O'Donovan family name history and map
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O'Donovan in 1911 Ireland
The 1911 Census recorded 914 people named O'Donovan in Ireland; roughly one in every 4,800 people carried the name. The name was split fairly evenly between men and women: 443 men and 471 women.
Counties with O'Donovan in Ireland
The O'Donovans were heavily concentrated in Cork, home to 73.2% of them (669 people). Next came Limerick (77), Dublin (74), Waterford (40) and Tipperary (25).
O'Donovan average age in 1911
The average O'Donovan in 1911 was 27.3 years old, 26.6 for men and 28.0 for women; a touch younger than the national averages of 29.6 for men and 30.5 for women. That low figure reflects just how many children there were in Edwardian Ireland, along with high infant mortality and the limits of public health at the time. For comparison, average life expectancy in Ireland today is around 83.
O'Donovan literacy in 1911
Of the O'Donovans whose literacy was recorded, 80.3% could both read and write, 1.6% could read but not write, and 18.1% could do neither. The figures were much the same for men and women. Bear in mind these figures include young children; the census itself only counted people aged nine and over when calculating illiteracy, on the grounds that it was unfair to label a child illiterate before they'd had a chance to learn.
O'Donovan common first names
The most common male names were Patrick (40), John, Michael, Daniel and James. For women it was Mary (78), followed by Ellen, Margaret, Catherine and Hannah.
O'Donovan occupations in 1911
The most common entry on an O'Donovan's census form was "Scholar"; 20.5% (187) were children at school. Among the rest, the most common occupations were farmer (7.3%), shopkeeper / shop assistant / dealer (5.5%), general labourer (3.2%) and domestic servant (2.1%). Grouped by sector, agriculture accounted for 10.3% of all O'Donovans, followed by retail & commerce, domestic service and textiles & clothing.
What religion is O'Donovan?
O'Donovans were overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, 98.5% of them. The remainder were mostly Anglican (0.8%).
Visitor Notes
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Added by
Pete F
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O'Donovan statistics (1911)
Number: 914
Rank: 848
Average Age: 27
O'Donovan in the USA (2020)
Number: 1,475
Rank: 18,513
Note: If there were less than 100 in the USA census it will show as zero.