Donyell
Masculine
Donyell is given to both — 509 boys and 398 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Donyell has a sound that carries: two syllables, the second stressed and ringing, don-YELL. Its best-known bearer is Donyell Marshall, who played college basketball at the University of Connecticut and then spent a long career in the NBA.
How old is the name Donyell?
Donyell first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Donyell alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 500 people named Donyell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Donyell most popular?
Donyell peaked in 1974, reaching #1546 nationally. See the whole 1974 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Donyell
Donyell sits between older names and belongs to them by ear. Say Daniel with the weight on the last syllable and it comes close; say Donnell with a y slipped before the ending and it arrives; say Danielle with an o and it is there again, which is how one spelling has come to serve boys and girls both. The form that settled on the page is its own, and a basketball forward named Donyell Marshall carried it from the University of Connecticut into the NBA.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No meaning is recorded for this spelling. It sounds like Daniel with the stress moved to the end, like Donnell with a y slipped before the last syllable, and, for girls, like Danielle; Daniel is Hebrew, 'God is my judge', and Donnell an Irish surname, but nothing records which, if any, stands behind Donyell.
Pronouncing Donyell
don-YELL
Stress on the second syllable, which rhymes with bell.
Nicknames for Donyell
Limited
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
- 1969
- Most boys named
- 197432 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1546reached in 1974
- Change vs 2010
- 0.0%5 in 2017, 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.
Donyells among us
people named Donyell 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
Donyell 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
- Clear to say once heard, with a strong stressed ending.
- A well-known bearer of this exact spelling in American sports.
- The sound sits comfortably on a boy or a girl.
- It will be written Donnell, Daniel or Danielle by people hearing it for the first time.
- The name leans to boys; a girl named Donyell will meet it more often on boys, though the ending it shares with Danielle keeps it from reading as a boys' name only.
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Donyell
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Donyells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Donyell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Donyell in 2025?
- Donyell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Donyell with classmates?
- Donyell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
David#35 · Daniel#22 · Donald#690 · Dennis#707 · Douglas#807 · Dylan#41 · Danny#628 · Dale#1409
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Donyell? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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