Devontay
A masculine name derived from Devon, meaning "valley dweller" in Old English.
Name Census estimates that about 874 living Americans carry the first name Devontay. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Devontay today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Devontay births was 1992 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Devontay. 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 Devontay with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
874
~ 1 in 392,167 Americans
Peak year
1992
84 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,120
Tracked since 1988
Census
Devontay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 566 people with the first name Devontay, which placed it at #18,900 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
#18,900
National first-name rank
People counted
566
566 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Devontay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devontay is Black at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.1%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Devontay 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 Devontay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.2% · 465
- Two or more races8.1% · 46
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 28
- White2.5% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 3
Popularity
Devontay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Devontay from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 454 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
Devontay 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 Devontay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Devontays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Illinois, Georgia, Florida recorded the most babies named Devontay, while Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Devontay
The given name Devontay finds its roots in the English language, with origins tracing back to the late 20th century. It is believed to be a variant or a combination of the names Devon and Tay, both of which have distinct meanings and histories.
Devon is an English name derived from one of the counties in southwestern England. The county name itself is thought to have originated from the Celtic word "Dyfnaint," meaning "deep valley dwellers." This name was likely adopted as a given name by English families living in or near the county of Devon.
Tay, on the other hand, is a Scottish name that refers to the River Tay, which is the longest river in Scotland. The name is believed to have derived from the Celtic word "tau," meaning "quiet" or "peaceful." It was commonly used as a given name in Scotland and parts of northern England.
The combination of these two names, Devontay, is a relatively modern creation, likely emerging in the late 20th century as a unique and distinct given name. While there are no recorded instances of the name appearing in ancient texts or historical records, it is possible that some families created this name as a way to honor their ancestral ties to the regions of Devon and the River Tay.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Devontay is Devontay Massey, an American football player who was born in 1991. He played as a defensive back for the Oakland Raiders in the National Football League (NFL) from 2013 to 2015.
Another notable figure with this name is Devontay Burnett, an American football player born in 1995. He played as a wide receiver for the University of Southern California (USC) and was later signed by the New York Giants in the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2018.
Devontay Hackett, born in 1997, is an American basketball player who currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2019 NBA draft and later traded to the Lakers.
In the world of music, Devontay Mccoy is an American rapper and songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. He has released several mixtapes and albums, including "The Golden Child" in 2016 and "Tay Way" in 2018.
Lastly, Devontay White is an American actor and model, known for his roles in television shows such as "Empire" and "The Chi." He was born in 1992 and has also appeared in several music videos.
While the name Devontay is relatively modern, it carries a unique blend of English and Scottish influences, reflecting the diversity and richness of cultural heritage found within the English-speaking world.
People
Devontay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Devontay 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
Devontay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Devontay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 874 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Devontay 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 392,167 US residents.
Is Devontay a common name?
We classify Devontay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 890 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Devontay most popular?
The single biggest year for Devontay was 1992, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Devontay is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Devontay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 566 people with the name Devontay, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,900 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 Devontay 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 Devontay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Devontay appears almost entirely male. Of the 564 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Devontay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devontay is Black at 82.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.1%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Devontay most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Devontay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.2% (465 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 Devontay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Devontay a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Devontay 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 Devontay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Devontay 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 Devontay 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 Devontay?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.