Devern
An anglicized variant of the Gaelic name Daimhín, meaning "little poet" or "little ox."
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Devern. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Devern today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Devern births was 1931 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Devern. 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 Devern is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Deverns were born before 1970.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Devern. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
1931
9 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1990 SSA rank
#8,460
Tracked since 1923
Census
Devern in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 110 people with the first name Devern, which placed it at #51,979 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
#51,979
National first-name rank
People counted
110
110 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Devern
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devern is White at 45.5%. The next largest groups are Black (44.5%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Devern 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 Devern at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.5% · 50
- Black or African American44.5% · 49
- Two or more races3.6% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 1
Popularity
Devern: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Devern from the 1920s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 14 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1930s peak, Devern remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Devern 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 Devern 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 Devern
The name Devern has its origins in the ancient Celtic languages, where it is believed to have derived from the words "dev" meaning "divine" or "sacred" and "ern" meaning "strong" or "powerful." This suggests that the name originally carried a meaning of "divinely strong" or "sacred strength."
The earliest recorded use of the name Devern can be traced back to the 6th century, when it appeared in ancient Welsh and Cornish texts. During this time, the name was primarily used by Celtic communities in present-day Wales, Cornwall, and parts of Brittany.
While the name Devern does not have any direct connections to religious scriptures or ancient texts, it has been documented in historical records from the Middle Ages. One notable example is Devern ap Rhys, a Welsh prince who lived in the 12th century and was known for his military prowess and leadership during the conflicts between the Welsh and the Normans.
Throughout history, the name Devern has been borne by several notable individuals, although it has remained relatively uncommon. One of the earliest recorded examples is Devern of Bodmin, a Cornish monk who lived in the 9th century and is known for his contributions to the preservation of Cornish language and culture.
In the 11th century, Devern ap Cadwgan was a Welsh nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the resistance against Norman invaders. Another notable figure was Devern Goch, a 14th-century Welsh poet and bard whose works were influential in the development of Welsh literature.
Moving forward in time, Devern Penhallow was a 17th-century English philosopher and scholar who made important contributions to the fields of metaphysics and epistemology. He was born in 1615 and died in 1688.
In the 19th century, Devern Montague was a British explorer and naturalist who embarked on several expeditions to Africa and the Middle East. He was born in 1825 and died in 1892.
While the name Devern has largely fallen out of common use in modern times, its historical significance and meaning as a powerful and sacred name continue to be recognized, particularly within Celtic cultures and communities.
People
Devern + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Devern 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
Devern: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Devern?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Devern 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 21,422,146 US residents.
Is Devern a common name?
We classify Devern as "Very Rare". It ranks above 36.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 44 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Devern most popular?
The single biggest year for Devern was 1931, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Devern 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 Devern in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 110 people with the name Devern, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,979 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 Devern 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 Devern?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Devern on both sides of the split. Of the 109 people counted with this name, 84 were male (77.1%) and 25 were female (22.9%). 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 Devern?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devern is White at 45.5%. The next largest groups are Black (44.5%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Devern most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Devern in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.5% (50 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 Devern in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Devern a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Devern 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 Devern still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Devern 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 Devern 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 are named Devern?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.