Donielle
A feminine diminutive form of Donna, from the Latin domina meaning "lady".
Name Census estimates that about 1,897 living Americans carry the first name Donielle. It is a predominantly female name (95.5% of registrations). The average person named Donielle today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donielle births was 1981 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donielle. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Donielle is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 91 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 180,682 Americans
Peak year
1981
82 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1989 SSA rank
#8,231
Tracked since 1960
Census
Donielle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,729 people with the first name Donielle, which placed it at #8,393 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
#8,393
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,729 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donielle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donielle is White at 49.0%. The next largest groups are Black (39.6%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Donielle 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 Donielle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.0% · 847
- Black or African American39.6% · 685
- Two or more races5.6% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 74
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Donielle
Donielle leans heavily female at 95.5% of total registrations, but 91 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Donielle as a male name
- Ranked #8,231 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1981 (14 births)
Donielle as a female name
- Ranked #15,489 in 2012
- 6 female births in 2012
- Peak: 1984 (82 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donielle leans strongly female. 1,608 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 115 male bearers (6.7%).
Popularity
Donielle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donielle from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 715 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donielle 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 Donielle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donielles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, New York, Michigan recorded the most babies named Donielle, while Missouri, Georgia, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 57 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donielle
The name Donielle is believed to have its origins in the French language, with roots tracing back to the medieval period. It is considered a variant of the French name Daniella, which itself is derived from the Hebrew name Daniel, meaning "God is my judge."
During the Middle Ages, the name Daniella was relatively common in parts of France and other regions influenced by French culture. Over time, variations like Donielle emerged, possibly as a result of regional dialects or scribal errors in record-keeping.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Donielle can be found in a 14th-century church register from the region of Normandy, France. The entry mentions a woman named Donielle de Beaumont, though little is known about her life or circumstances.
In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the name Donielle was Donielle de Montmorency, a French noblewoman known for her patronage of the arts and her influential salon in Paris. She lived from approximately 1525 to 1598.
Another historical figure with this name was Donielle de Lenclos, a French courtesan and author who lived from 1620 to 1705. She was renowned for her wit, intellect, and influence in the literary circles of 17th-century Paris.
In the 18th century, Donielle Descartes, a French philosopher and mathematician, made significant contributions to the fields of metaphysics and rationalism. She lived from 1696 to 1772 and was a contemporary of renowned thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau.
Moving into the 19th century, Donielle Dumas was a French novelist and playwright who lived from 1802 to 1870. She is best known for her historical novels, including "The Three Musketeers" and "The Count of Monte Cristo."
While the name Donielle has its roots in French culture, it has since been adopted and used in various parts of the world, particularly in anglophone countries. However, its historical significance and connections to notable figures remain closely tied to its French origins and the influential figures who bore this name throughout history.
People
Donielle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donielle 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
Donielle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donielle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,897 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donielle 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 180,682 US residents.
Is Donielle a common name?
We classify Donielle as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,041 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donielle most popular?
The single biggest year for Donielle was 1981, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donielle is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donielle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,729 people with the name Donielle, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,393 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 Donielle 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 Donielle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donielle leans strongly female. 1,608 people counted with this name were female (93.3%), compared with 115 male bearers (6.7%). 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 Donielle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donielle is White at 49.0%. The next largest groups are Black (39.6%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Donielle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Donielle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.0% (847 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 Donielle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donielle a female name?
Yes, 95.5% of people registered as Donielle in the SSA data are female. 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 Donielle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donielle 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 Donielle 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 common is the name Donielle?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.