A Scottish surname, Donaldson comes from the Gaelic term ‘domhnull‘ and the Celtic term ‘dhomhnuill’ which means the ruler of the world. With the ‘son’ ending on the surname, it refers to the son of Donald. The spelling variations for Donaldson include Donnaldson, Donald, Doanld and Donnald. In northern England is the greatest population of families with the Donaldson name. Most live in Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire, Cumberland, Lancashire and then south in the city of London and nearby Essex. In Scotland the Donaldson began along the western coast and is now is across most of the country. The counties with the greatest concentration of the Donaldson family name include Lanarkshire, Midlothian, Fife, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire. Within the United States the earliest Donaldson families resided in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan and Alabama. Famous: Ed Donaldson (professional boxer), Norma Donaldson (singer and actress), Walter Donaldson (music composer), Roger Donaldson (movie film director, writer and producer in New Zealand), Alex Donaldson (professional footballer from Scotland), William John Donaldson (chess master), Glenn Donaldson (musician), Thomas Leverton Donaldson (19th century English architect), Lily Donaldson (English model) and Kim Donaldson (artist from Zimbabwe).