Donaldo
Donaldo is a masculine name of Anglo-Saxon origin, meaning "mighty world ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 332 living Americans carry the first name Donaldo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Donaldo today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donaldo births was 1994 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donaldo. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
332
~ 1 in 1,032,393 Americans
Peak year
1994
22 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,917
Tracked since 1959
Popularity
Donaldo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donaldo from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 117 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donaldo by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Donaldo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donaldos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Donaldo
The name Donaldo finds its origins in the Spanish and Portuguese languages, derived from the Medieval Latin name "Donaldus." This name can be traced back to the Gaelic "Domhnall," which means "world ruler" or "world mighty." It is a combination of the Gaelic elements "domhan" (world) and "val" (rule).
The name gained popularity in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions with a strong Celtic cultural influence, such as Galicia and northern Portugal. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 9th century, when it was used by members of the Galician nobility.
One of the earliest notable figures bearing the name Donaldo was Donaldo II, a 9th-century King of Alava and Vizcaya in the Basque region of what is now northern Spain. His reign lasted from 867 to 904 AD, and he played a crucial role in the resistance against the Moorish forces during the Reconquista.
In the 11th century, the name gained further prominence with Donaldo Díaz, a Galician nobleman and military commander who fought alongside El Cid in the Christian conquest of Valencia in 1094. His exploits were documented in contemporary chronicles, contributing to the name's enduring association with bravery and military prowess.
Another notable figure was Donaldo de Oviedo, a 13th-century Spanish scholar and author who wrote extensively on the history and culture of the Iberian Peninsula. His works, including "Crónica de España," provided valuable insights into the use and meaning of Spanish names during that period.
In the realm of literature, the name Donaldo appeared in the 16th-century Spanish novel "La Celestina" by Fernando de Rojas, one of the most influential works of the Spanish Renaissance. The character of Donaldo was portrayed as a young nobleman caught in a tragic love story, further cementing the name's association with romance and drama.
Over the centuries, the name Donaldo has been carried by various individuals of note, including Donaldo Coelho de Albuquerque, a 16th-century Portuguese explorer and colonial administrator in Brazil, and Donaldo Sholes, the 19th-century American inventor who co-designed the first commercially successful typewriter.
People
Donaldo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donaldo as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Donaldo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donaldo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 332 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donaldo going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,032,393 US residents.
Is Donaldo a common name?
We classify Donaldo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 339 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donaldo most popular?
The single biggest year for Donaldo was 1994, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donaldo is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Donaldo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donaldo in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.