Dontavius
A masculine name derived from the Greek name "Donatus", meaning "gift".
Name Census estimates that about 1,038 living Americans carry the first name Dontavius. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dontavius today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dontavius births was 1997 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dontavius. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 330,206 Americans
Peak year
1997
59 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,231
Tracked since 1980
Census
Dontavius in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 624 people with the first name Dontavius, which placed it at #17,599 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
#17,599
National first-name rank
People counted
624
624 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dontavius
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dontavius is Black at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and White (1.0%). 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 Dontavius 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 Dontavius at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.9% · 580
- Two or more races5.1% · 32
- White1.0% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 3
Popularity
Dontavius: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dontavius 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 444 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
Dontavius 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 Dontavius during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dontavius' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Georgia, Florida, Alabama recorded the most babies named Dontavius, while South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 64 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dontavius
The name Dontavius is a modern variation of the French name Donatus, which itself is derived from the Latin word "donatus" meaning "given" or "granted". The name likely originated in the late 20th century, possibly as a combination of the names Don and Tavius.
While the name Dontavius does not have a long historical lineage, the name Donatus has its roots in ancient Roman times. The name was borne by several early Christian saints and martyrs, including Saint Donatus of Arezzo, who was martyred in the 4th century, and Saint Donatus of Münstereifel, who lived in the 9th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Dontavius was in reference to Dontavius Wimberly, an American football player born in 1982. Wimberly played cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for several teams, including the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals.
Another notable person with the name Dontavius is Dontavius Russell, an American basketball player born in 1996. Russell played college basketball for the University of Arkansas and was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in the 2020 NBA draft.
Dontavius Jackson, born in 1991, is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Donovan Dijak. He has performed for several major wrestling promotions, including WWE's NXT brand and Ring of Honor.
In the field of music, Dontavius Woodley is an American singer and songwriter, primarily known for his work in the R&B and hip-hop genres. He has released several albums and singles since the early 2000s.
Dontavius Wright is an American author and poet, whose works often explore themes of identity, race, and social justice. He has published several collections of poetry and has been recognized with various literary awards and honors.
While the name Dontavius is relatively modern, it carries echoes of the ancient Latin word "donatus" and the historical figures who bore the name Donatus. The name's rise in popularity in recent decades reflects the ongoing evolution of naming trends and the blending of cultural influences.
People
Dontavius + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dontavius 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
Dontavius: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dontavius?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,038 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dontavius 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 330,206 US residents.
Is Dontavius a common name?
We classify Dontavius as "Rare". It ranks above 90.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,061 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dontavius most popular?
The single biggest year for Dontavius was 1997, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dontavius 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 Dontavius in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 624 people with the name Dontavius, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,599 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 Dontavius 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 Dontavius?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dontavius appears almost entirely male. Of the 630 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Dontavius?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dontavius is Black at 92.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and White (1.0%). 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 Dontavius most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dontavius in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.9% (580 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 Dontavius in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dontavius a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dontavius 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 Dontavius still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dontavius 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 Dontavius 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 have the name Dontavius?
Want to know how many people have the name Dontavius? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.