How common is the surname Donner?

5,068 people in the United States had the surname Donner in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 60,921 Americans. It ranked 6,664th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Donner?

Richard Donner, American film director (1930–2021), followed by Lauren Shuler Donner.

Where is the surname Donner most common?

Wikidata records people named Donner in the United States, Germany and Austria.

Is the surname Donner getting more or less common?

Less common. 5,349 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,068 in 2010, down 5.3%.

The surname Donner

A surname, carried by 5,068 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex D560

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Donner is more common than 95.9% of them.

Origin

First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. Named from Dutch donder (“thunder”), and perhaps influenced by the German form Donner.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 5,068 people named Donner in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 60,921 Americans. That is down 5.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,349.

#6,664

rank among US surnames

5,068

people in 2010

1.7

per 100,000 Americans

-5.3%

change since 2000 (was #5,924)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#6,655	Galbreath	5,083	60,741
#6,656	Burson	5,082	60,753
#6,657	Hammack	5,080	60,777
#6,658	Beauregard	5,078	60,801
#6,661	Forest	5,076	60,825
#6,662	Dore	5,075	60,837
#6,663	Vanbuskirk	5,073	60,861

Who is named Donner

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

88% of people named Donner identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 88%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.2%
Two or more races 2.2%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Donners

8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Richard Donner
American film director (1930–2021)
Lauren Shuler Donner
American film producer, born 1949
Georg Rafael Donner
Austrian sculptor (1693–1741)
Robert Donner
American actor (1931–2006)
Fred Donner
American historian and scholar of Islam (born 1945)
Jack Donner
American actor (1928–2019)
Florinda Donner
American writer and anthropologist, born 1944
Helmut Donner
Austrian high jumper, 1941–2026

Notable Donners come mostly from the United States (6), Germany (1) and Austria (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Donder
Dunder

Surnames that sound like Donner

Donner has the Soundex code D560, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code D560.

Questions

Where does the surname Donner come from?: First attested in the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”. Named from Dutch donder (“thunder”), and perhaps influenced by the German form Donner.
How common is the surname Donner?: 5,068 people in the United States had the surname Donner in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 60,921 Americans. It ranked 6,664th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Donner?: In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Donner identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Donner?: Richard Donner, American film director (1930–2021), followed by Lauren Shuler Donner.
Where is the surname Donner most common?: Wikidata records people named Donner in the United States, Germany and Austria.
Is the surname Donner getting more or less common?: Less common. 5,349 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 5,068 in 2010, down 5.3%.
What are other spellings of Donner?: Donder and Dunder.