I'm told that the name Doran is a variant of the name Dorian, as in Dorian Gray. I've been told Dorian is Greek for "From the Sea" but I have yet to verify that. A beautiful Irish lass (whose last name happens to be Doran) who used to serve me Guinness at the local pub says it's an old, venerable surname in Eire. A number of people have emailed me to say that Doran is Celtic for Alien or Stranger (at least as a Surname). Hmmm...
When I was young, I was told that I was named after a football player. Later I was told it was a combination of my grandmother's name, Dorothy, and that of another female relative named Ann. I'm not exactly sure how the two stories fit together, but it makes for interesting speculation.
I'm a Doran. My father, Matthias Higgins Doran, was born in Kentucky in 1921 and served in WWII (stateside). He became a conductor, composer, ad music teacher at Mount Saint Mary's College in Los Angeles. He has no living relatives except his progeny: five children by a Therese Bernuy, to whom he is still married. He has no grandchildren yet.
There was an Ed Doran who died in the Civil War (on which side, I don't remember). There was also a Frank Doran who disappeared whilst looking for gold in Alaska, I believe, in the early part of this century.
That's all I know. I too have heard that "Doran" means stranger; I also have heard it is mutated from Duran from when Spanish persons arrived in Ireland at some point. As I am dark-eyed and dark haired (though very light-skinned) often people think I am a Duran. I would be most curious to find the EXACT derivation of the name and know if there are any existing cognates in Gaelic or whatever.
My name, by the by, is Timothy Donald Doran.
If you find any more, let me know! Unless you tell me to keep it secret, I'll try to attribute any information I post.