Girl · #13,787 in 2026

Donella

Donella is a name with a single cultural origin: Scottish.

  • Scottish
Current Rank
#13,787
Peak Rank
#1,351 (1952)
Total Babies
2K
5-Yr Trend
Stable
1910
First Year
2018
Last Year
1952
Peak Year
#1351
Peak Rank
2K
Total Count
86
Years Active

Meaning & Origin of Donella

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Donella is a name with a single cultural origin: Scottish.

Origin data from Behind the Name .

Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)

  • Scottish

The Story of Donella

Donella first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1910, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1952: 51 births, good for #1,351 nationwide. Donella last appeared in the published SSA data in 2018, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 2K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1910s to the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Popularity by State

ME
WA
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
VT
NH
MA
OR
ID
SD
IA
IL
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
NV
WY
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
DC
UT
CO
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
AK
AZ
NM
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
HI
TX
FL
Top 10
11-50
51-100
101-500
500+
No data

Variants & Related Forms of Donella

Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Donella. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Names that sound like Donella

Phonetically similar names — useful when Donella is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Donella

What does the name Donella mean?
Donella is a name with a single cultural origin: Scottish.
What is the origin of the name Donella?
Donella has roots in the following cultural and linguistic traditions: Scottish.
How popular is Donella in 2026?
In 2026, Donella ranks #13,787 among girls' names in the U.S., with 6 babies given the name that year.
When was Donella most popular?
Donella reached its peak popularity in 1952, ranking #1,351 that year with 51 babies given the name.
In which U.S. states is Donella most popular?
Donella has historically been most popular in South Carolina, Michigan, Ohio. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Donella.
Is Donella a unisex name?
In U.S. Social Security records, Donella is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name.
What names go well with Donella?
Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Donella include Jocelin, Telisha, Jadah. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.
What are nicknames or variants of Donella?
Common variants and related forms of Donella include Donalda, Donaldina. These cover foreign-language equivalents, alternate spellings, and short forms.

About the name Donella

Donella is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1910 and has accumulated 2K births in the dataset. Donella's peak popularity came in 1952 when it ranked #1,351. Use the chart and map above to compare Donella's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

  • Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
  • Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
  • Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
  • Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
  • Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.