Bevin
Feminine · “melodious woman”
Bevin is given to both — 1,037 girls and 136 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Bevin is an Irish name and an English surname, and the man who made the surname famous left school at eleven, worked as a carter and a docker, built the largest trade union in the world and then ran British foreign policy for six years. There are not many careers of that shape in any country.
How old is the name Bevin?
Bevin first appears in US birth records in 1966 — 59 years ago. The typical Bevin alive today was born around 1983, making them about 42 years old. About 1,000 people named Bevin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bevin most popular?
Bevin peaked in 1978, reaching #1765 nationally. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From an Irish name meaning melodious or sweet-voiced to Bevin
The story of Bevin
Ernest Bevin was orphaned at eight and out of school at eleven. He organized dockers, merged dozens of small unions into one very large one, sat in the war cabinet running the entire British labor supply, and then became Foreign Secretary in a country that was bankrupt and had just won a war. He was not an educated man in the usual sense and was regularly patronized for it; he was also, by most accounts, the most formidable person in any room he entered. His summary of his foreign policy aim — to be able to go down to Victoria Station and take a ticket to anywhere he damned well pleased — is still quoted.
Meaningscholars disagree
melodious woman
The Irish name behind it is generally read as sweet-voiced or melodious, from a word for a woman and one for melody, and it belonged to a number of medieval Irish noblewomen. The English surname is unrelated: it is generally taken from a Welsh patronymic, son of Evan, worn down over several centuries. A modern American Bevin could be either, and the record gives no indication.
How the name formed
- an Irish name meaning melodious or sweet-voiced
- a Welsh patronymic gives an unrelated English surname
- a trade unionist makes the surname famous
- Bevin appears as an American first name in the 1960s
- used for daughters and sons alike
Related forms: Bebhinn · Bevan
Pronouncing Bevin
BEV-in
Two syllables, stress at the front. The Irish original is said closer to BAY-vin, which almost no American bearer uses.
Nicknames for Bevin
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1966
- Most girls named
- 197858 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1765reached in 1978
- Change vs 2022
- −14.3%6 in 2023, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Bevin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bebhinn in Irish — related form
- Bevan in Welsh — related form
Bevins among us
people named Bevin are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Bevin sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, plain and read correctly at sight.
- It works for a child of either sex, and the record carries it on both sides.
- Both of its possible origins are respectable and easy to explain.
- It will be heard as Devin, Kevin and Bevan by nearly everyone.
- The two origins are unrelated and neither can be given as the meaning.
- It is closely dated to the 1960s and 1970s in American use.
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What they receive
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Bevin
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Bevins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Bevin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bevin in 2025?
- Bevin is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Bevin with classmates?
- Bevin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Barbara#968 · Betty#1113 · Brenda#1525 · Beverly#1016 · Brittany#928 · Bonnie#396 · Brianna#222 · Bertha#4546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bevin? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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