DeVault
A surname most likely built from a French-style place name or an altered form of a similar surname, with the prefix De- suggesting “of” or “from.”
The #9,357 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 88,822 Americans shares it.
Etymology
DeVault is most plausibly a surname of French-looking formation, with de meaning “of” or “from.” In English-speaking records, such names were often attached to someone associated with a place, an estate, or a family surname that had been reshaped in spelling over time. The second element may reflect an older place-name or surname root that is no longer obvious in the modern form, so the exact literal meaning is uncertain.
History
The name appears in North America in forms that likely reflect spelling variation and Anglicization rather than a single fixed original spelling. As with many uncommon surnames, its present shape may have been standardized only after migration and repeated clerical recording. The surname is most strongly associated today with the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because De- names often changed spelling in records, DeVault can sometimes appear in families under several closely related forms across the same century.