Donzel
A French diminutive of Don, meaning a gentleman or lord.
Name Census estimates that about 199 living Americans carry the first name Donzel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Donzel today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donzel births was 1992 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donzel. 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
199
~ 1 in 1,722,384 Americans
Peak year
1992
18 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2017 SSA rank
#9,062
Tracked since 1922
Census
Donzel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 255 people with the first name Donzel, which placed it at #32,783 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
#32,783
National first-name rank
People counted
255
255 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donzel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donzel is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (21.2%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Donzel 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 Donzel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.1% · 171
- White21.2% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 17
- Two or more races3.9% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Donzel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donzel from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 89 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Donzel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donzel 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 Donzel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donzels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Donzel
The name Donzel is derived from the Old French word "donzel," which means "young squire" or "young nobleman." This name has its origins in the chivalric traditions of medieval France, where young men from noble families would serve as squires to knights before being knighted themselves.
During the Middle Ages, the name Donzel was primarily used among the French nobility and upper classes. It was a title bestowed upon young men of noble birth who were being trained in the arts of war and chivalry. The name was also associated with qualities such as bravery, honor, and loyalty, which were highly valued in the medieval knighthood culture.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Donzel can be found in the 12th-century French epic poem "The Song of Roland," where it is used to refer to a young squire. Additionally, the name appears in various medieval French literary works and historical records, reflecting its popularity among the aristocratic classes of the time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Donzel. One such person was Donzel de Faye (c. 1180 - c. 1250), a French knight and troubadour who served under King Philip II of France during the Albigensian Crusade. Another was Donzel de Prato (c. 1300 - c. 1370), an Italian jurist and professor of law at the University of Bologna.
In the 15th century, Donzel Strozzi (1415 - 1479) was a prominent Florentine banker and statesman who played a significant role in the political affairs of the Florentine Republic. Later, in the 16th century, Donzel de Xérica (c. 1520 - c. 1590) was a Spanish nobleman and military commander who fought in the wars against the Ottomans in the Mediterranean.
Another notable figure was Donzel de Casteljaloux (c. 1580 - c. 1650), a French nobleman and military officer who served under King Louis XIII during the Thirty Years' War. He was renowned for his bravery and leadership on the battlefield.
While the name Donzel has faded in popularity in recent times, it remains a fascinating glimpse into the rich cultural heritage of medieval Europe, particularly the traditions of chivalry and knighthood that were so revered during that era.
People
Donzel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donzel 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
Donzel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donzel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 199 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donzel 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 1,722,384 US residents.
Is Donzel a common name?
We classify Donzel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 246 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donzel most popular?
The single biggest year for Donzel was 1992, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donzel is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donzel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 255 people with the name Donzel, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,783 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 Donzel 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 Donzel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donzel leans strongly male. 237 people counted with this name were male (92.2%), compared with 20 female bearers (7.8%). 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 Donzel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donzel is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (21.2%) and Hispanic (6.7%). 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 Donzel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Donzel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (171 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 Donzel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donzel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donzel 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 Donzel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donzel 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 Donzel 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 Donzel as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.