Donner
A masculine name of German origin meaning "thunder".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Donner. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Donner today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donner births was 1924 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donner. 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 Donner. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1924
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1924 SSA rank
#4,508
Tracked since 1924
Popularity
Donner: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Donner 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 Donner during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Donner
The name Donner is of German origin, derived from the word "donner" meaning "thunder" in German. This name likely originated in the medieval period, as many German names were derived from natural elements and phenomena during this time.
In ancient Germanic mythology, the god of thunder was known as Donar or Thunor, which is linguistically related to the German word "donner." It's possible that the name Donner was initially given to children as a way of honoring or invoking the protection of this powerful deity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Donner can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a renowned German epic poem from the 13th century. In this work, there is a character named Donner von Tengelingen, a knight in the service of King Gunther.
A notable historical figure named Donner was Jörg Donner (1693-1741), a German architect and sculptor who worked in the Baroque style. He was responsible for designing several churches and palaces in Germany and Italy.
Another famous bearer of the name was Aris Donner (1892-1959), a Finnish chess player and author. He was one of the strongest players in the world during the early 20th century and authored several influential books on chess theory and strategy.
In the realm of literature, Donner Partridge is a character in the novel "The Quincunx" by Charles Palliser, published in 1989. Donner is a young man who becomes embroiled in a complex mystery involving inheritance and family secrets.
Additionally, Donner Pass, a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada range in California, was named after the Donner Party, a group of American pioneers who became stranded there in the winter of 1846-1847. While the name "Donner" is not a first name in this case, it is worth mentioning as a notable historical reference.
People
Donner + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donner 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
Donner: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donner?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donner 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 - US residents.
Is Donner a common name?
We classify Donner as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donner most popular?
The single biggest year for Donner was 1924, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donner is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Donner in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donner a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donner 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 Donner still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donner 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 Donner 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Donner as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.