Dondrell
A masculine name possibly derived from Don meaning "lord" or "master".
Name Census estimates that about 103 living Americans carry the first name Dondrell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dondrell today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dondrell births was 1997 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dondrell. 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
103
~ 1 in 3,327,712 Americans
Peak year
1997
11 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2007 SSA rank
#11,302
Tracked since 1974
Census
Dondrell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 132 people with the first name Dondrell, which placed it at #48,390 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
#48,390
National first-name rank
People counted
132
132 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dondrell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dondrell is Black at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.3%) and Hispanic (0.8%). 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 Dondrell 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 Dondrell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.2% · 127
- Two or more races2.3% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Popularity
Dondrell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dondrell from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 45 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dondrell 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 Dondrell 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 Dondrell
The name Dondrell is a modern invention, likely originating in the 20th century. It does not have a clear linguistic or cultural origin, and its etymology remains obscure. There are no known historical references or ancient texts that mention this name.
Despite its uncertain origins, there are a few notable individuals who have borne the name Dondrell throughout history. One of the earliest recorded instances is Dondrell Norrell, an American basketball player born in 1977, who played professionally in various European leagues in the early 2000s.
Another individual with this name is Dondrell Campbell, an American football player born in 1982, who played as a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Detroit Lions and the Buffalo Bills between 2005 and 2008.
Dondrell Whitfield is an American actor born in 1969, best known for his roles in television shows such as "The Temptations" and "All My Children." He has been active in the entertainment industry since the 1990s.
Dondrell Riles is an American professional basketball player born in 1984, who has played in various leagues around the world, including the NBA G League and international leagues in Turkey and Canada.
Dondrell Gilliam is an American football coach and former player born in 1975. He played as a defensive back in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints between 1998 and 2004, and has since transitioned to coaching roles in college football programs.
While the name Dondrell may be relatively uncommon, these individuals have made their mark in various fields, particularly in sports and entertainment. However, due to the lack of historical records and ancient references, the origin and meaning of this name remain uncertain.
People
Dondrell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dondrell 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
Dondrell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dondrell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 103 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dondrell 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 3,327,712 US residents.
Is Dondrell a common name?
We classify Dondrell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 107 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dondrell most popular?
The single biggest year for Dondrell was 1997, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dondrell is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dondrell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 132 people with the name Dondrell, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,390 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 Dondrell 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 Dondrell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dondrell leans strongly male. 127 people counted with this name were male (92.7%), compared with 10 female bearers (7.3%). 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 Dondrell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dondrell is Black at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.3%) and Hispanic (0.8%). 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 Dondrell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dondrell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.2% (127 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 Dondrell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dondrell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dondrell 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 Dondrell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dondrell 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 Dondrell 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 are named Dondrell?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.