Donna Mills
There are approximately 255 people named Donna Mills living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 1,344,135 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Donna with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Mills. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
255
1 in 1,344,135
Named Donna
523K
Alive today
Named Mills
167K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 523K
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1959
Average age: 67
Top Census group: White (87.9%)
Estimated bearers: 167K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #187
Per 100K: 48.66
Top ancestry: White (74.6%)
First name trend
Donna: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Donna. The peak year was 1959 with 36,540 births. The average person named Donna today is 67 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donna
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Donna, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 87.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Donna described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Donna at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White87.9% · 558,108
- Black or African American6.0% · 38,132
- Two or more races2.3% · 14,353
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 14,011
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 6,676
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3,776
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Mills surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Mills, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 74.6%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Mills described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Mills at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White74.6% · 108,457
- Black or African American16.5% · 23,949
- Two or more races4.2% · 6,149
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 4,797
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1,165
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 931
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Donna has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1526% of the US population, based on 523,137 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Donna right now.
The surname Mills appears at a rate of 48.66 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0487%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 255 people with the full name Donna Mills. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Donna
Related
Other people with the surname Mills
FAQ
Donna Mills: questions and answers
How many people are named Donna Mills?
We estimate approximately 255 people in the United States share the full name Donna Mills. That works out to about 1 in 1,344,135 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1526%) with the surname frequency (48.66 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Donna Mills?
We classify Donna Mills as "Very Rare". About 1 in 1,344,135 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Donna a male or female name?
Donna is predominantly female. Out of 833,769 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Donna profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many Americans are named Donna Mills?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.