# Downey

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˈdaʊni/ · frequency rank #20,905

## Definitions
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.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **downs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/downey-vs-downs)
- **dowry** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/downey-vs-dowry)
- **downy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/downey-vs-downy)
- **Downie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/downey-vs-downie)
- **drowned** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/downey-vs-drowned)
- **down** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/down-vs-downey)
- **done** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/done-vs-downey)
- **Dewey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dewey-vs-downey)
- **Donny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/donny-vs-downey)
- **Donne** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/donne-vs-downey)
- **dopey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dopey-vs-downey)
- **Disney** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/disney-vs-downey)
- **donkey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/donkey-vs-downey)
- **downed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/downed-vs-downey)
- **Dorsey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dorsey-vs-downey)
- **downer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/downer-vs-downey)
- **Dooley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/dooley-vs-downey)
- **donner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/donner-vs-downey)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ddowney`, `donwey`, `doweny`, `downeyy`, `downney`, `downye`, `dowwney`, `dwoney`, `odwney`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/downey