Donte is an American spelling of Dante, the Italian short form of Durante, which comes from the Latin durans and means "enduring" or "steadfast". The poet Dante Alighieri gave the original its fame; the Donte spelling has been used mainly by African-American families since the 1970s. Donte ranked number 523 in 2000, but has fallen out of the top 1000 and stands at number 1979 in 2025.