Devon
Feminine · “of the Dumnonii”
Devon is given to both — 20,303 girls and 72,673 boys since 1880. See Devon as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Devon is an English county named after a Celtic people. The Dumnonii held the south-west peninsula before the Romans arrived, and their name has outlasted them by two thousand years.
How old is the name Devon?
Devon first appears in US birth records in 1926 — 99 years ago. The typical Devon alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 19,500 people named Devon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Devon most popular?
Devon peaked in 1991, reaching #233 nationally. Today it ranks #3459, 3,226 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Dumnonii to Devon
The story of Devon
Devon is one of the few English counties whose name preserves a pre-Roman tribal identity rather than a Saxon description. It became a given name in twentieth-century America, part of a broader turn toward English place names — Devon, Chelsea, Kensington, Sussex — and it was given to both sexes from the start. The feminine use rose through the 1980s and peaked in the early 1990s, with masculine use running alongside throughout.
Meaningscholars disagree
of the Dumnonii
From the tribal name Dumnonii, whose own meaning is disputed — a connection to a Celtic word for 'deep' has been proposed, possibly referring to mining, since the region was known for tin. The tribe is documented; the word behind their name is not settled.
How the name formed
- Dumnonii
- Defnas
- Devon
Related forms: Devin · Devonne · Dewnens
Pronouncing Devon
DEV-un
Two syllables, stress on the first. Devon and Devin are said identically in most American accents.
Nicknames for Devon
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
- 1926
- Most girls named
- 19911,205 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #233reached in 1991
- Change vs 2023
- −8.3%44 in 2025, from 48
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.
Devon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Devin in English — spelling variant
- Devonne in English — spelling variant
- Dewnens in Cornish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Pennsylvania, New York.
Devons among us
people named Devon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 36,529 born in 2025 was named Devon
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 Keisha test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Devon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Keisha climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Keisha's path sketches the road Devon is walking now.
Devon 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
Where Devon is headed
Devon should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Devon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Devon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real place whose name preserves a documented pre-Roman people.
- Dev is a short, clean, modern-sounding form available immediately.
- It works for either sex, which some families specifically want.
- It is thoroughly unisex and does not signal sex on paper.
- Devin and Devon are near-homophones with separate origins.
- It is closely dated to the 1990s in American records.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Devon to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Devon
Feminine · #3459 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Devons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 19,500 people named Devon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Devon in 2025?
- Devon ranks #3459 among US girl names in 2025, with 44 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Devon?
- About 1 in every 36,529 US girls born in 2025 was named Devon — 44 in all.
- Will my child share the name Devon with classmates?
- Devon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Devon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Janey#3459 · Nitya#3459 · Zayah#3459 · Lively#3459 · Kynsley#3459 · Anaiya#3459 · Aleiah#3459 · Ena#3459
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Devon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Devon 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
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