Devonta
An invented name possibly derived from Devon, meaning "from the valley.
Name Census estimates that about 3,102 living Americans carry the first name Devonta. It is a predominantly male name (98.9% of registrations). The average person named Devonta today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Devonta births was 1992 (330 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Devonta. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Devonta with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.1K
~ 1 in 110,495 Americans
Peak year
1992
330 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,272
Tracked since 1982
Census
Devonta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,039 people with the first name Devonta, which placed it at #7,481 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
#7,481
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,039 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Devonta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devonta is Black at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Devonta 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 Devonta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.9% · 1,874
- Two or more races4.5% · 91
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 34
- White1.5% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Devonta
Devonta leans heavily male at 98.9% of total registrations, but 36 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Devonta as a male name
- Ranked #5,272 in 2024
- 18 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (320 births)
Devonta as a female name
- Ranked #12,181 in 1995
- 6 female births in 1995
- Peak: 1993 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Devonta leans strongly male. 2,020 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 21 female bearers (1.0%).
Popularity
Devonta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Devonta from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,969 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
Devonta 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 Devonta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Devontas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. Illinois, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Devonta, while Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 88 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Devonta
The name Devonta is a modern variation of the traditional African name Davonta, which has its roots in the Bantu languages spoken across central and southern Africa. The Bantu word "vonta" roughly translates to "prosperous" or "successful," suggesting that Devonta may have been given as a name to express wishes for a prosperous and successful life.
In the late 20th century, the name Devonta gained popularity in African-American communities across the United States, particularly in urban areas. This coincided with a broader cultural movement to embrace African-inspired names and traditions. While the name Devonta does not have a long recorded history, its increasing use in recent decades reflects a desire to connect with African heritage and instill positive values.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Devonta can be found in the 1976 novel "The Salt Eaters" by Toni Cade Bambara, where a minor character bears the name. However, there are no known historical figures or documented individuals from earlier periods who carried the name Devonta.
Among the notable individuals named Devonta in modern times are Devonta Freeman, an American football running back who was born in 1992 and played for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League (NFL). Another individual with the name is Devonta Pollard, an American basketball player born in 1996, who played collegiate basketball for the University of Alabama.
Devonta Smith, born in 1997, is a wide receiver in the NFL, currently playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. He was a standout player at the University of Alabama and was the winner of the Heisman Trophy in 2020, awarded to the most outstanding college football player.
Devonta Abron, born in 1990, is an American professional basketball player who has played in various international leagues, including in France, Germany, and Romania. Devonta Grandstaff, born in 1997, is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the South Bay Lakers in the NBA G League.
While the name Devonta is a relatively recent addition to the roster of popular given names, its connection to African linguistic roots and the values of prosperity and success have likely contributed to its increasing use, particularly within African-American communities.
People
Devonta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Devonta 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
Devonta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Devonta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Devonta 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 110,495 US residents.
Is Devonta a common name?
We classify Devonta as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,166 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Devonta most popular?
The single biggest year for Devonta was 1992, when 330 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Devonta 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 Devonta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,039 people with the name Devonta, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,481 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 Devonta 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 Devonta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Devonta leans strongly male. 2,020 people counted with this name were male (99.0%), compared with 21 female bearers (1.0%). 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 Devonta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Devonta is Black at 91.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.5%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Devonta most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Devonta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.9% (1,874 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 Devonta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Devonta a male name?
Yes, 98.9% of people registered as Devonta 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 Devonta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Devonta 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 Devonta 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 Devonta?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Devonta at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.