Donnis
Feminine variation of the name Dennis, derived from the Greek name Dionysios.
Name Census estimates that about 734 living Americans carry the first name Donnis. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Donnis today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donnis births was 1948 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donnis. 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 Donnis is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Donnis' were born before 1967.
People living today
734
~ 1 in 466,968 Americans
Peak year
1948
59 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,413
Tracked since 1912
Census
Donnis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 981 people with the first name Donnis, which placed it at #12,620 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
#12,620
National first-name rank
People counted
981
981 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donnis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donnis is White at 71.7%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Donnis 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 Donnis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.7% · 703
- Black or African American21.5% · 211
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 40
- Two or more races2.3% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Donnis
Donnis is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,512 total registrations, 466 (30.8%) were male and 1,046 (69.2%) were female.
Donnis as a male name
- Ranked #12,703 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1953 (22 births)
Donnis as a female name
- Ranked #9,413 in 1981
- 6 female births in 1981
- Peak: 1948 (42 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Donnis on both sides of the split. Of the 987 people counted with this name, 349 were male (35.4%) and 638 were female (64.6%).
Popularity
Donnis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donnis from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 397 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donnis 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 Donnis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donnis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Mississippi, Texas, Alabama recorded the most babies named Donnis, while Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donnis
The name Donnis is believed to have its origins in the Gaelic language, which was spoken in ancient Ireland and parts of Scotland. It is derived from the old Celtic word "donndubh," meaning "dark-haired" or "brown-haired." This suggests that the name may have initially been used to describe someone with a distinct hair color.
In the early medieval period, the name Donnis was relatively common among the Celtic populations of the British Isles. It can be found in various ancient manuscripts and historical records from that era, although its exact usage and popularity are difficult to ascertain due to the scarcity of written sources from those times.
One of the earliest known references to the name Donnis comes from a 9th-century Irish manuscript known as the Annals of Ulster. This historical chronicle mentions a man named Donnis mac Áedáin, who was a king of the Scots in the late 8th century. Unfortunately, not much is known about his life or reign beyond this brief mention.
Another notable figure bearing the name Donnis was a 12th-century Scottish cleric and philosopher, Donnis Duns Scotus. He was a prominent thinker of his time and made significant contributions to the field of metaphysics. Duns Scotus was born around 1266 in Duns, Scotland, and died in 1308.
In the 15th century, there lived a Welsh poet and bard named Donnis ap Rhys. He was known for his skillful use of the Welsh language and his works were widely celebrated during his lifetime. Donnis ap Rhys was born around 1420 and died sometime in the late 15th century.
Moving into the modern era, one of the most famous individuals with the name Donnis was the American jazz musician Donnis Day. Born in 1924 in New York City, he was a renowned jazz drummer and bandleader who performed with some of the greatest names in jazz, including Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Donnis Day passed away in 1988.
Another notable figure with the name Donnis was the British actor and comedian Donnis Howerdine. Born in 1937 in London, he was best known for his roles in various television sitcoms and comedic films throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Donnis Howerdine passed away in 2003.
While the name Donnis has deep historical roots, it has become relatively uncommon in modern times, particularly in English-speaking countries. However, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of names that have been passed down through generations, carrying with it the echoes of ancient cultures and traditions.
People
Donnis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donnis 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
Donnis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donnis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 734 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donnis 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 466,968 US residents.
Is Donnis a common name?
We classify Donnis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,512 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donnis most popular?
The single biggest year for Donnis was 1948, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donnis is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donnis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 981 people with the name Donnis, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,620 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 Donnis 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 Donnis?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Donnis on both sides of the split. Of the 987 people counted with this name, 349 were male (35.4%) and 638 were female (64.6%). 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 Donnis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donnis is White at 71.7%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Donnis most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Donnis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.7% (703 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 Donnis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donnis a female name?
Yes, 69.2% of people registered as Donnis 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 Donnis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donnis 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 Donnis 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 Donnis as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Donnis, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.