Davene
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew name David, meaning "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 165 living Americans carry the first name Davene. It is a predominantly female name (97.9% of registrations). The average person named Davene today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Davene births was 1952 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Davene. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Davene is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Davenes were born before 1970.
People living today
165
~ 1 in 2,077,299 Americans
Peak year
1952
13 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1993 SSA rank
#9,034
Tracked since 1938
Census
Davene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 276 people with the first name Davene, which placed it at #31,162 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#31,162
National first-name rank
People counted
276
276 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Davene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davene is White at 63.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.1%) and Hispanic (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Davene described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Davene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.8% · 176
- Black or African American26.1% · 72
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 14
- Two or more races3.6% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Davene
Davene leans heavily female at 97.9% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Davene as a male name
- Ranked #9,034 in 1993
- 5 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1993 (5 births)
Davene as a female name
- Ranked #9,351 in 1980
- 6 female births in 1980
- Peak: 1952 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Davene leans strongly female. 272 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.1%).
Popularity
Davene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Davene from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 79 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Davene by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Davene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Davene
The given name Davene is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with its roots dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period of the 5th to 11th centuries. The name is thought to be a variant or diminutive form of the name Davina, which itself is derived from the Latin name Davidus, meaning "beloved" or "friend."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Davene can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholdings and property ownership in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The entry mentions a woman named Davene, who was a landholder in the county of Hertfordshire.
In the medieval period, the name Davene appears to have been popular among the nobility and aristocracy in certain regions of England. One notable figure was Davene de Vere, born in 1204, who was a member of the powerful de Vere family and held significant landholdings in Essex.
During the Renaissance period, the name Davene gained some prominence in the literary world. A poet named Davene Wycliffe, born in 1532, was known for her sonnets and lyrical works, which were widely circulated among the educated elite of her time.
In the 18th century, Davene Montague (1720-1792) was a celebrated actress and playwright in London's theatrical circles. Her plays, which often explored themes of love and betrayal, garnered critical acclaim and were performed in various theaters across the city.
Another notable figure was Davene Beaumont (1785-1859), a pioneering botanist and naturalist from Yorkshire, England. She contributed significantly to the field of plant taxonomy and was one of the first women to be elected as a fellow of the Linnean Society of London.
While the name Davene has been relatively uncommon throughout history, it has maintained a presence in various parts of the English-speaking world, particularly in Britain and its former colonies. Its enduring appeal can be attributed to its unique sound, rich historical roots, and associations with notable figures from different eras.
People
Davene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Davene as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Davene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Davene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 165 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Davene going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,077,299 US residents.
Is Davene a common name?
We classify Davene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 239 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Davene most popular?
The single biggest year for Davene was 1952, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Davene is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Davene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 276 people with the name Davene, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,162 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Davene in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Davene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Davene leans strongly female. 272 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Davene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davene is White at 63.8%. The next largest groups are Black (26.1%) and Hispanic (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Davene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Davene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.8% (176 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Davene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Davene a female name?
Yes, 97.9% of people registered as Davene in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Davene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Davene in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Davene can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Davene?
See how many Americans are named Davene on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.