Devan
Feminine
Devan is given to both — 5,161 girls and 13,639 boys since 1880. See Devan as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Devan sits where three names have merged. Devon is an English county; Devin is an Irish surname; Devan is either, and in American records the three have been swapping spellings for decades. The Irish one has the bleakest etymology of the group — a word about misfortune, which is an unusual thing for a family to be called.
How old is the name Devan?
Devan first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Devan alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 5,100 people named Devan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Devan most popular?
Devan peaked in 1991, reaching #520 nationally. See the whole 1991 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Devan
Names that sound alike and arrive at the same time tend to merge, and that is what has happened here: an English county, an Irish surname and a set of American respellings have produced a single sound with three spellings and no agreement about which belongs to which origin. What distinguishes Devan from the other two is that it is the least anchored — Devon is clearly the county and Devin is clearly the surname, and Devan could be either, which in practice means it is chosen for its sound.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The Irish surname O Damhain is generally read as descendant of Damhan, a personal name connected to damh, a stag or an ox; a competing account connects Devin to a word about misfortune or ill luck, which would be an unusual but not unheard-of byname. The English county Devon takes its name from the Dumnonii, a Celtic people, and its meaning is separately unsettled. Three roads, three open questions.
Pronouncing Devan
DEV-un
DEV-un, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced. Devon, Devin and Devan are said identically in American English; the final vowel is unstressed and all three letters are the same sound there.
Nicknames for Devan
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1968
- Most girls named
- 1992360 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #520reached in 1991
- Change vs 2023
- +33.3%12 in 2024, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Devan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ó Damháin in Irish — related form
Devans among us
people named Devan are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Devan sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Dev is a clean short form that suits either child.
- It has both an English county and an Irish family behind it, which gives a family a choice.
- Two syllables, entirely unambiguous in sound.
- Three spellings compete and none is standard, so the name is dictated every time.
- The Irish etymology is disputed and one reading of it is distinctly gloomy.
- It is recorded for girls as well, so on a form it settles less than it appears to.
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Devan
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Devans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,100 people named Devan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Devan in 2025?
- Devan is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Devan with classmates?
- Devan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More D names
The most-given names starting with D, all years combined.
Dorothy#421 · Donna#1962 · Deborah#862 · Debra#4460 · Diane#2607 · Doris#2895 · Denise#1673 · Danielle#549
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Devan? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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