Donelle
Feminine
Donelle is given to both — 1,127 girls and 323 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
The don in Donelle may be Donald and may be Donna, and those are unrelated names. One is Gaelic and means something about ruling the world; the other is the Italian word for a lady. The ending is French in shape and American in use, and it does not settle which front it was attached to.
How old is the name Donelle?
Donelle first appears in US birth records in 1922 — 103 years ago. The typical Donelle alive today was born around 1971, making them about 54 years old. About 1,000 people named Donelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Donelle most popular?
Donelle peaked in 1968, reaching #1909 nationally. See the whole 1968 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Donelle
A name that keeps its first vowel short without any doubled consonant is doing something worth noticing. English usually shortens a vowel by putting two consonants after it, and this name has only one; what keeps it short instead is the stress, which falls on the second syllable and leaves the first reduced. That is a different mechanism and it works reliably in names of this shape: Danelle, Janelle, Lanelle and Chanelle all behave the same way. The spelling looks as though it ought to give a long vowel and does not, because English readers assign the weight before they assign the vowels, and everything else follows from that.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Two possible fronts with completely different meanings and no way to choose. The ending is the French feminine, borrowed for its shape rather than its grammar, and it carries a register rather than a sense. So neither half of the name can be stated with confidence.
Pronouncing Donelle
duh-NELL
Two syllables with the stress at the back. The first vowel is reduced to nothing, which is why the record also holds Danelle and Dawnelle with closely related sounds.
Nicknames for Donelle
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1922
- Most girls named
- 197042 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1909reached in 1968
- Change vs 2002
- +40.0%7 in 2007, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Donelles among us
people named Donelle are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Donelle sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Final stress gives the name a definite finish and makes it carry when called.
- Nell is a complete, ancient name sitting in the second half.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- The record carries it for boys as well as girls, so it signals nothing on a form.
- Donnell, Danelle and Donelle all circulate, so spelling it out is permanent.
- Two possible fronts means no meaning can be given honestly.
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Donelle
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Donelles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Donelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Donelle in 2025?
- Donelle is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Donelle with classmates?
- Donelle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
Dorothy#421 · Donna#1962 · Deborah#862 · Debra#4460 · Diane#2607 · Doris#2895 · Denise#1673 · Danielle#549
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Donelle? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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