Donavin
Masculine name of English origin meaning "brown-haired fighter".
Name Census estimates that about 2,294 living Americans carry the first name Donavin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Donavin today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Donavin births was 2005 (148 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Donavin. 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
2.3K
~ 1 in 149,413 Americans
Peak year
2005
148 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2023 SSA rank
#6,289
Tracked since 1964
Census
Donavin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,751 people with the first name Donavin, which placed it at #8,310 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
#8,310
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,751 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Donavin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donavin is White at 44.5%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and Hispanic (17.9%). 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 Donavin 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 Donavin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.5% · 780
- Black or African American22.4% · 392
- Hispanic or Latino17.9% · 313
- Two or more races11.3% · 197
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 25
Popularity
Donavin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Donavin from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,172 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Donavin 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 Donavin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Donavins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Michigan, Texas recorded the most babies named Donavin, while Utah, New Jersey, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Donavin
The name Donavin is derived from the Gaelic language and has its roots in the Celtic cultures of Ireland and Scotland. It is a variant spelling of the more common name Donovan, which originated as a combination of the Gaelic elements "donn," meaning "brown" or "dark," and "dubhan," meaning "brown warrior" or "dark warrior."
In its early forms, the name was often spelled as Donnubhan or Donndubhan, reflecting its Gaelic origins. It gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in Ireland, where it was associated with several notable historical figures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Donavin can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a Donavin mac Cerbaill, who was a king of Airgialla (a medieval Irish kingdom) in the 7th century.
Another notable figure bearing the name Donavin was Donavin O'Malley, a 16th-century Irish chieftain from County Mayo. He played a significant role in the Gaelic resistance against the English Tudor conquest of Ireland.
Moving beyond Ireland, the name Donavin also has a presence in Scottish history. One of the earliest recorded Scottish figures with this name was Donavin MacLeod, a 14th-century chief of the Clan MacLeod on the Isle of Skye.
In later centuries, the name Donavin remained in use, though often overshadowed by the more common spelling Donovan. One notable bearer of the name was Donavin Dhu (meaning "Donavin the Black"), a Scottish outlaw and folk hero from the late 17th century, who was renowned for his daring exploits against the English authorities.
Another historical figure named Donavin was Donavin O'Rourke, an Irish soldier who fought in the Napoleonic Wars and later served in the British Army during the early 19th century. He is remembered for his bravery and heroism on the battlefield.
While not as widely used as some other Celtic names, Donavin has maintained a presence throughout history, carrying the legacy of its Gaelic roots and the stories of those who bore this name in past centuries.
People
Donavin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Donavin 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
Donavin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Donavin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,294 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Donavin 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 149,413 US residents.
Is Donavin a common name?
We classify Donavin as "Rare". It ranks above 94.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,335 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Donavin most popular?
The single biggest year for Donavin was 2005, when 148 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Donavin is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Donavin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,751 people with the name Donavin, or 0.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,310 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 Donavin 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 Donavin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Donavin appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,753 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Donavin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Donavin is White at 44.5%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and Hispanic (17.9%). 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 Donavin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Donavin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.5% (780 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 Donavin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Donavin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Donavin 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 Donavin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Donavin 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 Donavin 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 Donavin as a first name?
You can see how many Americans are named Donavin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.