Calvin

What Calvin means

Means “bald”

Latinization of Norman-Picard Cauvin, a nickname for a chauve (“bald”) person.

Source: Wiktionary, “Calvin” (revision 94535275), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Calvin?

US: Rising: up from #171 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #416 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1924, when 4,918 boys got the name (#44 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 630 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 6,324 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 893 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (8.25 per 1,000 boys), NH (5.55 per 1,000 boys), ME (4.94 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Calvin is #132 in the US and #771 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.7% of US babies named Calvin were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Kelvin214 US · 17 E&W
• Kalvin109 US
• Galvin5 US
• Colvin5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Calvin

Boys

• Dean#125“valley”^*
• Bellamy#721“fair + friend”^*
• Ellis#243“benevolent, kind”^*
• Rhett#188“advice”^*
• Ridge#529From the word “ridge”^*
• Clark#377“clergyman; learned man”^*

For a sister

• Blake#295“black”^*
• Blakely#191Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #191 vs #1,407 in 2025
• Merritt#703Editor’s note Used for both: 77% of US babies named Merritt in 2025 were girls
• Sutton#181“south + town”^*
• Carter#454“son of Arthur”^*
• Murphy#397“descendant of Murrough”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Calvin’s. Rank is US 2025.