Donita
A Spanish feminine name derived from the Latin "Donata", meaning "gift".
Name Census estimates that about 3,773 living Americans carry the first name Donita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Donita today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donita births was 1962 (199 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donita. 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.
People living today
3.8K
~ 1 in 90,844 Americans
Peak year
1962
199 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2009 SSA rank
#18,066
Tracked since 1915
Census
Donita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,242 people with the first name Donita, which placed it at #4,422 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
#4,422
National first-name rank
People counted
4.2K
4,242 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donita is White at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Donita 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 Donita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.1% · 2,931
- Black or African American23.0% · 976
- Two or more races3.2% · 137
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 90
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 73
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 35
Popularity
Donita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donita from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,563 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donita 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 Donita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois recorded the most babies named Donita, while Wisconsin, Georgia, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 92 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donita
The name Donita has its origins in the Spanish language and culture. It is a feminine name derived from the Latin word "donatus," which means "given" or "gifted." This root word can be traced back to the Latin verb "donare," meaning "to give."
In the early years of Christianity, the name Donita was sometimes given to girls as a reference to the concept of being a "gift from God." It was particularly popular in regions with strong Catholic or Latin cultural influences, such as Spain, Italy, and parts of Latin America.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Donita can be found in the chronicles of a 12th-century Spanish monastery, where a young nun named Donita de Ávila was mentioned as a dedicated servant of the church. However, the name did not gain widespread popularity until the 16th and 17th centuries, when it became more commonly used among Spanish and Portuguese families.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Donita. One such figure was Donita de Guzmán, a Spanish noblewoman who lived in the 15th century and was known for her charitable works and support for the arts. Another was Donita Álvarez, a 17th-century Mexican poet and writer whose works explored themes of love, faith, and the human condition.
In the realm of literature, the name Donita appears in the works of renowned Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. In his novel "Don Quixote," one of the characters, a young woman named Donita, plays a significant role in the story's narrative.
Moving into the 19th century, Donita Sánchez was a Cuban artist and activist who fought for women's rights and social reform. Her paintings and writings highlighted the struggles and resilience of women in her community.
Lastly, in the 20th century, Donita Norris was an American educator and advocate for children's literacy. She dedicated her life to promoting reading and writing skills among underprivileged youth, establishing several educational programs and initiatives.
People
Donita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donita 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
Donita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,773 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donita 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 90,844 US residents.
Is Donita a common name?
We classify Donita as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,189 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donita most popular?
The single biggest year for Donita was 1962, when 199 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donita is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,242 people with the name Donita, or 1.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,422 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 Donita 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 Donita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donita appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,241 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Donita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donita is White at 69.1%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Donita most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Donita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.1% (2,931 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 Donita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donita 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 Donita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donita 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 Donita 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 Americans are named Donita?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Donita at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.