Donne
From Latin meaning "woman, lady, mistress".
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the first name Donne. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 59.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Donne today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donne births was 1960 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donne. 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
- • The typical person named Donne is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Donnes were born before 1970.
People living today
138
~ 1 in 2,483,727 Americans
Peak year
1960
19 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1975 SSA rank
#5,692
Tracked since 1926
Census
Donne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 438 people with the first name Donne, which placed it at #22,648 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
#22,648
National first-name rank
People counted
438
438 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donne is White at 59.4%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.6%). 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 Donne 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 Donne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.4% · 260
- Black or African American26.0% · 114
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.6% · 29
- Two or more races4.1% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Donne
Donne is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 197 total registrations, 80 (40.6%) were male and 117 (59.4%) were female.
Donne as a male name
- Ranked #5,692 in 1975
- 5 male births in 1975
- Peak: 1950 (8 births)
Donne as a female name
- Ranked #8,264 in 1975
- 6 female births in 1975
- Peak: 1957 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Donne on both sides of the split. Of the 441 people counted with this name, 194 were male (44.0%) and 247 were female (56.0%).
Popularity
Donne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donne from the 1920s through to the 1970s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 80 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
Donne 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 Donne 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 Donne
The name Donne has its origins in the Old French language, derived from the word "done," which means "lady" or "mistress." It emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 12th to 15th centuries.
This name was particularly popular in France and parts of England during medieval times. It was often associated with women of noble birth or high social standing. The earliest known appearance of the name Donne in historical records dates back to the 13th century, when it was used as a given name for women in aristocratic French families.
One of the earliest and most notable figures to bear the name Donne was Jeanne Donne, a French noblewoman who lived in the 14th century. She was a prominent figure in the court of King Charles V of France and played a significant role in the political and cultural affairs of her time.
Another historical figure with the name Donne was Donne de Pradhelles, a French poet and author who lived in the 15th century. She was renowned for her literary works, which included poetry and chronicles of her time.
In the 16th century, the name Donne gained prominence in England, thanks to the renowned metaphysical poet John Donne (1572-1631). Although Donne was his surname, his literary works and poetic style influenced the use of the name as a given name for both men and women.
Donne Trotter (1842-1933) was an American poet and novelist who was active during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was known for her romantic poetry and novels that explored themes of love, nature, and the human experience.
In the 20th century, Donne Wilkinson (1914-1998) was a British artist and sculptor who gained recognition for her modernist sculptures and installations. Her works were exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums across Europe and the United States.
While the name Donne has its roots in Old French and medieval Europe, it has transcended cultural and geographical boundaries, becoming a given name for individuals around the world. Its historical associations with nobility, literature, and the arts have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Donne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donne 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
Donne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 138 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donne 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 2,483,727 US residents.
Is Donne a common name?
We classify Donne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 197 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donne most popular?
The single biggest year for Donne was 1960, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donne is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 438 people with the name Donne, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,648 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 Donne 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 Donne?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Donne on both sides of the split. Of the 441 people counted with this name, 194 were male (44.0%) and 247 were female (56.0%). 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 Donne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donne is White at 59.4%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.6%). 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 Donne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Donne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.4% (260 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 Donne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donne a female name?
Yes, 59.4% of people registered as Donne 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.
Is Donne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donne 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 Donne 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 have Donne as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.