Names › Boy › D › Donnell
Boy name

Donnell

/ˈdɑnɪl/ · 93% boys · 26 born in 2025

Donnell has been given to about 15,305 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1970, which makes it a boomer-era name.

Meaning—
Origin—
Syllables2
Pronunciation/ˈdɑnɪl/
Nicknames—
Living in the US≈ 12,920
Median age today48 years

Popularity, 1880–2025

Babies named Donnell per year · SSA, ONS, NRS, CSO, INSEE and SSB
18802025
United StatesEngland & WalesScotlandeach scaled to its own peak
  • Peak year1970 · 307
  • Born in 202526
  • All time15,305

How popular is Donnell?

Its best year was 1970, when 307 babies were given the name, ranking 492nd. The typical living American called Donnell is about 48 years old today.

Names that sound like Donnell

Phonetic similarity, 0–1
  1. Donell0.97
  2. Cornell0.76
  3. Lowell0.69
  4. Odell0.69
  5. Darnell0.69
  6. Lovell0.69
  7. Montrell0.69
  8. Cordell0.64

Middle names for Donnell

Ranked by flow score
  1. Donnell Paul0.77
  2. Donnell John0.77
  3. Donnell Blake0.76
  4. Donnell Wade0.76
  5. Donnell Ross0.76
  6. Donnell Quinn0.76

Sibling names for Donnell

Same era, comparable use, no clash
  1. Georginasister · 0.93
  2. Rockybrother · 0.89
  3. Claybrother · 0.89
  4. Bridgetsister · 0.88
  5. Jolenesister · 0.88
  6. Rudybrother · 0.88

Where Donnell is strongest

Share of 2025 births by state

    With a common surname

    Flow score against the most-used American surnames · try your own
    1. Donnell Anderson0.77
    2. Donnell White0.72
    3. Donnell Nguyen0.72
    4. Donnell Moore0.72
    5. Donnell Brown0.72
    6. Donnell Young0.69

    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 Donnell

    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.