Donna — #1934 US girls' name
831,536 babies named Donna in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1959. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 89% of names given to girls today.
33% of everyone ever named Donna was born in this single decade.
36,469 babies were named Donna in 1959 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Donna
The Social Security Administration has registered 831,536 babies named Donna between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Donna currently holds the #1934 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1959, when 36,469 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Donna performed strongest in the 1950s, accumulating 270,333 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Donna shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in New York, which accounts for 68,410 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Pennsylvania and California. In total, SSA state-level files list Donna in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Donna in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 831,536 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Donna at a glance
Outside the top 1,000Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Donna popularity over time — girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1959)
- 36,469
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #1934 among girls.
831,536 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1959 with 36,469 births in a single year.
Donna popularity over time — boys
2,233 total births recorded since 1924 (Donna as boys' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The boys' variant of Donna accounts for 0% of total recorded use across both genders.
Donna by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1950s
- 270,333 births that decade — 33% of Donna's all-time total
Donna decade highlights
- Peak decade 270,333 births
- Runner-up 213,467 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1950s was Donna's strongest decade
270,333 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 33% of all-time use.
Donna by state
Where Donna concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 68,410 | 8.2% |
| #2 | Pennsylvania | | 62,222 | 7.5% |
| #3 | California | | 52,391 | 6.3% |
| #4 | Illinois | | 48,347 | 5.8% |
| #5 | Ohio | | 46,362 | 5.6% |
| #6 | Texas | | 37,574 | 4.5% |
| #7 | Michigan | | 35,205 | 4.2% |
| #8 | Massachusetts | | 31,608 | 3.8% |
68,410 of 831,536 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- New York 8.2% of nationwide
- Pennsylvania 7.5% of nationwide
- California 6.3% of nationwide
- Illinois 5.8% of nationwide
- Ohio 5.6% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
New York accounts for 8.2% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Donna appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.