boy's name
Kelvin
KEL-vin
- Origin Scottish
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 56,932
Northern Ireland
#489
2020 births
Kelvin is the only name on this site that is also an SI unit, and the order runs river to man to measurement — a Glasgow river gave a physicist his title, and the title was given to the scale of absolute temperature.
- Kelvin is a name of Scottish origin.
- Peaked in 1961, when 1,380 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 15,492 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1912.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Kelvin over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 11 |
| 1920s | 61 |
| 1930s | 182 |
| 1940s | 228 |
| 1950s | 5,203 |
| 1960s | 11,952 |
| 1970s | 8,008 |
| 1980s | 7,241 |
| 1990s | 7,433 |
| 2000s | 6,264 |
| 2010s | 3,875 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,397 |
What Kelvin means
Kelvin means narrow water, from the river. It is a place name before it is anything else, and the scientific sense was attached more than a century later.
Where Kelvin comes from
Kelvin is the River Kelvin in Glasgow, generally read as narrow water from the Gaelic caol abhainn. William Thomson worked at the university on its banks and took the title Baron Kelvin in 1892, and the unit of absolute temperature was named for him — so zero kelvin, the coldest possible temperature, is ultimately named after a Scottish stream. The unit takes no degree sign, unlike Celsius and Fahrenheit, because it measures from absolute zero rather than from an arbitrary point.
Kelvin in use
Kelvin peaked in the United States in 1961, when 1,380 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 1036th in the United States on 214 births, 1604th in England and Wales on 17 and 2150th in France on 15, across 56,932 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. France ran its own peak of 110 births in 2006.
How popular is Kelvin?
In 2025, Kelvin was given to 214 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Kelvin is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Kelvin is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Kélvin | Kélvin is a rare spelling of Kelvin, written with an acute accent and recorded about 10 times, mostly in France. | 10 |
Names that peaked alongside Kelvin
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kelvin also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kelvin over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Kelvin in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Dutch
- Calvin
Sibling names for Kelvin
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kelvin — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kelvin
What does the name Kelvin mean?
Narrow water — the River Kelvin in Glasgow, from the Gaelic caol abhainn.
Is the temperature unit related?
Yes. William Thomson took the title Baron Kelvin from the river, and the unit was named for him.
Why is there no degree sign on kelvin?
It measures from absolute zero rather than an arbitrary reference point.
Is Kelvin the same as Calvin?
No. Calvin is a French surname meaning bald; Kelvin is a Scottish river.
How popular is the name Kelvin?
In 2025, Kelvin was given to 214 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Is Kelvin a girl's or a boy's name?
Kelvin is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Kelvin?
Kelvin has 2 syllables.
When was Kelvin most popular?
Kelvin peaked in 1961, when 1,380 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
Is Kelvin a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kelvin currently ranks #1,036 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.