Donaldson
Anglicized form of the Scottish patronymic surname meaning "son of Donald".
Name Census estimates that about 53 living Americans carry the first name Donaldson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Donaldson today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donaldson births was 1964 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donaldson. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Donaldson. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
53
~ 1 in 6,467,063 Americans
Peak year
1964
8 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1998 SSA rank
#10,050
Tracked since 1915
Census
Donaldson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 244 people with the first name Donaldson, which placed it at #33,765 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#33,765
National first-name rank
People counted
244
244 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donaldson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donaldson is Black at 48.8%. The next largest groups are White (39.3%) and Hispanic (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Donaldson described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Donaldson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.8% · 119
- White39.3% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 9
- Two or more races2.9% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 3
Popularity
Donaldson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donaldson from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 28 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1930s peak, Donaldson remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donaldson 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 Donaldson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donaldson
The name Donaldson is a Scottish patronymic surname derived from the given name Donald, which itself has its origins in the Gaelic name Domhnall. The name Domhnall is composed of the elements "domhan" meaning "world" and the diminutive suffix "val" or "ail", thus translating to something along the lines of "world ruler" or "world mighty".
The name Donald and its various spelling variations can be traced back to the early medieval period in Scotland and Ireland. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Domhnall mac Cauill, a 6th century king of Dál Riata, an ancient kingdom spanning parts of western Scotland and northeastern Ireland.
In the 9th century, the name appears in the Irish Annals of Ulster, referring to various Irish kings and rulers such as Domhnall mac Áeda, King of Ailech, and Domhnall mac Muirecáin, King of Uí Failghe. The name also appears in Scottish sources from this period, such as the Pictish king Domnall mac Ailpín, who ruled in the 9th century.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Donald was Donald III (c. 1033 - 1097), King of Scots from 1094 until his death. He was the son of King Malcolm III and succeeded his brother Duncan II to the throne.
Another notable bearer of the name was Donald Bàn Macintosh (c. 1590 - 1670), a Scottish military leader and chief of the Clan Macintosh during the Scottish Civil War. He fought on the Royalist side and was renowned for his military prowess.
In the 15th century, we find Donald Owre (c. 1459 - 1536), a Scottish churchman who served as Bishop of Caithness and later as Abbot of Fearn. He was an important figure in the Scottish Renaissance and a patron of learning.
Moving to the 16th century, Donald Monro (c. 1550 - 1635) was a Scottish minister and writer who authored a detailed description of the Western Isles of Scotland, providing valuable insights into the geography, culture, and way of life in those islands during that time period.
Lastly, Donald Cargill (c. 1619 - 1681) was a Scottish Covenanter and field preacher who was executed for his role in the Bothwell Bridge Uprising against the Scottish government's attempts to impose Episcopalian forms of worship.
People
Donaldson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donaldson 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
Donaldson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donaldson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 53 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donaldson 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 6,467,063 US residents.
Is Donaldson a common name?
We classify Donaldson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donaldson most popular?
The single biggest year for Donaldson was 1964, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donaldson is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donaldson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 244 people with the name Donaldson, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,765 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Donaldson in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Donaldson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donaldson leans strongly male. 235 people counted with this name were male (94.8%), compared with 13 female bearers (5.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Donaldson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donaldson is Black at 48.8%. The next largest groups are White (39.3%) and Hispanic (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Donaldson most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Donaldson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.8% (119 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Donaldson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donaldson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donaldson 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.
Is Donaldson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donaldson in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Donaldson can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have Donaldson as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.