Donna
A feminine name derived from the Italian "donna", meaning "lady".
Name Census estimates that about 523,137 living Americans carry the first name Donna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Donna today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donna births was 1959 (36,540 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donna. 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
- • Although Donna is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 2,233 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Donna is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Donnas were born before 1969.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Donna have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
523K
~ 1 in 655 Americans
Peak year
1959
36,540 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1993 SSA rank
#1,941
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Donna
Out of the 833,769 babies given the name Donna since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Donna as a male name
- Ranked #7,901 in 1993
- 6 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1960 (78 births)
Donna as a female name
- Ranked #1,941 in 2024
- 102 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1959 (36,469 births)
Popularity
Donna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donna from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 270,837 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donna 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 Donna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Donna, while Alaska, Nevada, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16,226 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donna
The name Donna has its origins in the Italian language, derived from the Latin word "domina" which means "lady" or "mistress". It was a respectful way to address a woman of higher social standing or nobility.
In the Middle Ages, Donna became a common name among Italian women, particularly in regions like Tuscany and Lombardy. It was also adopted in other parts of Europe, although its popularity varied across different cultures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Donna can be found in the works of the famous Italian poet Dante Alighieri, who lived from 1265 to 1321. In his masterpiece, the Divine Comedy, he refers to his muse and unrequited love as "la Donna gentile" (the gentle lady).
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Donna. One of the most famous was Donna Francesca Romana (1384-1440), an Italian religious mystic and the foundress of the Oblate Congregation of Tor de' Specchi. She was canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1608.
Another prominent figure was Donna Laura Bassi (1711-1778), an Italian philosopher and physicist who was one of the first women to earn a university degree and become a professor. She was appointed to the chair of philosophy at the University of Bologna in 1732.
In the realm of music, Donna Summer (1948-2012) was an iconic American singer and songwriter, known as the "Queen of Disco". Her hits include "MacArthur Park," "Hot Stuff," and "Last Dance."
Donna Reed (1921-1986) was an American actress who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity. She is also remembered for her portrayal of the ideal suburban mother in the television series The Donna Reed Show.
Lastly, Donna Shalala (born 1941) is an American politician and academic who served as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 2001. She was also the president of the University of Miami from 2001 to 2015.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Donna
People
Donna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donna 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
Donna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 523,137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donna 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 655 US residents.
Is Donna a common name?
We classify Donna as "Very Common". It ranks above 99.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 833,769 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donna most popular?
The single biggest year for Donna was 1959, when 36,540 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donna is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Donna a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Donna 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.