Given name & surname
Donna
“ruler of the world”
Donna is a feminine form of Donald. One Scottish interpretation is “ruler of the world.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Donna is a feminine form of Donald. One Scottish interpretation is “ruler of the world.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Italian.
How it developed
Donna is a feminine form of Donald.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Donna through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 833,874
- 2,233 boys · 831,641 girls
- Most popular year
- 1959
- 36,539 babies
- 2025
- 98
- #1,965 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −20%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 98 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 1,965 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 20.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 36,468 in 1959. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (15). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 635,065 as a first name in 2020; 786 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Donna’s family of names
Donna is a feminine form of Donald. Donna has a related form in Donnie. Donna has a related form in Donnell.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 30
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Donnievariant
- Donnyvariant
- Donnellvariant
- Donatellavariant
- Donyavariant
- Doniavariant
- Donellavariant
- Donavariant
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- Doneenvariant
- Donatavariant
- Donaldavariant
- Donnicavariant
- Donnivariant
- Donnellevariant
- Donnellavariant
- Donnalynvariant
- Donnaleevariant
- Donitavariant
- Donishavariant
- Doniellevariant
- Donicavariant
- Donettavariant
- Donellevariant
- Dahnyavariant
- Dahnavariant
- Donnnalikely variant
- Donaldinavariant
- Donnissevariant
- Donna-Marievariant
- Donalievariant
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Donna
- Donna StricklandCanadian physicist, Nobel laurateborn 1959
- Donna SummerAmerican singer (1948–2012)
- Donna TarttAmerican writerborn 1963
- Donna ReedAmerican film and television actress1921–1986
- Donna HarawayAmerican philosopher, scholar in the field of science and technology studies (born 1944)
- Donna VekićCroatian tennis playerborn 1996
- Donna KaranAmerican fashion designer (born 1948)
- Donna LeonAmerican crime novelist (born 1942)
- Donna MurphyAmerican actress, singerborn 1959
Characters named Donna: Donna Noble (Doctor Who character), Donna Martin (fictional human).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Donna, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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