boy's name
Marvin
MAR-vin
- Origin Welsh
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 269,815
the United States
#699
2025 births
Marvin is a boy's name from the Welsh Merfyn, and the sea friend reading usually given for it is not supported — the Welsh elements point to marrow and eminent instead. It ranks 699th in the United States.
- Marvin is a name of Welsh origin.
- Peaked in 1928, when 4,484 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 8,611 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Marvin over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 726 |
| 1890s | 1,073 |
| 1900s | 2,349 |
| 1910s | 17,941 |
| 1920s | 39,898 |
| 1930s | 41,324 |
| 1940s | 36,643 |
| 1950s | 34,869 |
| 1960s | 28,350 |
| 1970s | 14,910 |
| 1980s | 11,627 |
| 1990s | 9,852 |
| 2000s | 8,236 |
| 2010s | 5,424 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,585 |
What Marvin means
Marvin is usually given as sea friend, but that reading comes from a Germanic name it is not derived from. The Welsh source is better read as marrow joined to an element meaning eminent.
Where Marvin comes from
Marvin anglicizes the Welsh Merfyn, and the derivation is contested. Most references give sea friend, treating it as the Germanic Merewine — mere, sea, joined to wine, friend — but that is a different name. Welsh scholarship reads Merfyn as containing mer, marrow, with an element meaning eminent or great, which produces nothing so tidy. Merfyn Frych was king of Gwynedd in the ninth century and founded a dynasty that ran to Llywelyn the Last. The name's American life is twentieth-century and has nothing to do with Wales.
Marvin in use
Marvin peaked in the United States in 1928, when 4,484 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 699th in the United States on 385 births, 907th in France on 45 and 1345th in England and Wales, across 269,815 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. France gives it a stronger position than England and Wales, which is unexpected for a name of Welsh origin.
How popular is Marvin?
In 2025, Marvin was given to 385 babies in the United States, ranking #699 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Marvin 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.
Names that peaked alongside Marvin
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Marvin also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Marvin over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Marvin
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Marvin 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 Marvin
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Marvin — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Marvin
What does the name Marvin mean?
Not the sea friend reading usually given — the Welsh Merfyn appears to contain elements meaning marrow and eminent.
Is Marvin a Welsh name?
Yes, from Merfyn, borne by a ninth-century king of Gwynedd whose dynasty ran to Llywelyn the Last.
Is Mervyn the same name?
Yes, a closer anglicization of the same Welsh original.
How popular is Marvin?
699th in the United States, down from a 1928 peak of 4,484 births.
Is Marvin a girl's or a boy's name?
Marvin is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Marvin?
Marvin has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Marvin?
Marvin is usually shortened to Marv.
Is Marvin a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Marvin currently ranks #699 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.