Donja
A feminine name of Slavic origin meaning "the lower one".
Name Census estimates that about 91 living Americans carry the first name Donja. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Donja today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donja births was 1988 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donja. 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 Donja. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
91
~ 1 in 3,766,531 Americans
Peak year
1988
14 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1994 SSA rank
#14,062
Tracked since 1961
Popularity
Donja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donja from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 48 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donja 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 Donja 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 Donja
The name Donja has its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly in the Serbo-Croatian linguistic group. It is derived from the Slavic root "don," which means "bottom" or "lower." The name likely emerged during the medieval period in the regions that now encompass parts of the Balkans, particularly in areas with significant Serbian and Croatian populations.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Donja can be found in Serbian historical records from the 14th century. During this time, the name was often used to refer to settlements or villages located in lower or more southerly regions, distinguishing them from settlements with the prefix "Gornja" (meaning "upper" or "higher").
In terms of historical references, the name Donja appears in several ancient Slavic texts and manuscripts, although its use as a personal name was relatively rare in those early times. It was more commonly employed as a descriptive term or place name.
The earliest recorded individual with the name Donja is believed to be Donja Branković, a Serbian noblewoman who lived in the late 14th century and was a member of the powerful Branković noble family. Another notable figure was Donja Jaksić, a Serbian poet and writer from the 17th century, who is remembered for her contributions to the literary traditions of the region.
In the 19th century, Donja Mihailović was a Serbian painter and art teacher who helped establish one of the first art schools in Belgrade. Her work played a significant role in the development of Serbian art during that period.
Moving into the 20th century, Donja Radić was a Croatian politician and women's rights activist who served as a member of the Yugoslav Parliament in the 1920s and advocated for gender equality and women's suffrage.
More recently, Donja R. Grill, an American author and historian born in 1940, has written extensively on the history and culture of the Balkans, particularly in relation to the Serbian diaspora in the United States.
While the name Donja has its roots in the Slavic languages and cultures, it has also gained some popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among those with connections to the Balkan region or those drawn to its unique and distinctive sound.
People
Donja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donja 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
Donja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 91 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donja 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 3,766,531 US residents.
Is Donja a common name?
We classify Donja as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 102 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donja most popular?
The single biggest year for Donja was 1988, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donja is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Donja a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donja 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.