Pamela Redmond is the cocreator and CEO of Nameberry and Baby Name DNA. The coauthor of ten groundbreaking 

, Redmond is an internationally-recognized baby name expert, quoted and published widely in such media outlets as the 

, CNN, and the BBC. She has written about baby names for 

Redmond is also a New York Times bestselling novelist whose books include 

Pamela Redmond

Clare Green has been writing for Nameberry since 2015, covering everything from 

. Her work has featured in publications such as 

. Clare has a background in linguistics and librarianship, and recently completed an MA dissertation researching 

. She lives in England with her husband and 

Clare Green

The name Donald is a girl's name meaning "proud chief".

How to Name Your Baby After Your Grandpa

Edwardian Names Ready to Revive

Extinct Names That Are Never Ever Coming Back

International Baby Names: Manx Names

The REAL Top Baby Names of All Time!

20 Most Controversial Baby Names

You may be surprised to learn that Donald featured in the US Top 1000 in the 20s and 30s, peaking in 1930 when it was given to 175 girls (compared to 29051 boys). A strong Scottish choice meaning "proud chief", it last appeared in the US stats for girls in 2004. 

Donald

The name Donald peaked for girls at #507 in 1930. Donald is also used for boys, ranking #690 in 2025.

The name Donald is a boy's name of Scottish origin meaning "proud chief".

Scottish Names

Scottish Names for Boys

6 Letter Boy Names

UK Baby Names

UK Boy Names

Names Ending in D for Boys

Names That Mean Chief

Names That Mean Proud

Two Syllable Names for Boys

Names that Peaked in 1934

Animal Names for Boys

Scottish Names that Start With D

Donald has been used for centuries in Scotland, where the Macdonald clan is one of the most ancient and where there have been six early Scottish kings by that name. Donald was a Top 20 name throughout most of the early twentieth century. 
 
But first there was the quacking Donald Duck, introduced in 1934, to affect its image, and then there was The Donald Trump, leaving it drained of much baby appeal. Trump's runs to presidency didn't save Donald's decline on the baby name charts: over the last decade it has fallen around 200 places in the US, and a recent year saw it rank at #672 when it was given to around 400 boys. 
 
Across the pond, it is now out of favor in Scotland too and the latest count revealed just 16 boys were called Donald in England and Wales. Nicknames Donnie and Donny preferred, given to around 60 boys collectively, with the -ie spelling in the Top 1000, distant enough from the Trump association to work there. 
 Aside from Donald Sutherland, most contemporary real and fictive Donalds go by nicknames — as in Donny Osmond, Donnie Wahlberg, Don Rickles and Don Draper. More promising and more authentically Celtic sounding is Donal, which is quite commonly used in Ireland, or surname cousins Donnelly or Donovan.

Midcentury Baby Names

Top 1930s Baby Names 

Top 1940s Baby Names 

Top 1960s Baby Names 

Top 1950s Baby Names 

Most Common Names for Boys

Top 1900s Baby Names 

Top 1920s Baby Names 

Old People Names

Disney Baby Names

Scottish Last Names

Boy Names Always in the Top 1000

Presidential Baby Names

Old Man Names Back in Style

Scottish

Nameberry

Future

The name Donald is currently ranked #690 in U.S. births. and peaked for boys at #6 in 1934. The name is most popular in Delaware, Alaska, and Alaska. Donald is occasionally used for girls in 2004.

Donald

About Donald

Popularity & trends

Donald on lists

Donald in blog posts

Save Donald

Year	US rank	Births	Per million
2014	—	0	0
2015	—	0	0
2016	—	0	0
2017	—	0	0
2018	—	0	0
2019	—	0	0
2020	—	0	0
2021	—	0	0
2022	—	0	0
2023	—	0	0
2024	—	0	0
2025	—	0	0