Dontavia
Combination of names meaning "gift of God" and "mountain".
Name Census estimates that about 126 living Americans carry the first name Dontavia. It is a predominantly female name (91.5% of registrations). The average person named Dontavia today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dontavia births was 1992 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dontavia. 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
126
~ 1 in 2,720,273 Americans
Peak year
1992
13 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
1992 SSA rank
#7,714
Tracked since 1988
Census
Dontavia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 133 people with the first name Dontavia, which placed it at #48,223 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
#48,223
National first-name rank
People counted
133
133 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dontavia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dontavia is Black at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Dontavia 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 Dontavia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.2% · 128
- Two or more races3.8% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Dontavia
Dontavia leans heavily female at 91.5% of total registrations, but 11 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Dontavia as a male name
- Ranked #7,714 in 1992
- 6 male births in 1992
- Peak: 1992 (6 births)
Dontavia as a female name
- Ranked #16,176 in 2019
- 5 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2000 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dontavia leans strongly female. 106 people counted with this name were female (84.8%), compared with 19 male bearers (15.2%).
Popularity
Dontavia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dontavia from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 58 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
Dontavia 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 Dontavia 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 Dontavia
The name Dontavia appears to be a modern invented name with no clear historical or etymological origins. It does not seem to be derived from any particular language, culture, or region, nor does it have any apparent connections to ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records.
Despite its relatively recent emergence, there are a few notable individuals who have borne the name Dontavia:
1. Dontavia Bogan (born 1991) is an American football wide receiver who played college football at South Florida and had a brief stint in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams.
2. Dontavia Sergerson (born 1990) is an American former college basketball player who played for the University of Tennessee at Martin.
3. Dontavia Terrell (birth year unknown) is an American entrepreneur and motivational speaker based in Atlanta, Georgia.
4. Dontavia Jackson (birth year unknown) is an American gospel singer and musician from Detroit, Michigan.
5. Dontavia Williams (birth year unknown) is an American author and poet who has published several works of poetry and fiction.
It is worth noting that these individuals are contemporary figures, and the name Dontavia does not appear to have a long historical lineage or any significant cultural associations. The lack of definitive information on the origin and meaning of this name suggests that it is likely a relatively recent coinage, possibly inspired by a combination of existing names or elements, but without a clear derivation or backstory.
People
Dontavia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dontavia 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
Dontavia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dontavia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 126 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dontavia 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 2,720,273 US residents.
Is Dontavia a common name?
We classify Dontavia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 129 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dontavia most popular?
The single biggest year for Dontavia was 1992, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dontavia is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dontavia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 133 people with the name Dontavia, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,223 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 Dontavia 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 Dontavia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dontavia leans strongly female. 106 people counted with this name were female (84.8%), compared with 19 male bearers (15.2%). 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 Dontavia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dontavia is Black at 96.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Dontavia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dontavia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.2% (128 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 Dontavia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dontavia a female name?
Yes, 91.5% of people registered as Dontavia 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 Dontavia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dontavia 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 Dontavia 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 Dontavia?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.