Donnisha
A feminine name of uncertain origin potentially related to "Donna".
Name Census estimates that about 426 living Americans carry the first name Donnisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Donnisha today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donnisha births was 1989 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donnisha. 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.
People living today
426
~ 1 in 804,588 Americans
Peak year
1989
29 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2008 SSA rank
#18,295
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Donnisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donnisha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 202 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donnisha 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 Donnisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donnishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Illinois, Virginia recorded the most babies named Donnisha, while Virginia, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donnisha
The name Donnisha is a relatively modern invention, likely originating in the United States in the late 20th century. It does not have a direct linguistic or cultural origin, but appears to be a combination of the English name "Donna" and a variant of the name "Nisha," which has roots in various Indian languages such as Sanskrit and Hindi, meaning "night" or "darkness."
There are no known historical references or appearances of the name Donnisha in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records prior to the 20th century. It is a uniquely American name, created through the blending of different cultural naming traditions.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Donnisha are relatively recent, with birth records and census data from the late 1970s and 1980s indicating the name's emergence as a given name for newborn girls in the United States. It likely gained popularity during this period as part of a broader trend towards creating unique and multicultural names.
While the name Donnisha is relatively new and has not been widely used throughout history, there are a few notable individuals who have carried this first name:
1. Donnisha Prendergast, an American filmmaker and director known for her work on the documentary "Bob and the Monster" (2011).
2. Donnisha Miley, an American entrepreneur and founder of the lifestyle brand "SaiDia."
3. Donnisha Hill, an American basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Washington Mystics in the early 2000s.
4. Donnisha Roberson, an American track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon and long jump in the early 2000s.
5. Donnisha Proctor, an American singer and songwriter who has released several independent albums and EPs.
It is worth noting that due to the relatively recent origin of the name Donnisha, there may be limited historical information and documented examples of individuals bearing this name prior to the late 20th century.
People
Donnisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donnisha 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
Donnisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donnisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 426 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donnisha 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 804,588 US residents.
Is Donnisha a common name?
We classify Donnisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 445 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donnisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Donnisha was 1989, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donnisha is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Donnisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donnisha 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.