Downey

English

Etymology

Various origins:

• Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Dúnadhaigh (“descendant of Dúnadhach”), a personal name which derives from a diminutive form of dúnadh (“closing, securing, fastening”).
• Irish surname from a reduced form of McEldowney or Muldowney.
• Scottish habitational surname from the barony of Downie or Duny, named from Scottish Gaelic dùn (“hill”) + the locative suffix -ach.

Proper noun

Downey (countable and uncountable, plural Downeys)

1. A surname.
2. A city in Los Angeles County, California, United States.
3. A city in Bannock County, Idaho, United States.
4. An unincorporated community in Cedar County, Iowa, United States.

Derived terms

• Downey cell
• Downey Heads
• downeyite
• downeyoside

 

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Downey is the 1320^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 26627 individuals. Downey is most common among White (88.35%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Downey”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 1, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 485.