Donald

“Prince or chief of the world” — Scottish Gaelic, from Proto-Celtic origin

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

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. Donald's short forms are Don, Donnie, and Donny.

Around the world: about 1 in 2,500 boys in Scotland (2025) · about 1 in 7,200 boys in Canada (2024) · about 1 in 15,000 boys in England & Wales (2025).

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

Famous Donalds

Donald Trump — American businessman and politician (born 1946), President of the United States (2017–2021; since 2025)
Donald Tusk — Prime Minister of Poland (2007–2014; since 2023)
Donald Sutherland — Canadian actor (1935–2024)
Donald Knuth — American computer scientist and mathematician (born 1938)
Donald Rumsfeld — American politician and diplomat (1932–2021)

In stories & tradition

Donald Duck — Saludos Amigos · The Wise Little Hen
Donald Mallard — NCIS
Donald Pierce — Logan

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).

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

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

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