Devan
A masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "divine" or "heavenly."
Name Census estimates that about 18,227 living Americans carry the first name Devan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 72.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Devan today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Devan births was 1991 (958 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Devan. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Devan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
18K
~ 1 in 18,805 Americans
Peak year
1991
958 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,526
Tracked since 1924
Census
Devan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 15,608 people with the first name Devan, which placed it at #1,853 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
#1,853
National first-name rank
People counted
16K
15,608 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Devan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devan is White at 63.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Two or More Races (8.3%). 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 Devan 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 Devan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.9% · 9,981
- Black or African American13.4% · 2,099
- Two or more races8.3% · 1,296
- Hispanic or Latino8.2% · 1,273
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 802
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 157
Gender
Gender distribution for Devan
Devan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 18,747 total registrations, 13,586 (72.5%) were male and 5,161 (27.5%) were female.
Devan as a male name
- Ranked #2,526 in 2024
- 53 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1994 (646 births)
Devan as a female name
- Ranked #8,548 in 2024
- 12 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1991 (449 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Devan on both sides of the split. Of the 15,607 people counted with this name, 11,040 were male (70.7%) and 4,567 were female (29.3%).
Popularity
Devan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Devan from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 8,284 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Devan 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 Devan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Devans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Devan, while District of Columbia, Montana, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 309 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Devan
The name Devan is of Indian origin, derived from the Sanskrit word "deva," which means "god" or "divine." This name traces its roots back to ancient Hindu scriptures and mythological texts, where it was often used to refer to celestial beings or deities.
In ancient Indian literature, the name Devan appears in various forms, such as Deva, Devah, and Devan. It was a popular name among the Brahmin caste, who were considered the highest social class in the traditional Hindu caste system. The name was associated with spiritual enlightenment, wisdom, and divine qualities.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Devan can be found in the Rig Veda, one of the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, composed around 1500 BCE. In this ancient text, the name is mentioned in reference to various deities and celestial beings.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Devan. One of the most famous was Devan Bhagavata Purana, a Hindu philosopher and scholar who lived in the 12th century CE. He was renowned for his commentaries on the Bhagavata Purana, a revered Hindu scripture.
Another prominent individual with this name was Devan Bhatta, a 16th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer. He made significant contributions to the fields of trigonometry and calculus, and his works were widely studied and celebrated.
In the realm of literature, Devan Nambiar was a renowned 18th-century Malayalam poet and playwright from Kerala, India. His works, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and social commentary, are considered masterpieces of Malayalam literature.
Moving to more modern times, Devan Nair was a prominent Singaporean politician and diplomat who served as the third President of Singapore from 1981 to 1985. He played a crucial role in the nation's development and was respected for his dedication to public service.
Another notable figure is Devan Dubnyk, a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who has played for several teams in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was born in 1986 and is known for his exceptional goaltending skills and longevity in the league.
While these are just a few examples, the name Devan has been carried by many other notable individuals throughout history, spanning various fields and cultures. Its rich heritage and spiritual connotations continue to make it a popular choice for parents seeking a name with deep meaning and significance.
People
Devan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Devan 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
Devan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Devan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 18,227 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Devan 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 18,805 US residents.
Is Devan a common name?
We classify Devan as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18,747 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Devan most popular?
The single biggest year for Devan was 1991, when 958 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Devan is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Devan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 15,608 people with the name Devan, or 5.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,853 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 Devan 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 Devan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Devan on both sides of the split. Of the 15,607 people counted with this name, 11,040 were male (70.7%) and 4,567 were female (29.3%). 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 Devan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devan is White at 63.9%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Two or More Races (8.3%). 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 Devan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Devan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.9% (9,981 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 Devan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Devan a male name?
Yes, 72.5% of people registered as Devan 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 Devan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Devan 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 Devan 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 many people have Devan as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.