Devie
A feminine variant of the French name Devi meaning "Goddess".
Name Census estimates that about 27 living Americans carry the first name Devie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Devie today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Devie births was 1961 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Devie. 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 Devie is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Devies were born before 1970.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Devie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
27
~ 1 in 12,694,605 Americans
Peak year
1961
9 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1963 SSA rank
#5,451
Tracked since 1952
Census
Devie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Devie, which placed it at #47,200 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
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
38.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Devie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devie is White at 38.8%. The next largest groups are Black (25.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (21.6%). 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 Devie 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 Devie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White38.8% · 54
- Black or African American25.9% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander21.6% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 10
- Two or more races4.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 3
Popularity
Devie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Devie from the 1950s through to the 1960s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 23 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
Devie 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 Devie 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 Devie
The given name Devie is believed to have originated from the Scottish Gaelic language, where it derived from the word "deibhidh," meaning "beloved" or "darling." This name's roots can be traced back to the 16th century in the Scottish Highlands and Hebrides Islands.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Devie can be found in the historical records of the Clan MacLeod, a prominent Scottish clan based on the Isle of Skye. In the late 16th century, a daughter of the clan chief was named Devie MacLeod, suggesting the name's usage among the Scottish nobility of that era.
While not explicitly mentioned in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name Devie shares its origin with the biblical name David, which also means "beloved" in Hebrew. This connection may have contributed to the name's popularization among Christian communities in Scotland.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Devie. One such person was Devie Fulton (1899-1995), a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1945 to 1965. Another was Devie Schofield (1929-2018), an American artist and sculptor known for her abstract works and public installations.
In the literary world, Devie Ainslie (1866-1955) was a Scottish author and poet who wrote several collections of poetry and children's stories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Devie Stephens (1925-2009) was an American educator and civil rights activist who advocated for desegregation and equal educational opportunities in Arkansas.
Lastly, Devie Pollard (1935-2021) was an American philanthropist and community leader who dedicated her life to promoting education and empowering underprivileged communities in Mississippi and beyond.
People
Devie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Devie 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
Devie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Devie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Devie 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 12,694,605 US residents.
Is Devie a common name?
We classify Devie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 35 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Devie most popular?
The single biggest year for Devie was 1961, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Devie 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 Devie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Devie, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 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 Devie 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 Devie?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Devie on both sides of the split. Of the 135 people counted with this name, 29 were male (21.5%) and 106 were female (78.5%). 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 Devie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devie is White at 38.8%. The next largest groups are Black (25.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (21.6%). 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 Devie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Devie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.8% (54 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 Devie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Devie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Devie 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 Devie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Devie 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 Devie 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 Devie?
Find out how many people share the name Devie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.