Donna
Donna was given to 98 girls in 2025, #1,965 among girls’ names; 833,874 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 584,000 Americans named Donna and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (70% of everyone recorded); the median is 68 years old and half are between 62 and 75.
Donna is the #27 most common first name among living American women and girls, by this estimate.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Donna by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Donna mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Donna is “a female given name from Italian.”
A 19th-century invention from the Italian noun donna; also interpreted as a feminine form of Donald.
/ˈdɑnə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Donna?
#1,965 among girls’ names, 2025
Donna fell from #1,441 in 2015 to #1,965 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 89.6 to 61.0 per million.
36,539 babies in 1959, the peak
Donna peaked in 1959, when 36,539 babies were given it (36,468 girls, #5 among girls’ names). The 98 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 98 | #1,965 | 0.06 |
| 2024 | 103 | #1,931 | 0.06 |
| 2023 | 99 | #1,988 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 101 | #1,955 | 0.06 |
| 2021 | 105 | #1,888 | 0.06 |
| 2020 | 137 | #1,546 | 0.08 |
| 2019 | 116 | #1,764 | 0.07 |
| 2018 | 139 | #1,558 | 0.08 |
| 2017 | 124 | #1,716 | 0.07 |
| 2016 | 118 | #1,761 | 0.07 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 160 | #1,441 | 0.09 |
| 2014 | 163 | #1,403 | 0.09 |
| 2013 | 176 | #1,329 | 0.10 |
| 2012 | 188 | #1,275 | 0.11 |
| 2011 | 199 | #1,204 | 0.11 |
| 2010 | 258 | #983 | 0.15 |
| 2009 | 262 | #1,009 | 0.14 |
| 2008 | 278 | #964 | 0.15 |
| 2007 | 261 | #1,016 | 0.14 |
| 2006 | 325 | #830 | 0.17 |
| 2005 | 305 | #834 | 0.17 |
| 2004 | 331 | #783 | 0.18 |
| 2003 | 323 | #770 | 0.18 |
| 2002 | 376 | #672 | 0.21 |
| 2001 | 355 | #699 | 0.20 |
| 2000 | 370 | #661 | 0.20 |
| 1999 | 373 | #632 | 0.21 |
| 1998 | 433 | #567 | 0.25 |
| 1997 | 422 | #554 | 0.24 |
| 1996 | 420 | #557 | 0.24 |
| 1995 | 492 | #498 | 0.28 |
| 1994 | 662 | #383 | 0.37 |
| 1993 | 581 | #433 | 0.32 |
| 1992 | 679 | #380 | 0.37 |
| 1991 | 739 | #350 | 0.39 |
| 1990 | 861 | #319 | 0.45 |
| 1989 | 992 | #270 | 0.54 |
| 1988 | 1,040 | #251 | 0.58 |
| 1987 | 1,031 | #248 | 0.59 |
| 1986 | 992 | #259 | 0.58 |
| 1985 | 1,191 | #219 | 0.69 |
| 1984 | 1,181 | #221 | 0.70 |
| 1983 | 1,378 | #192 | 0.82 |
| 1982 | 1,530 | #179 | 0.90 |
| 1981 | 1,700 | #167 | 1.0 |
| 1980 | 2,009 | #144 | 1.2 |
| 1979 | 2,198 | #131 | 1.4 |
| 1978 | 2,459 | #120 | 1.6 |
| 1977 | 2,581 | #113 | 1.7 |
| 1976 | 3,032 | #93 | 2.1 |
| 1975 | 3,422 | #85 | 2.3 |
| 1974 | 4,354 | #67 | 3.0 |
| 1973 | 5,058 | #55 | 3.5 |
| 1972 | 6,257 | #45 | 4.1 |
| 1971 | 8,013 | #38 | 4.8 |
| 1970 | 9,968 | #32 | 5.7 |
| 1969 | 11,447 | #26 | 6.8 |
| 1968 | 12,748 | #24 | 7.8 |
| 1967 | 14,787 | #19 | 9.0 |
| 1966 | 17,037 | #12 | 10.1 |
| 1965 | 19,700 | #7 | 11.2 |
| 1964 | 23,808 | #7 | 12.6 |
| 1963 | 25,405 | #6 | 13.2 |
| 1962 | 25,719 | #7 | 13.1 |
| 1961 | 28,679 | #7 | 14.2 |
| 1960 | 34,138 | #5 | 16.9 |
| 1959 | 36,468 | #5 | 18.0 |
| 1958 | 26,959 | #10 | 13.4 |
| 1957 | 28,042 | #10 | 13.7 |
| 1956 | 29,852 | #10 | 14.9 |
| 1955 | 27,940 | #10 | 14.3 |
| 1954 | 27,429 | #11 | 14.1 |
| 1953 | 24,227 | #13 | 12.9 |
| 1952 | 23,718 | #13 | 12.8 |
| 1951 | 24,074 | #12 | 13.4 |
| 1950 | 21,629 | #13 | 12.6 |
| 1949 | 22,056 | #12 | 12.9 |
| 1948 | 22,033 | #11 | 13.0 |
| 1947 | 23,517 | #10 | 13.3 |
| 1946 | 19,770 | #13 | 12.6 |
| 1945 | 15,397 | #17 | 11.8 |
| 1944 | 15,173 | #17 | 11.4 |
| 1943 | 14,912 | #17 | 10.7 |
| 1942 | 12,987 | #20 | 9.6 |
| 1941 | 10,446 | #20 | 8.6 |
| 1940 | 9,232 | #23 | 8.1 |
| 1939 | 9,371 | #20 | 8.5 |
| 1938 | 9,693 | #20 | 8.8 |
| 1937 | 8,887 | #21 | 8.4 |
| 1936 | 7,932 | #22 | 7.6 |
| 1935 | 7,793 | #23 | 7.4 |
| 1934 | 7,870 | #23 | 7.5 |
| 1933 | 7,360 | #24 | 7.3 |
| 1932 | 7,362 | #29 | 6.9 |
| 1931 | 6,600 | #32 | 6.2 |
| 1930 | 5,978 | #37 | 5.3 |
| 1929 | 5,139 | #47 | 4.6 |
| 1928 | 4,470 | #61 | 3.9 |
| 1927 | 3,992 | #70 | 3.3 |
| 1926 | 3,008 | #90 | 2.5 |
| 1925 | 2,429 | #110 | 2.0 |
| 1924 | 2,125 | #131 | 1.7 |
| 1923 | 1,578 | #156 | 1.3 |
| 1922 | 1,349 | #166 | 1.1 |
| 1921 | 1,111 | #189 | 0.90 |
| 1920 | 959 | #202 | 0.80 |
| 1919 | 774 | #225 | 0.68 |
| 1918 | 746 | #233 | 0.64 |
| 1917 | 652 | #243 | 0.60 |
| 1916 | 606 | #247 | 0.58 |
| 1915 | 483 | #268 | 0.49 |
| 1914 | 283 | #310 | 0.37 |
| 1913 | 266 | #291 | 0.43 |
| 1912 | 227 | #298 | 0.41 |
| 1911 | 149 | #324 | 0.36 |
| 1910 | 107 | #378 | 0.27 |
| 1909 | 123 | #324 | 0.35 |
| 1908 | 98 | #365 | 0.29 |
| 1907 | 100 | #354 | 0.31 |
| 1906 | 84 | #368 | 0.28 |
| 1905 | 59 | #440 | 0.20 |
| 1904 | 61 | #413 | 0.22 |
| 1903 | 78 | #362 | 0.30 |
| 1902 | 55 | #416 | 0.21 |
| 1901 | 53 | #412 | 0.22 |
| 1900 | 79 | #376 | 0.26 |
| 1899 | 52 | #404 | 0.22 |
| 1898 | 52 | #427 | 0.20 |
| 1897 | 53 | #398 | 0.23 |
| 1896 | 40 | #458 | 0.17 |
| 1895 | 44 | #427 | 0.19 |
| 1894 | 44 | #419 | 0.20 |
| 1893 | 42 | #416 | 0.20 |
| 1892 | 43 | #406 | 0.20 |
| 1891 | 37 | #408 | 0.20 |
| 1890 | 33 | #449 | 0.17 |
| 1889 | 41 | #380 | 0.23 |
| 1888 | 37 | #404 | 0.21 |
| 1887 | 38 | #349 | 0.26 |
| 1886 | 29 | #402 | 0.20 |
| 1885 | 26 | #406 | 0.20 |
| 1884 | 22 | #429 | 0.17 |
| 1883 | 21 | #413 | 0.19 |
| 1882 | 19 | #420 | 0.18 |
| 1881 | 15 | #437 | 0.16 |
| 1880 | 17 | #407 | 0.19 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Donna a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Donna has been given almost only to girls: 2,233 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Donna: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Donna, and how old are they?
584,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 70% of the 833,874 Americans ever recorded as Donna. The median Donna alive today is 68 years old; half are between 62 and 75.
The 2020 Census counted 635,065 people named Donna (634,502 women and girls, 563 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 650,582 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 59,000 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 388,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 114,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 15,100 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 5,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,630 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Donna born?
The states with the most babies named Donna are New York, Pennsylvania and California, with 22% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 68,512 | #1,883 | 0.9× |
| Pennsylvania | 62,272 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| California | 52,440 | #1,987 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 48,383 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 46,382 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Texas | 37,638 | #1,557 | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 35,226 | #1,103 | 0.9× |
| Massachusetts | 31,620 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| New Jersey | 29,032 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Missouri | 23,909 | not ranked | 1.1× |
Where Donna is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Donna is most over-represented in Rhode Island: since 1910 it was given 1.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Donna with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 859,238 babies since 1880, Donna is the most given (97% of them). In 2025 it was given to 98 of their 121 babies (81%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Donna
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Donna and names like it
- Compare Donna and DonaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sDonna peaked in 1959.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Donna since 1910.
- Italian namesWiktionary’s origin for Donna: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1959The year the most babies were named Donna.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Donna alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.