Davette
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew name David, meaning "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 483 living Americans carry the first name Davette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Davette today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Davette births was 1971 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Davette. 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
483
~ 1 in 709,636 Americans
Peak year
1971
24 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2003 SSA rank
#16,390
Tracked since 1946
Census
Davette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 499 people with the first name Davette, which placed it at #20,625 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
#20,625
National first-name rank
People counted
499
499 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Davette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davette is Black at 49.7%. The next largest groups are White (34.7%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Davette 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 Davette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.7% · 248
- White34.7% · 173
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 40
- Two or more races4.4% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 7
Popularity
Davette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Davette from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 160 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Davette 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 Davette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Davettes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Davette
The name Davette is thought to have originated from the French language, with its roots dating back to the 12th century. It is believed to be a feminine form of the name David, which itself is derived from the Hebrew word "Davidī," meaning "beloved." The name was popular among French nobility and aristocracy during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Davette can be found in the writings of the French poet and troubadour, Arnaut Daniel, who lived from around 1180 to 1200 AD. He mentioned a lady named Davette in one of his love poems, suggesting that the name was in use during that period.
In the 14th century, there are records of a Davette de Montfort, who was a noblewoman from the prominent Montfort family in France. She is mentioned in several historical documents from that era, indicating the continued use of the name among the French aristocracy.
During the Renaissance period, a notable figure named Davette de Chambord (1510-1578) was a French noblewoman and courtier at the court of King Francis I. She is known for her influential role in the cultural and artistic circles of the time.
Another historical figure bearing the name Davette was Davette de Montpensier (1572-1635), a French princess and writer. She is remembered for her literary works and her involvement in the political intrigues of the French court during the 17th century.
In the 18th century, there was a French artist named Davette Gérard (1760-1837) who gained recognition for her portraits and genre paintings. She was a member of the prestigious Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris.
While the name Davette has its roots in France, it has been used across various cultures and regions over the centuries, although it has remained relatively uncommon compared to its masculine counterpart, David.
People
Davette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Davette 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
Davette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Davette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 483 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Davette 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 709,636 US residents.
Is Davette a common name?
We classify Davette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 557 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Davette most popular?
The single biggest year for Davette was 1971, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Davette is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Davette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 499 people with the name Davette, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,625 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 Davette 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 Davette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Davette leans strongly female. 488 people counted with this name were female (98.4%), compared with 8 male bearers (1.6%). 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 Davette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Davette is Black at 49.7%. The next largest groups are White (34.7%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Davette most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Davette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.7% (248 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 Davette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Davette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Davette 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 Davette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Davette 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 Davette 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 Davette?
Find out how many Americans are named Davette on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.