Devon

Where Devon comes from

From Old English Defenas, which meant both "Devonians" and "Devon," exemplifying the common Anglo-Saxon practice of naming a place after the people who inhabit it.
— Wiktionary's entry for Devon
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1914
    First appearance
    #2,101 among boys, 10 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1978
    Devon Sawa born
    Canadian actor
  3. 1982
    Devon Aoki born
    American actress and fashion model
  4. 1983
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  5. 1994
    Peak, #117
    3,033 babies named Devon — more than any year before or since.
  6. 2008
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #242.
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name
  • A male given name
  • A male given name transferred from the place name
  • A male given name, variant of Devin
  • A female given name transferred from the place name, of modern American usage.
Namesakes
  • Devon Aoki · American actress and fashion model, born 1982
  • Devon Sawa · Canadian actor, born 1978
  • Devon Bostick · Canadian actor, born 1991
  • Devon Murray · Irish actor, born 1988
  • Devon Werkheiser · American actor, born 1991

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.