boy's name
Kevin
KEV-in
- Origin Irish
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 1,424,899
the United States
#221
2025 births
Kevin is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "gentle birth," and its saint founded Glendalough and by tradition lived to 120. It ranks 140th in Ireland and 221st in the United States, and it is falling.
- Kevin is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in 1963, when 30,734 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,036 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.
Kevin 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 | 117 |
| 1920s | 599 |
| 1930s | 1,634 |
| 1940s | 11,388 |
| 1950s | 159,697 |
| 1960s | 272,549 |
| 1970s | 213,465 |
| 1980s | 189,934 |
| 1990s | 165,731 |
| 2000s | 111,366 |
| 2010s | 51,400 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 11,964 |
What Kevin means
Kevin means of gentle birth, or comely birth. The Irish Caoimhín joins caomh — gentle, noble or comely — with a diminutive ending, so the sense is a gentleness that is inherited rather than learned.
Where Kevin comes from
Kevin anglicizes the Irish Caoimhín, from caomh, gentle or comely, with the diminutive -ín. Its saint is Kevin of Glendalough, who founded the monastery in the Wicklow valley in the sixth century and by tradition lived to be 120. The stories about him are unusually vivid: a blackbird lays an egg in his outstretched hand while he prays and he stays still until it hatches; he pushes a woman who pursues him into a lake. Both are later inventions and both are told constantly. The name was almost entirely Irish until the twentieth century and then went global — it was a top-20 American name through the 1960s and 1970s, and in France it became so associated with a particular generation and class that Kevin is used there as a shorthand the way Kylie or Chardonnay have been in Britain.
Kevin in use
Kevin ranks 140th in Ireland with 39 births in 2025 and 221st in the United States with 1,628 births, its largest market. It is falling in our data from a peak in 1963, and our records carry it from 1912. With 1.4 million lifetime births it is among the largest names in our whole set, and it appears in every market we hold including 624th in France.
How popular is Kevin?
In 2025, Kevin was given to 1,628 babies in the United States, ranking #221 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Kevin 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 Kevin is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Kévin | Kévin is Kevin written with an acute accent, used in France, where it ranks #1,524. | 14,560 |
| Kèvin | Kèvin is a rare spelling of Kevin, written with a grave accent and recorded about 10 times, mostly in France. | 10 |
Names that peaked alongside Kevin
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Kevin also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Kevin over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Kevin 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.
Sibling names for Kevin
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Kevin — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Kevin
What does the name Kevin mean?
Kevin means "of gentle birth," from the Irish caomh, gentle or comely.
Who was Saint Kevin?
The founder of Glendalough in the sixth century, who by tradition lived to 120 and held still while a blackbird nested in his hand.
Is Kevin an Irish name?
Entirely — from Caoimhín. It was almost exclusively Irish until the twentieth century, then went global.
How popular is Kevin?
140th in Ireland and 221st in the United States.
Is Kevin a girl's or a boy's name?
Kevin is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Kevin?
Kevin has 2 syllables.
Is Kevin a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Kevin currently ranks #140 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.