Donna
Italian donna, “lady,” from Latin domina.
Popularity, 1880–2025
Italian for 'lady,' a 1950s and 60s favorite in the era of The Donna Reed Show.
Donna appears in the national records from the very first year, 1880. It has ranked among the top 100 names for American girls in every year from 1926 to 1976. It spent 12 years inside the top 10. Its biggest year was 1959, when 36,468 newborn girls received the name, ranking it No. 5 nationally. All told, 833,874 Americans have been given the name since 1880.
Related names
Other spellings on record: Dona (19,032) (total births since 1880)
Explore Donna interactively →By the decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 265 | No. 348 |
| 1890s | 440 | No. 397 |
| 1900s | 790 | No. 323 |
| 1910s | 4,293 | No. 225 |
| 1920s | 26,160 | No. 47 |
| 1930s | 78,846 | No. 20 |
| 1940s | 165,523 | No. 10 |
| 1950s | 270,338 | No. 5 |
| 1960s | 213,468 | No. 5 |
| 1970s | 47,342 | No. 32 |
| 1980s | 13,044 | No. 144 |
| 1990s | 5,662 | No. 319 |
| 2000s | 3,186 | No. 659 |
| 2010s | 1,641 | No. 983 |
| 2020s | 643 | No. 1545 |
Births and rank shown for girls, the sex more often given the name. The Social Security Administration omits name–year combinations with fewer than five births.
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Data: U.S. Social Security Administration national baby-name file, 1880–2025.