Devin
Masculine
Devin is given to both — 156,250 boys and 17,556 girls since 1880. See Devin as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Devin comes into English from Irish surnames — the kind of name that spent centuries as a family's last name before anyone thought to put it first. It is two syllables, stress at the front, and it has never needed spelling out twice in a room. It arrived on American birth records mid-twentieth century and has been in continuous use ever since.
How old is the name Devin?
Devin first appears in US birth records in 1947 — 78 years ago. The typical Devin alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 152,000 people named Devin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Devin most popular?
Devin peaked in 1995, reaching #58 nationally. Today it ranks #548, 490 places below that high. See the whole 1995 chart.
Devin appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Damhán to Devin
The story of Devin
Devin belongs to the large family of Irish surnames that crossed to America and were later handed back out as first names, a habit that gave English Kelly, Ryan, Casey and dozens more. In Ireland the name sits alongside Devine and Davin as anglicizations of Ó Damháin and Ó Dubháin, spellings that were never fully standardized on either side of the Atlantic. A second, unrelated stream feeds the same sound: the Norman-French Devin, "diviner", which became a surname in England and France. In modern American use, Devin has also been pulled toward the English county of Devon — named for the ancient Dumnonii — so that Devin, Devon and Devyn are often treated as one name with three coats.
Meaningscholars disagree
either "descendant of Damhán/Dubhán" (Irish) or "diviner, seer" (Old French)
Two serious lines compete. The Irish reading traces Devin to the surnames Ó Damháin or Ó Dubháin — Damhán is a diminutive of damh, "stag, ox", and Dubhán comes from dubh, "black, dark". The other line points to Old French devin, "diviner, soothsayer", from Latin divinus, which also produced the surname Devine. Both are genuinely documented; neither has pushed the other out.
How the name formed
- Damhán
- Ó Damháin
- Devine
- Devin
Related forms: Devon · Devyn · Devan · Ó Damháin · Devine · Devin
Pronouncing Devin
DEV-in
Stress on the first syllable; the second often softens to DEV-uhn in American speech, which is one reason the Devin and Devon spellings blur together.
Nicknames for Devin
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
- 1947
- Most boys named
- 19986,218 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #58reached in 1995
- Change vs 2023
- −17.6%548 in 2025, from 665
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.
Devin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Devon in English — spelling variant
- Devyn in English — spelling variant
- Devan in English — spelling variant
- Ó Damháin in Irish — related form
- Devine in English / Irish — related form
- Devin in French — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Devins among us
people named Devin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 3,117 born in 2025 was named Devin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Vincent test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Devin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Vincent climbed just as high around 1966, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Vincent's path sketches the road Devin is walking now.
Devin is coming down from a big peak (#58 in 1995). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Devin is headed
Devin is easing off slowly — about 16% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Devin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Devin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, front-stressed and phonetic — most English speakers say it correctly on first sight, even if they then ask which spelling.
- Has one clear, established short form, Dev, which also stands alone as a name elsewhere in the world.
- Unbroken use on American records across many decades, so it reads as a familiar name rather than a new invention.
- Works in both Irish-surname and French-surname company, and travels without translation in English- and French-speaking countries.
- Common enough to be recognized, uncommon enough now that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
- The Devin / Devon / Devyn / Devan question will follow the child forever. Expect to spell it on forms, and expect mail addressed to the other version.
- Most people named Devin in the US are adults rather than children right now, so the name currently reads as a grown-up's name more than a toddler's. That tends to even out as a generation moves on.
- Devin is also given to girls in smaller numbers, more often in the Devyn and Devon spellings. It is unlikely to cause confusion for a boy, but a girl named Devin may be assumed male on paper.
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What they receive
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Devin
Masculine · #548 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Devins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 152,000 people named Devin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Devin in 2025?
- Devin ranks #548 among US boy names in 2025, with 548 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Devin?
- About 1 in every 3,117 US boys born in 2025 was named Devin — 548 in all.
- Will my child share the name Devin with classmates?
- Devin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Devin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ozzy#548 · Eliseo#550 · Erik#545 · Emir#551 · Augustine#545 · Fletcher#545 · Jeffrey#552 · Eden#544
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Devin? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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