Doniel
Masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "judge of God."
Name Census estimates that about 391 living Americans carry the first name Doniel. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Doniel today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Doniel births was 1973 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Doniel. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Doniel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
391
~ 1 in 876,610 Americans
Peak year
1973
17 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,849
Tracked since 1953
Census
Doniel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 400 people with the first name Doniel, which placed it at #24,171 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
#24,171
National first-name rank
People counted
400
400 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Doniel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Doniel is White at 43.0%. The next largest groups are Black (38.0%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Doniel 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 Doniel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.0% · 172
- Black or African American38.0% · 152
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 52
- Two or more races5.3% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Doniel
Doniel leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 7 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Doniel as a male name
- Ranked #12,754 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1979 (13 births)
Doniel as a female name
- Ranked #6,849 in 1973
- 7 female births in 1973
- Peak: 1973 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Doniel leans strongly male. 346 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 57 female bearers (14.1%).
Popularity
Doniel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Doniel from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Doniel 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 Doniel 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 Doniel
The name Doniel has its roots in the Hebrew language and culture, originating in ancient times. It is believed to be derived from the Hebrew word "daniyel," which means "God is my judge." This name holds deep religious and spiritual significance in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
One of the earliest and most notable mentions of the name Doniel can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible. The Book of Daniel tells the story of Daniel, a Hebrew prophet who lived in Babylon during the 6th century BC. Daniel's unwavering faith and devotion to God led him to interpret dreams and visions, earning him a respected position in the Babylonian court.
Throughout history, the name Doniel has been carried by many influential figures. One of the earliest was Doniel the Ecbatana, a 4th-century BCE Jewish scholar and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of celestial movements and calendar systems.
In the 12th century, Doniel ben Judah of Rome was a prominent Italian Jewish poet and philosopher. His works, such as "The Praise of Wisdom," explored themes of ethics, morality, and the pursuit of knowledge.
During the Renaissance period, Doniel Bomberg (c. 1483-1549) was a renowned Christian Hebraist and printer based in Venice. He is credited with publishing the first-ever printed edition of the Babylonian Talmud, a monumental achievement that facilitated the study and preservation of Jewish religious texts.
In the 19th century, Doniel Deronda, the protagonist of George Eliot's novel of the same name, was a fictional character whose journey of self-discovery and connection to his Jewish heritage resonated with readers and sparked discussions about identity and cultural heritage.
More recently, Doniel Lévitte (1934-2022) was a French-Israeli painter and sculptor known for his abstract and minimalist works. His art explored themes of spirituality, minimalism, and the relationship between form and space.
The name Doniel has endured through the ages, carrying a rich history and cultural significance. While its popularity may have waxed and waned over time, it remains a testament to the enduring influence of ancient Hebrew traditions and the individuals who have borne this name throughout history.
People
Doniel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Doniel 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
Doniel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Doniel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 391 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Doniel 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 876,610 US residents.
Is Doniel a common name?
We classify Doniel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 411 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Doniel most popular?
The single biggest year for Doniel was 1973, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Doniel is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Doniel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 400 people with the name Doniel, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,171 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 Doniel 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 Doniel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Doniel leans strongly male. 346 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 57 female bearers (14.1%). 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 Doniel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Doniel is White at 43.0%. The next largest groups are Black (38.0%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Doniel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Doniel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.0% (172 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 Doniel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Doniel a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Doniel 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 Doniel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Doniel 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 Doniel 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 common is the name Doniel?
See how many people share the name Doniel on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.