Downey

D2O1W4N1E1Y4
/ˈdaʊni/

proper noun

A surname.

OriginIrish Ó Dúnadhaigh ← Scottish Gaelic dùn →
Less commonScrabble 13
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Meanings

proper nounDowney (countable and uncountable, plural Downeys)

plural Downeys

  1. countableuncountableA surname.

    Shannon Downey goes for the unfinished stitching projects.

    2019 October 25, Konstantin Toropin, “A woman found an unfinished, 20-year-old quilt and complete strangers are helping piece it together”, in CNN, archived from the original on 29 Oct 2019
  2. countableuncountableA city in Los Angeles County, California, United States.
  3. countableuncountableA city in Bannock County, Idaho, United States.
  4. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Cedar County, Iowa, United States.

Origin

  1. Scottish Gaelicdùn“hill”
  2. IrishÓ Dúnadhaigh“descendant of Dúnadhach”
  3. EnglishDowney

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.

More words from Irish, Scottish Gaelic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Downey. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Downey

MLA

“Downey.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Downey. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Downey,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Downey.

Source: Downey on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.