Deontaye
A masculine name with potential roots in French meaning "Chosen by God".
Name Census estimates that about 154 living Americans carry the first name Deontaye. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Deontaye today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Deontaye births was 2003 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Deontaye. 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.
People living today
154
~ 1 in 2,225,678 Americans
Peak year
2003
14 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2007 SSA rank
#11,275
Tracked since 1987
Census
Deontaye in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 146 people with the first name Deontaye, which placed it at #46,062 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
#46,062
National first-name rank
People counted
146
146 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Deontaye
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deontaye is Black at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.5%) and White (2.7%). 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 Deontaye 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 Deontaye at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.7% · 128
- Two or more races5.5% · 8
- White2.7% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 3
Popularity
Deontaye: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Deontaye from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 78 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Deontaye 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 Deontaye 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 Deontaye
The name Deontaye is a relatively modern given name that appears to have originated in the United States, likely among African American communities. Its exact origins and meaning are not entirely clear, but it may be a variation or combination of the names Deon and Taye.
Deon is a name of Greek origin, derived from the word "Dion," meaning "of Zeus" or "divine." It was a popular name in ancient Greece and was often associated with the god Zeus. The name Taye, on the other hand, is of African origin and may be a shortened form of names like Oluwatoye or Oluwataye, which mean "the Lord is worthy of praise" in the Yoruba language spoken in parts of West Africa.
While there are no known historical references or ancient texts mentioning the name Deontaye specifically, the combination of the Greek and African elements in its potential root names suggests a fusion of cultural influences, reflecting the diverse heritage of many African American communities.
Some of the earliest recorded examples of individuals with the name Deontaye can be found in the latter half of the 20th century, although specific dates are difficult to pinpoint with certainty. Here are a few notable individuals who have borne the name Deontaye throughout history:
1. Deontaye Twyman, an American professional basketball player who played for various teams in the NBA G League (formerly known as the NBA Development League) in the early 2000s.
2. Deontaye Tatum, an American football player who played as a defensive back for the University of Central Arkansas in the late 2010s.
3. Deontaye Cooper, an American artist and photographer known for his portraiture work, active in the early 21st century.
4. Deontaye Smith, an American track and field athlete who competed in the 400-meter hurdles and relay events in the early 2010s.
5. Deontaye Massey, an American entrepreneur and business owner who founded a technology startup in the late 2010s.
It's worth noting that due to the relatively recent emergence of the name Deontaye, there may be limited historical records or famous individuals associated with it, as it has not had the same longevity as some older, more established names.
People
Deontaye + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Deontaye 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
Deontaye: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Deontaye?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 154 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Deontaye 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 2,225,678 US residents.
Is Deontaye a common name?
We classify Deontaye as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 157 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Deontaye most popular?
The single biggest year for Deontaye was 2003, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Deontaye is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Deontaye in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 146 people with the name Deontaye, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,062 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 Deontaye 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 Deontaye?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Deontaye leans strongly male. 141 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 2 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Deontaye?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Deontaye is Black at 87.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.5%) and White (2.7%). 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 Deontaye most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Deontaye in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.7% (128 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 Deontaye in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Deontaye a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Deontaye in the SSA data are male. 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 Deontaye still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Deontaye 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 Deontaye 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 Deontaye?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Deontaye on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.