Donyale
A feminine name derived from a Native American word meaning "peacefully resting".
Name Census estimates that about 388 living Americans carry the first name Donyale. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Donyale today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donyale births was 1969 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donyale. 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
388
~ 1 in 883,387 Americans
Peak year
1969
50 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1981 SSA rank
#4,635
Tracked since 1966
Census
Donyale in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 434 people with the first name Donyale, which placed it at #22,808 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
#22,808
National first-name rank
People counted
434
434 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donyale
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donyale is Black at 80.0%. The next largest groups are White (9.0%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). 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 Donyale 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 Donyale at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.0% · 347
- White9.0% · 39
- Two or more races6.9% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 18
Gender
Gender distribution for Donyale
Donyale leans heavily female at 81.8% of total registrations, but 79 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Donyale as a male name
- Ranked #4,635 in 1981
- 8 male births in 1981
- Peak: 1978 (11 births)
Donyale as a female name
- Ranked #16,858 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 1969 (45 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Donyale on both sides of the split. Of the 434 people counted with this name, 103 were male (23.7%) and 331 were female (76.3%).
Popularity
Donyale: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donyale from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 199 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donyale 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 Donyale during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donyales live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Michigan, California, New York recorded the most babies named Donyale, while Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donyale
The name Donyale is a relatively modern invention, originating in the 20th century. It does not have a clear linguistic or cultural origin, but is believed to be a combination of existing names and elements.
One theory suggests that Donyale is a combination of the French name Donelle, which is a diminutive form of Donna, meaning "lady," and the English name Yale, which is derived from the Old English word "geat," meaning "gate" or "gateway." This combination could have been created to form a unique and distinctive name.
Another possibility is that Donyale is a feminine variation of the name Donald, which is of Scottish origin and means "world ruler" or "world mighty." The addition of the "-yale" suffix could have been an attempt to create a more feminine version of the name.
Despite its uncertain origins, the name Donyale gained prominence in the 1960s due to the iconic African-American model and actress Donyale Luna (1945-1979). Born Peggy Anne Freeman, she changed her name to the more exotic Donyale Luna and became the first African-American model to appear on the cover of British Vogue in 1966. Her striking beauty and trailblazing career helped popularize the name.
Another notable individual named Donyale was Donyale Rashee Sands (1967-1992), an American singer and songwriter. She was a member of the R&B group Xscape and co-wrote several of their hit songs before her untimely death at the age of 24.
In literature, the name Donyale appears in the novel "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, published in 1970. Donyale is one of the characters in the book, which explores themes of race, beauty standards, and self-acceptance.
While the name Donyale is not as common as many traditional names, it has gained recognition and popularity due to its unique sound and the notable individuals who have borne it throughout recent history.
People
Donyale + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donyale 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
Donyale: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donyale?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 388 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donyale 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 883,387 US residents.
Is Donyale a common name?
We classify Donyale as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 433 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donyale most popular?
The single biggest year for Donyale was 1969, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donyale is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donyale in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 434 people with the name Donyale, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,808 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 Donyale 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 Donyale?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Donyale on both sides of the split. Of the 434 people counted with this name, 103 were male (23.7%) and 331 were female (76.3%). 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 Donyale?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donyale is Black at 80.0%. The next largest groups are White (9.0%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). 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 Donyale most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Donyale in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.0% (347 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 Donyale in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donyale a female name?
Yes, 81.8% of people registered as Donyale 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 Donyale still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donyale 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 Donyale 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 are named Donyale?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.