2000
#13,075
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,147
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.80
Rare Last name
Devos
A Dutch toponymic surname indicating an origin near a fox's den or burrow.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,515 Americans carry the last name Devos. That puts it at #13,309 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.73 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 136,284 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Devos surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Devos with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.5K
1 in 136,284
Census rank
#13,309
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,193 bearers of the surname Devos in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.73 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13309th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Devos, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Devos
The surname DEVOS is of Dutch origin, originating from the medieval Dutch provinces in the Low Countries during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Dutch words "de" meaning "the" and "vos" meaning "fox." The name likely referred to someone who lived near a fox's den or had some association with foxes.
DEVOS is a variant spelling of the more common Dutch surname "de Vos." It first appeared in the historical records of the Netherlands and Belgium in the 13th and 14th centuries. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in municipal records and tax rolls from cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp.
One of the earliest known bearers of the DEVOS surname was Jan de Vos, a merchant from Ghent, Belgium, who was mentioned in a business contract dated 1387. Another early record is of a Pieter de Vos, a farmer from the village of Dordrecht, Netherlands, who was listed in a land deed from 1412.
The DEVOS name gained prominence in the 16th and 17th centuries during the Dutch Golden Age. Cornelis de Vos (1584-1651) was a renowned Flemish Baroque painter from Antwerp, known for his religious and historical works. Abraham de Vos (1591-1649) was a successful merchant and shipowner from Amsterdam, who financed several voyages of the Dutch East India Company.
In the 18th century, Jacobus de Vos (1717-1789) was a respected jurist and legal scholar from Leiden, who served as a judge in the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. Adriaan de Vos (1744-1813) was a Dutch military officer and a participant in the Dutch Patriot Revolution against the Stadtholder William V.
During the 19th century, the DEVOS surname spread to other parts of Europe and the Americas due to Dutch emigration. One notable bearer was Hendrik de Vos (1831-1910), a Dutch-American entrepreneur who established a successful brewing company in Chicago, Illinois.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Devos
Among Census respondents with the surname Devos, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.0%).
The bar chart below shows how Devos bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Devos surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.2% · 2,001
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 74
- Two or more races3.0% · 66
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 25
- Black or African American0.8% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
Timeline
Historical Census data for Devos
Devos appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#13,752
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,200
+53 bearers (+2.5%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Down 677 places
2020
#13,309
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,193
-7 bearers (-0.3%)
Per 100,000 0.73
Rank movement Up 443 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #13,075 | 2,147 | 0.80 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #13,752 | 2,200 | 0.75 | +53 bearers (+2.5%) | Down 677 places |
| 2020 | #13,309 | 2,193 | 0.73 | -7 bearers (-0.3%) | Up 443 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Devos surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #13,752 | #13,309 | 3.2% |
| Count | 2,200 | 2,193 | -0.3% |
| Per 100K | 0.75 | 0.73 | -2.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Devos bearers went from 2,200 to 2,193 (-0.3% change). The surname moved up 443 positions in the national ranking, going from #13,752 to #13,309.
FAQ
Devos surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Devos?
Name Census estimates that about 2,515 living Americans carry the surname Devos. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 136,284 residents.
How common is Devos?
Devos ranks #13,309 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.73 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,193 people with the surname Devos. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,515), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.73 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.73 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Devos.
Has Devos become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Devos went from 2,200 recorded bearers to 2,193. That is a decrease of 7 (-0.3%). In the national ranking it rose from #13,752 to #13,309.
What does the Census say about the background of Devos?
Among Census respondents with the surname Devos, the largest self-reported group is White at 91.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.4%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Devos in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.2% (2,001 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Devos appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (91.2%), Hispanic (3.4%), Two or More Races (3.0%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Devos (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Devos mean?
A Dutch toponymic surname indicating an origin near a fox's den or burrow. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Devos (0.73 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Devos?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the last name Devos at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.