Donell
A modern spelling variation of the Irish name Donnell, Anglicized from Domhnall meaning "world ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 4,484 living Americans carry the first name Donell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Donell today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donell births was 1959 (110 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donell. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Donell with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.5K
~ 1 in 76,439 Americans
Peak year
1959
110 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,194
Tracked since 1915
Census
Donell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,068 people with the first name Donell, which placed it at #5,551 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
#5,551
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,068 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donell is Black at 74.0%. The next largest groups are White (17.0%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Donell 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 Donell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.0% · 2,270
- White17.0% · 521
- Two or more races4.2% · 129
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 98
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 23
Gender
Gender distribution for Donell
Donell leans heavily male at 89.1% of total registrations, but 591 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Donell as a male name
- Ranked #9,194 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1959 (99 births)
Donell as a female name
- Ranked #11,806 in 1990
- 6 female births in 1990
- Peak: 1968 (24 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donell leans strongly male. 2,570 people counted with this name were male (83.6%), compared with 504 female bearers (16.4%).
Popularity
Donell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donell from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 959 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donell 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 Donell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Illinois, New York, California recorded the most babies named Donell, while District of Columbia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 91 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donell
The name Donell has its roots in ancient Gaelic and Celtic origins, tracing back to the early medieval era in Ireland and Scotland. It is derived from the Irish Gaelic name Domhnall, which is a combination of the elements "domhnu" meaning "world" and "val" meaning "rule" or "ruler." Thus, the name Donell carries the meaning of "world ruler" or "ruler of the world."
This name gained popularity during the 5th and 6th centuries AD, particularly among the ruling families and nobility of Ireland and Scotland. It was a common name among the high kings and chieftains of the time, reflecting their aspirations for power and authority over their respective realms.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Donell can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a Donell mac Muirchertaig, who was the King of Tara and High King of Ireland in the 7th century AD.
Throughout the centuries, several notable figures have borne the name Donell. One of the most famous was Donell Óg O'Brien (1572-1617), the King of Thomond and a prominent Irish leader during the Nine Years' War against English rule in Ireland. Another notable figure was Donell Dubh Ó Lochlainn (died 1064), an Irish king who ruled over the kingdom of Cenél nEógain in the 11th century.
In Scotland, the name Donell was also prominent among the Scottish Gaels. One famous bearer of the name was Donell of Islay (1455-1497), a powerful Scottish lord and chief of the Clan Donald. He was known for his role in the feuds between the Clan Donald and the Scottish Crown in the late 15th century.
Another significant figure was Donell Balloch (c. 1475-1535), a Scottish chief of the Clan Iain Abrach branch of the Clan Donald. He was a prominent figure in the turbulent political landscape of 16th century Scotland, leading his clan in various conflicts and uprisings against the Scottish Crown.
In more recent times, the name Donell has been less common, but it has still been carried on by notable individuals. One example is Donell Jones (born 1973), an American R&B singer and songwriter best known for his hit single "U Know What's Up."
While the name Donell has its roots in ancient Celtic cultures, it has transcended its historical origins and has been adopted by various cultures and communities around the world, carrying with it the rich legacy of its ancient meaning and significance.
People
Donell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donell 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
Donell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,484 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donell 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 76,439 US residents.
Is Donell a common name?
We classify Donell as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,405 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donell most popular?
The single biggest year for Donell was 1959, when 110 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donell is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,068 people with the name Donell, or 1.02 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,551 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 Donell 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 Donell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donell leans strongly male. 2,570 people counted with this name were male (83.6%), compared with 504 female bearers (16.4%). 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 Donell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donell is Black at 74.0%. The next largest groups are White (17.0%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Donell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Donell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.0% (2,270 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 Donell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donell a male name?
Yes, 89.1% of people registered as Donell 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 Donell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donell 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 Donell 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 Donell as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.