Donnita
Feminine diminutive form of the Italian name Donna, meaning "lady".
Name Census estimates that about 677 living Americans carry the first name Donnita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Donnita today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donnita births was 1957 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donnita. 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
677
~ 1 in 506,284 Americans
Peak year
1957
28 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
1994 SSA rank
#9,830
Tracked since 1937
Census
Donnita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 712 people with the first name Donnita, which placed it at #15,985 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
#15,985
National first-name rank
People counted
712
712 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donnita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donnita is White at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Black (38.2%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Donnita 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 Donnita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.8% · 383
- Black or African American38.2% · 272
- Two or more races4.2% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 5
Popularity
Donnita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donnita from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 225 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
Donnita 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 Donnita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donnitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Donnita, while Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donnita
The name Donnita is a diminutive form of the feminine name Donna, which ultimately derives from the Italian and Latin word "domina" meaning "lady" or "mistress". This name has its roots in the Latin language and Roman culture, where it was used as a title of respect for women of high social standing.
Donnita likely emerged as a variant of Donna during the Middle Ages in Italy or other regions influenced by Italian culture and language. It was likely used as a more affectionate or familiar form of the name, often given to young girls or as a nickname.
While the name Donna has been recorded throughout history in various Italian and Latin texts, specific references to the diminutive form Donnita are more obscure. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Donnita can be found in the 14th century Italian text "Decameron" by Giovanni Boccaccio, where it is mentioned as a character's name.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Donnita. One example is Donnita Bagwell (1892-1986), an American writer and journalist who was active in the early 20th century. Another is Donnita Cromwell (1922-2010), an American actress and singer who appeared in various Broadway productions and television shows.
In the realm of politics, Donnita Lanier (1939-2015) was a prominent American politician who served as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives from 1979 to 1992. Donnita Haines (1924-2006) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist who co-founded the Haines Criss + Weight advertising agency.
Lastly, Donnita Penny (born 1951) is a Canadian artist and sculptor known for her large-scale public art installations, many of which can be found in various cities across North America.
People
Donnita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donnita 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
Donnita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donnita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 677 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donnita 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 506,284 US residents.
Is Donnita a common name?
We classify Donnita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 855 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donnita most popular?
The single biggest year for Donnita was 1957, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donnita is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donnita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 712 people with the name Donnita, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,985 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 Donnita 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 Donnita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donnita appears almost entirely female. Of the 711 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Donnita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donnita is White at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Black (38.2%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Donnita most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Donnita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.8% (383 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 Donnita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donnita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donnita 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 Donnita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donnita 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 Donnita 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 common is the name Donnita?
Find out how many people share the name Donnita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.