Deven

This name derives from two Gaelic surnames, “Dubháin or Ó Damháin.” The first one represents a nickname from the Old French “devin,” which in turn derives from the Latin word “dīvīnē / dīvīnus,” which means “prophetically, by intuition or divine inspiration, divinely magnificently.” The second one is of Irish origin, meaning “descendant of Damhán,” a byname meaning “fawn.” Dubhán, “a descendant of Dubhán, a little dark one,” was the founder of the church of Killooaun or Cill Dhubháin (the church of Dubhán), Ballymacward, County Galway. All that now exists of the church are ruins, but it was once the center of a medieval vicarage. It has been suggested that it belonged to a period later than that of Killamude. Next to nothing appears to be known of Dubhán; beyond that, he seems to have been an essential cleric among the Soghain in the early Irish Christian era.