Devlin
Masculine
Devlin is given to both — 3,247 boys and 195 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Devlin is an Irish surname that arrived in American given names on the back of a fashion that had nothing to do with Ireland. The -lin ending had been made familiar by a decade of girls' names, and a boy's surname ending the same way slid in behind them.
How old is the name Devlin?
Devlin first appears in US birth records in 1957 — 68 years ago. The typical Devlin alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 3,100 people named Devlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Devlin most popular?
Devlin peaked in 2003, reaching #1149 nationally. Today it ranks #6446, 5,297 places below that high. See the whole 2003 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From O Dobhailen to Devlin
The story of Devlin
The O Dobhailen were a Tyrone family, and the surname anglicized as Devlin, Develin and Devland during the centuries when Irish names were written down by English-speaking clerks. It reached the United States with nineteenth-century emigration and stayed a surname for a hundred years. Its appearance as a given name is late: American records show it climbing through the 1990s and peaking in 2003, exactly the decade in which -lin and -lyn endings were saturating girls' naming through Caitlin, Jaclyn and Katelyn. A sound that has been made familiar in one place becomes available in another, and Irish surnames ending in -lin benefited from that without any connection to it.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The Irish surname is O Dobhailen, and the personal name behind it is not securely explained; readings offered include a diminutive of dobhail, unlucky, and a form connected to a word for fierce. None is established. The similarity to the English word devil is entirely accidental, a product of anglicizing Irish spelling into English letters.
How the name formed
- O Dobhailen
- Develin
- Devlin
Related forms: O Dobhailen · Develin
Pronouncing Devlin
DEV-lin
Two syllables with the stress on the first. The Irish original is closer to DOH-vih-lin, which the anglicization has flattened considerably.
Nicknames for Devlin
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
- 1957
- Most boys named
- 2004132 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1149reached in 2003
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%13 in 2025, from 13
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.
Devlin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- O Dobhailen in Irish — related form
- Develin in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Devlins among us
people named Devlin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 131,390 born in 2025 was named Devlin
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 Rabon test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Devlin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rabon climbed just as high around 1938, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rabon's path sketches the road Devlin is walking now.
Devlin sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Devlin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Devlin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A genuine Irish surname with a documented family behind it.
- Dev is a strong, short and current everyday form.
- Two syllables, seven letters, and no spelling difficulty.
- The first syllable spells an English word that will be noticed.
- The Irish name's meaning is genuinely not recovered.
- Devin and Devlin are constantly confused with each other.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Devlin to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Devlin? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Devlin
Masculine · #6446 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Devlins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,100 people named Devlin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Devlin in 2025?
- Devlin ranks #6446 among US boy names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Devlin?
- About 1 in every 131,390 US boys born in 2025 was named Devlin — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Devlin with classmates?
- Devlin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Devlin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rollie#6446 · Billie#6446 · Worth#6446 · Blas#6446 · Starling#6446 · Alvis#6446 · Elwyn#6446 · Rollin#6446
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Devlin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Devlin and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle