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

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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".

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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.

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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 DONALD, DONALD, and DONALD. Donald is occasionally used for girls in 2004.

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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

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