Donald

Meaning: Prince or chief of the world
Origin: Scottish Gaelic

Nicknames: Don, Donnie, Donny

Boy's name · #690 in the US (2025) · Vintage

Popularity over time

Donald is an heirloom: its strongest era came around 1934, when it ranked #6. It has thinned since but never left the records — about 1.4 million boys since 1880, ranked #690 today. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Donald is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 34 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Donald ranks in other countries and regions.

#400 in Scotland (2025) · #885 in Canada (2025) · #914 in Italy (2024) · #1,466 in England & Wales (2025) · #3,796 in Ecuador (2025) · #2,193 in Sweden (2023) · #2,209 in Austria (2021) · #4,081 in France (2020) · #764 in Ireland (2019) · #798 in Poland (2015) · #329 in New Zealand (1994) · #96 in Australia (QLD) (1971) and 1 more.

Famous Donalds

Donald Trump — President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025) (born 1946)
Donald Tusk — Prime Minister of Poland (2007–2014; since 2023) (born 1957)
Donald Sutherland — Canadian actor (1935–2024)
Donald Knuth — American computer scientist and mathematician (born 1938)
Donald Rumsfeld — American politician and diplomat (1932–2021)
Donald Trump Jr. — American businessman and activist (born 1977)
Donald Glover — American actor, comedian, musician, and filmmaker (born 1983)
Donald Pleasence — British actor (1919–1995)
Donald Faison — American actor (born 1974)
Donald O'Connor — American film actor (1925–2003)

In stories & tradition

Donald Duck — Saludos Amigos (film)
Donald Mallard — NCIS (TV series)
Donald Pierce — Logan (film)

What Donalds become

Among 4,277 notable people named Donald:

Military figures appear 2.01× more often than among typical names — e.g. Donald Izacus Pandjaitan, Indonesian general (1925–1965).

Spellings & nicknames

About 98 boys a year are given Don as their full name and 90 Donnie.

Similar names: Donnie · Ronald · Douglas · Keith · Don · Donovan

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service