How a Cowboy Movie and a Scotch Whiskey Bribe Got This 1960s Music Icon His Name Before He Was Born

Among the many iconic one-named musicians we’ve come to know and love is Donovan, the Scottish psychedelic folk artist whose legacy is synonymous with the flower power movement of the 1960s. His name immediately conjures up tracks like “Mellow Yellow” and “Sunshine Superman”. But how did he get the name Donovan?

The origin story of his name is so Scottish, you can practically feel the burn of Scotch whisky in your nose while he tells it.

How Donovan Got His Iconic Name Before He Was Born

Some one-named artists, like Bono, adopted their singular stage name after their parents named them something different. Other artists, like Melanie (of Melanie Safka fame) or Donovan, simply used their given first name as their stage name. While the latter explanation isn’t exactly extraordinary, Donovan’s name was somewhat unusual in mid-1940s Scotland, given that Donovan was an Irish last name.

According to Donovan, his father knew that he was going to have a son before Donovan’s mother, Winifred Leitch, gave birth to him in early May 1946. “How would he know that?” Donovan said. “That’s what he said. He knew.” The musician said he knew he wanted to give his son a name that started with the letter ‘D,’ but that he didn’t want it to be Donald, since that was his name. “He didn’t want Dermot, and he didn’t want Dougal. And he certainly didn’t want Douglas.”

So, Donovan’s father went to the movies to give his mind some time to process. The “cowboy picture” he watched featured a scene in which the sheriff walks into a bar and approaches an outlaw sitting at the counter. “The sheriff looked at the outlaw and said, ‘Okay, Donovan, draw.’ [mimics gunshots] He said, ‘That’s it. Donovan.’”

But it wasn’t going to be as easy as watching a Spaghetti Western, he’d soon find.

The Musician’s Father Had to Bribe the Registrar to Name His Son

Donovan’s story continued into the registrar’s office, where his father tried to register his baby boy’s name. When he told the clerk he wanted to name his son Donovan, the clerk refused, saying that was an Irish last name and that he would have to choose a different first name. His father just so happened to have a quarter gill of “the best Scotch whisky” in his pocket, Donovan recalled. He had it because he had plans to go out with his friends to celebrate Donovan’s arrival.

“He took out the quarter gill, and he put it on the counter of the registrar, and he said, ‘Would that convince you?’ The wee man looked up the corridor. He looked down the corridor. He took the quarter gill, put it in his back pocket, and he said, ‘Congratulations, your son’s name’s Donovan.’ That’s how I got it. It’s been nothing but good luck.”

Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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