girls' name ★ peaked 1959

Donna

Meaning A 19th-century invention from the Italian noun donna Gender Girl Rank 2025 #1,965 Trend ↓ Falling 21%

A 19th-century invention from the Italian noun donna; also interpreted as a feminine form of Donald.

Rank 2025
#1,965
among girls · ↓34 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
98
named Donna · -5% vs 2024
How common
1 in 16,401
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1959
36,539 babies
All-time total
833,874
#23 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Donna popularity over time

833,874 babies have been named Donna since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
510152018801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 265 – 265 27 – #349
1890s 440 – 440 44 +66% #398
1900s 790 – 790 79 +80% #324
1910s 4,293 – 4,293 429 +443% #225
1920s 26,160 63 26,223 2,622 +511% #47
1930s 78,846 315 79,161 7,916 +202% #20
1940s 165,523 472 165,995 16,600 +110% #10
1950s 270,338 504 270,842 27,084 +63% #5
1960s 213,468 574 214,042 21,404 -21% #5
1970s 47,342 218 47,560 4,756 -78% #32
1980s 13,044 73 13,117 1,312 -72% #144
1990s 5,662 14 5,676 568 -57% #319
2000s 3,186 – 3,186 319 -44% #661
2010s 1,641 – 1,641 164 -48% #983
2020s (to 2025) 643 – 643 107 -35% #1,546

Where Donna is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 95 0.06 outside top 500
2027 92 0.06 outside top 500
2028 90 0.06 outside top 500
2029 88 0.05 outside top 500
2030 86 0.05 outside top 500

Where Donna is most popular

Girls named Donna per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.062 per 1,000. Strongest in Nevada, California, and Utah.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Donna born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Nevada 5 0.108 +73%
California 84 0.100 +60%
Utah 6 0.072 +16%
Texas 55 0.068 +10%
New York 27 0.068 +9%
Ohio 11 0.046 -26%
Colorado 5 0.045 -28%
Florida 19 0.044 -29%
Illinois 10 0.044 -30%
Arizona 5 0.036 -43%
Michigan 6 0.033 -47%
Georgia 5 0.022 -65%
Alaska – – –
Alabama – – –
Arkansas – – –
Connecticut – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Iowa – – –
Idaho – – –
Indiana – – –
Kansas – – –
Kentucky – – –
Louisiana – – –
Massachusetts – – –
Maryland – – –
Maine – – –
Minnesota – – –
Missouri – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Carolina – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Jersey – – –
New Mexico – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Pennsylvania – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Carolina – – –
South Dakota – – –
Tennessee – – –
Virginia – – –
Vermont – – –
Washington – – –
Wisconsin – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Donna

Donna is rare for girls in the United States, ranked #1,965 in 2025 with 98 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 833,874 American babies have been named Donna. Its peak came in 1959, when 36,539 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1950s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Donna stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Donna?

The median living Donna is about 67 years old; half are between 61 and 74. An estimated 619 thousand people named Donna are alive in the United States today.

median 67 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Donna year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 98 #1,965 – –
2024 103 #1,931 – –
2023 99 #1,988 – –
2022 101 #1,955 – –
2021 105 #1,888 – –
2020 137 #1,546 – –
2019 116 #1,764 – –
2018 139 #1,558 – –
2017 124 #1,716 – –
2016 118 #1,761 – –
2015 160 #1,441 – –
2014 163 #1,403 – –
2013 176 #1,329 – –
2012 188 #1,275 – –
2011 199 #1,204 – –
2010 258 #983 – –
2009 262 #1,009 – –
2008 278 #964 – –
2007 261 #1,016 – –
2006 325 #830 – –
2005 305 #834 – –
2004 331 #783 – –
2003 323 #770 – –
2002 376 #672 – –
2001 355 #699 – –
2000 370 #661 – –
1995 492 #498 – –
1990 861 #319 8 #5,995
1985 1,191 #219 5 #6,819
1980 2,009 #144 5 #6,515
1975 3,422 #85 17 #2,469
1970 9,968 #32 35 #1,423
1965 19,700 #7 51 #1,034
1960 34,138 #5 78 #862
1955 27,940 #10 55 #1,013
1950 21,629 #13 37 #1,191
1945 15,397 #17 46 #955
1940 9,232 #23 47 #931
1935 7,793 #23 32 #1,173
1930 5,978 #37 21 #1,613
1925 2,429 #110 5 #4,371
1920 959 #202 – –
1915 483 #268 – –
1910 107 #378 – –
1905 59 #440 – –
1900 79 #376 – –
1895 44 #427 – –
1890 33 #449 – –
1885 26 #406 – –
1880 17 #407 – –

Famous people named Donna

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Donna Summer Donna Summer American singer (1948–2012) Contemporary
  2. 2 Donna Reed Donna Reed American actress (1921–1986) Contemporary
  3. 3 Donna Douglas Donna Douglas American actress and singer (1932–2015) Contemporary
  4. 4 Donna Vekić Donna Vekić Croatian tennis player (born 1996) Contemporary
  5. 5 Donna Tartt Donna Tartt American novelist and writer b. 1963 · Contemporary
  6. 6 Donna Mills Donna Mills American actress (born 1940) Contemporary
  7. 7 Donna Murphy Donna Murphy American actress and singer (born 1959) Contemporary
  8. 8 Donna Karan Donna Karan American fashion designer b. 1948 · Contemporary
  9. 9 Donna D'Errico Donna D'Errico American actress and model b. 1968 · Contemporary
  10. 10 Donna Haraway Donna Haraway American philosopher (born 1944) Contemporary
  11. 11 Donna Shalala Donna Shalala American politician and academic (born 1941) Contemporary
  12. 12 Donna Lewis Donna Lewis Welsh singer b. 1973 · Contemporary
  13. 13 Donna Leon Donna Leon American-Swiss crime novelist (born 1942) Contemporary
  14. 14 Donna Strickland Donna Strickland Canadian physicist, engineer, and Nobel laureate b. 1959 · Contemporary
  15. 15 Donna de Varona Donna de Varona American swimmer, Olympic champion, sport commentator b. 1947 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Donna, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Donna?

The median living Donna is about 67 years old. Half of all living Donnas are between 61 and 74 years old.

How many people named Donna are alive today?

An estimated 619 thousand people named Donna are alive in the United States, based on 833,874 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Donna mean?

A 19th-century invention from the Italian noun donna; also interpreted as a feminine form of Donald.

How popular is the name Donna in 2025?

Donna ranked #1,965 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 98 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Donna?

833,874 babies have been named Donna in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Donna most popular?

Donna peaked in 1959, when 36,539 newborns received the name.

Is Donna a boy or girl name?

Donna is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Donna rising or falling?

Donna is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Donna become more popular?

Donna is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 86 girls named Donna in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Donna?

Well-known people named Donna include Donna Summer (singer), Donna Reed (actor), Donna Douglas (actor).

Names like Donna

Names that sound and feel close to Donna: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Donna with similar names → More names starting with D →