Donshay
A masculine name likely derived from a combination of words meaning "brown lion".
Name Census estimates that about 89 living Americans carry the first name Donshay. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Donshay today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donshay births was 1996 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donshay. 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 Donshay. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
89
~ 1 in 3,851,172 Americans
Peak year
1996
14 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2000 SSA rank
#10,848
Tracked since 1978
Census
Donshay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 149 people with the first name Donshay, which placed it at #45,514 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
#45,514
National first-name rank
People counted
149
149 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donshay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donshay is Black at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (0.7%). 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 Donshay 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 Donshay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.9% · 137
- Two or more races6.7% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Donshay
Donshay is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 92 total registrations, 64 (69.6%) were male and 28 (30.4%) were female.
Donshay as a male name
- Ranked #10,848 in 2000
- 5 male births in 2000
- Peak: 1990 (7 births)
Donshay as a female name
- Ranked #15,083 in 1999
- 5 female births in 1999
- Peak: 1996 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Donshay on both sides of the split. Of the 152 people counted with this name, 86 were male (56.6%) and 66 were female (43.4%).
Popularity
Donshay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donshay 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 66 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
Donshay 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 Donshay 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 Donshay
The name Donshay is believed to have its origins in the Celtic languages spoken in ancient Britain and Ireland. The earliest recorded form of the name is thought to be "Donnsé", which is derived from the Old Irish words "donn" meaning "brown" and "séadh" meaning "jewel" or "precious stone".
One of the earliest known historical references to this name can be found in the Ogham inscriptions of Ireland, which date back to the 4th century AD. These inscriptions were written using an ancient Irish alphabet and were often used to mark the burial sites of prominent individuals. The name "Donnsé" is found on several of these inscriptions, suggesting that it was in use among the Gaelic nobility during this time period.
In the medieval period, the name appears to have evolved into the spelling "Donshay", which is thought to have been influenced by the Norman French language brought to Britain by the Norman conquerors. This spelling is found in a number of historical records from the 11th to 14th centuries, including the Domesday Book of 1086 and various monastic charters and genealogies.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Donshay was a 12th-century Irish chieftain known as Donshay Ua Conchobair, who ruled over the territory of Connacht in western Ireland. Another notable figure was Donshay Mac Lochlainn, a 13th-century king of the Northern Uí Néill dynasty, who reigned from 1241 to 1283.
In the 15th century, a Scottish nobleman named Donshay Douglas was recorded as a prominent figure in the court of King James II of Scotland. He served as a royal advisor and ambassador, and was known for his diplomatic skills in negotiating with other European powers.
Moving forward to the 16th century, a Welsh poet and bard named Donshay ap Rhys was renowned for his contributions to the preservation of Welsh language and literature. He is credited with composing numerous poems and songs that celebrated Welsh culture and heritage.
Finally, in the 17th century, there was an English explorer and adventurer named Donshay Willoughby who is believed to have been one of the first Europeans to explore parts of the Canadian Arctic and the Hudson Bay region. His expeditions and writings provided valuable information about the geography and indigenous peoples of these areas.
People
Donshay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donshay 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
Donshay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donshay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 89 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donshay 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 3,851,172 US residents.
Is Donshay a common name?
We classify Donshay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donshay most popular?
The single biggest year for Donshay was 1996, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donshay is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donshay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 149 people with the name Donshay, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,514 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 Donshay 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 Donshay?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Donshay on both sides of the split. Of the 152 people counted with this name, 86 were male (56.6%) and 66 were female (43.4%). 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 Donshay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donshay is Black at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.7%) and Hispanic (0.7%). 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 Donshay most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Donshay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.9% (137 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 Donshay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donshay a male name?
Yes, 69.6% of people registered as Donshay 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 Donshay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donshay 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 Donshay 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 the name Donshay?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.