Don

Where Don comes from

The dictionaries list Don as a given name — a diminutive of the male given names Donald, Donovan, and Gordon — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #283 among boys — 34 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1924
    Don Knotts born
    American actor and stand-up comedian
  3. 1934
    Peak, #50
    3,926 babies named Don — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1949
    Don Johnson born
    American actor and singer
  5. 1965
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #157.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the male given names Donald, Donovan, and Gordon.
Namesakes
  • Don Knotts · American actor and stand-up comedian, 1924–2006
  • Don Johnson · American actor and singer, born 1949
  • Don Ameche · American actor, 1908–1993
  • Don Budge · American tennis player, 1915–2000
  • Don Siegel · American film director, 1912–1991

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.