Davell
A given name of unknown origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 291 living Americans carry the first name Davell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Davell today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Davell births was 1993 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Davell. 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
291
~ 1 in 1,177,850 Americans
Peak year
1993
20 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,557
Tracked since 1973
Census
Davell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 269 people with the first name Davell, which placed it at #31,704 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
#31,704
National first-name rank
People counted
269
269 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Davell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davell is Black at 86.6%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Davell 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 Davell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.6% · 233
- White5.6% · 15
- Two or more races4.5% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 9
Popularity
Davell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Davell from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 108 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
Davell 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 Davell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Davells live
Origin
Meaning and history of Davell
The name Davell has its origins in the ancient Sumerian civilization, which flourished in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 3500 BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Sumerian word "dav," meaning "warrior" or "brave," and the suffix "-ell," which denoted a diminutive form or term of endearment. This suggests that Davell may have originally been used as a name for a young or beloved warrior.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Davell can be found in the Sumerian cuneiform tablets, which date back to around 2300 BCE. These tablets contain records of various names used by the Sumerians, including Davell, which appears to have been a relatively uncommon name at the time.
Over the centuries, the name Davell spread to other ancient civilizations in the region, such as the Akkadians and Babylonians. It is possible that the name was introduced to these cultures through trade or cultural exchange with the Sumerians.
In the 6th century BCE, a Babylonian scribe named Davell is mentioned in the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus. This is one of the earliest known historical figures to bear this name.
During the Middle Ages, the name Davell appeared in various European texts and records, though its popularity remained somewhat limited. One notable figure from this period was Davell of Cologne, a German monk and scholar who lived in the 12th century and is known for his work on medieval mathematics.
In the 16th century, a Spanish explorer and conquistador named Davell Cortés accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition to Mexico. He is mentioned in several historical accounts of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.
Another historical figure with the name Davell was a French nobleman and military commander who fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). His full name was Davell de Montmorency, and he is noted for his bravery and leadership during several battles against the imperial forces.
In the 19th century, a British explorer and naturalist named Davell Livingstone became famous for his travels and discoveries in Africa. He is credited with being one of the first Europeans to explore the interior regions of the continent and was a pioneer in the study of African geography and ethnography.
While the name Davell has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been used by various individuals from different cultures and backgrounds, often associated with traits such as bravery, exploration, and scholarship.
People
Davell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Davell 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
Davell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Davell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 291 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Davell 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 1,177,850 US residents.
Is Davell a common name?
We classify Davell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 299 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Davell most popular?
The single biggest year for Davell was 1993, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Davell is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Davell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 269 people with the name Davell, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,704 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 Davell 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 Davell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Davell leans strongly male. 251 people counted with this name were male (94.4%), compared with 15 female bearers (5.6%). 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 Davell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davell is Black at 86.6%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Davell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Davell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (233 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 Davell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Davell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Davell 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 Davell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Davell 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 Davell 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 called Davell?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.