Names › Girl › D › Donella
Girl name

Donella

/doʊˈnɛlə/ · 100% girls · 5 born in 2025

Donella has been given to about 1,823 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1952, which makes it a midcentury name.

Meaning—
Origin—
Syllables3
Pronunciation/doʊˈnɛlə/
Nicknames—
Living in the US≈ 1,382
Median age today59 years

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Donella per year · SSA, ONS, NRS, CSO, INSEE and SSB
18802025
United StatesEngland & WalesScotlandeach scaled to its own peak
  • Peak year1952 · 51
  • Born in 20255
  • All time1,823

How popular is Donella?

Its best year was 1952, when 51 babies were given the name, ranking 1356th. The typical living American called Donella is about 59 years old today.

Names that sound like Donella

Phonetic similarity, 0–1
  1. Rosella0.76
  2. Novella0.76
  3. Joella0.76
  4. Daniella0.72
  5. Della0.71
  6. Louella0.72
  7. Nella0.71
  8. Daniela0.68

Middle names for Donella

Ranked by flow score
  1. Donella Rose0.85
  2. Donella Louise0.85
  3. Donella June0.84
  4. Donella Pearl0.84
  5. Donella Quinn0.84
  6. Donella Nell0.84

Sibling names for Donella

Same era, comparable use, no clash
  1. Margosister · 0.74
  2. Rudybrother · 0.73
  3. Georginasister · 0.73
  4. Gwensister · 0.73
  5. Frankieeither · 0.71
  6. Lionelbrother · 0.71

Where Donella is strongest

Share of 2025 births by state

    With a common surname

    Flow score against the most-used American surnames · try your own
    1. Donella White0.80
    2. Donella Reyes0.80
    3. Donella Nguyen0.80
    4. Donella Moore0.80
    5. Donella Lee0.80
    6. Donella Hill0.80

    How to read these numbers

    Every score on this page is explained
    1. Phonetic similarity0–1
    2. Middle-name flow0–1
    3. Sibling fit0–1
    4. Living population estimatemethod
    5. PronunciationCMU dictionary

    Sources for Donella

    Every figure on this page is public record
    1. United States1880–2025
    2. England & Wales1996–2025
    3. Scotland1974–2020
    4. PronunciationCMU dictionary

    Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.