Donesha
A feminine name of uncertain origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 625 living Americans carry the first name Donesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Donesha today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donesha births was 1991 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donesha. 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
625
~ 1 in 548,407 Americans
Peak year
1991
42 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2008 SSA rank
#11,025
Tracked since 1972
Popularity
Donesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donesha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 336 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donesha 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 Donesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Doneshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Donesha, while Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donesha
The name Donesha is believed to have originated from the Yoruba language spoken in West Africa. The Yoruba people are an ethnic group found primarily in Nigeria and parts of Benin and Togo. The name Donesha is thought to be derived from the Yoruba word "dun," meaning "to be sweet" or "to be pleasing."
In Yoruba culture, names often carry significant meaning and are chosen to reflect the circumstances surrounding a child's birth or the hopes and aspirations of the parents for their child. The name Donesha may have been given to a child as a wish for them to have a sweet and pleasing disposition or personality.
While the exact origins of the name are uncertain, some records suggest that the name Donesha has been in use among the Yoruba people for several centuries. However, there are no known historical references or mentions of the name Donesha in ancient texts or religious scriptures.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Donesha are relatively recent, dating back to the late 20th century. One of the earliest known individuals with the name Donesha was Donesha Anderson, an American basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) during the early 2000s.
Other notable individuals named Donesha include:
1. Donesha Folk, an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.
2. Donesha Bolden, an American entrepreneur and co-founder of the non-profit organization "Girls for a Change."
3. Donesha Golliday, an American basketball player who played professionally in Europe and Asia.
4. Donesha Benton, an American community activist and educator based in Chicago.
5. Donesha Gemeinhart, an American author of children's literature and young adult fiction.
While the name Donesha is not as common as some other names, it has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly among African American communities in the United States. However, due to the lack of historical records, the exact timeline of the name's usage and its spread beyond West Africa is difficult to trace.
People
Donesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donesha 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
Donesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 625 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donesha 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 548,407 US residents.
Is Donesha a common name?
We classify Donesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 652 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Donesha was 1991, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donesha is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Donesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donesha in the SSA data are female. 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.