Explore the Family Name Donkor

The meaning of Donkor

West African (Ghana): from the Akan male personal name Donkor, a circumstance name from dɔnkɔ ‘slave’, given with the intention of warding off repeated infant mortality in line with the West African belief that an unattractive name will deter the child’s underworld mother from accepting the baby.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Donkor in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the surname Donkor has seen a significant increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 59,147th most popular surname, but by 2010, it had climbed to 33,410th, marking an impressive change of 43.51%. The total count of individuals with this surname also more than doubled during this period from 320 to 683, a growth rate of 113.44%. As a result, the proportion of people named Donkor per 100,000 increased by 91.67%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#59,147	#33,410	43.51%
Count	320	683	113.44%
Proportion per 100k	0.12	0.23	91.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Donkor

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that almost all individuals with the Donkor surname identify as Black. This group made up 95% of the Donkors in 2000 and slightly increased to 95.61% in 2010. There's a small percentage that identifies with two or more races, although its representation decreased by 29.60% over the decade. The data shows a modest rise in the number of White individuals carrying the Donkor name, from 0 in 2000 to 1.46% in 2010. No Donkors identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic, or American Indian and Alaskan Native during these years.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	95%	95.61%	0.64%
Two or More Races	3.75%	2.64%	-29.6%
White	0%	1.46%	0%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Hispanic	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%