only the Chinese are stupid enough to give a kid a stupid name like Donald Duk," Donald Duk says to himself.
  2. A surname.
  3. A place name:
    1. An unincorporated community in Long County, Georgia, United States.
    2. An unincorporated community in the town of Pershing, Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States.
    3. A community regarded as a ghost town west of Golden, British Columbia, Canada.
    4. A town in the Shire of Buloke, western Victoria, Australia.

Usage notes

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  • Popular in all English-speaking countries in the first half of the 20th century.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Swedish

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Etymology

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From English Donald. First recorded as a given name in Sweden in 1880.

Proper noun

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Donald c (genitive Donalds)

  1. a male given name
    • 1975, Christer Kihlman, Dyre prins, Wahlström & Widstrand, →ISBN, page 113:
      Som liten var jag ganska stolt över mitt namn. Donald! Det klingade minsann mäktigare det än både Kalle och Ville och Lasse. Senare, när jag upphöjt mig själv i borgarståndet och för säkerhets skull beseglat min borgerlighet genom äktenskapet med Gunnel Lindermann hade jag uppriktigt sagt gärna hetat nånting annat, nånting mera traditionellt ståndsmässigt, eller från den synpunkten konventionellare, som Johan eller Henrik eller Carl-Gustaf. Till och med Max och Moritz och Niklas hade gått an. Bara inte Donald. Det avslöjade obönhörligt härkomsten, fick jag snart nog klart för mig. Just i de kretsarna. I likhet med Clark och Gladys och Salome. Det lät vulgärt låtsasfint, uppkomlingsaktigt, eller på det hela taget pinsamt adekvat när allt kommer omkring.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

References

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  • Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn. Almqvist&Wiksell 1996