Calvin
Feminine · “little bald one”
Calvin is given to boys far more often — 221,064 boys against 1,223 girls since 1880. See Calvin as a boy name
Calvin means little bald one. The French surname Cauvin is from Latin calvus, bald, and so is Chauvin — which means the word chauvinism, from a Napoleonic soldier of that name, shares a root with the theologian who gave us Calvinism. Two large ideas, one bald ancestor.
How old is the name Calvin?
Calvin first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Calvin alive today was born around 1961, making them about 64 years old. About 900 people named Calvin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Calvin most popular?
Calvin peaked in 1926, reaching #1772 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 10,160 places below that high. See the whole 1926 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From calvus to Calvin
The story of Calvin
Jean Cauvin, a French lawyer, Latinized his name to Calvinus as scholars did, published a systematic theology at twenty-six, and ended up running Geneva. His Latin name became an English given name among Protestant families and traveled with them to America, where it did far better than in France. Meanwhile the same Latin root produced Chauvin, and a soldier of that name — probably legendary, certainly useful — became the model for a word about excessive loyalty to one's own side. So a bald Roman ancestor is responsible for a system of theology and a term of abuse, and the two have nothing else in common at all.
Meaning
little bald one
From the French surname Cauvin or Calvin, a diminutive of Latin calvus, bald. It was a nickname surname of exactly the kind medieval France produced by the thousand: a plain description of an ancestor, inherited by everyone after him whether or not it fitted.
How the name formed
- calvus
- Cauvin
- Calvinus
- Calvin
Related forms: Calvin · Calvino · Calvino
Pronouncing Calvin
KAL-vin
Two syllables, stress on the first. French says it with the weight at the end and a nasal ending, kal-VAN, which is how the theologian's own contemporaries would have said it.
Nicknames for Calvin
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
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 195724 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1772reached in 1926
- Change vs 2022
- +40.0%7 in 2025, from 5
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.
Calvin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Calvin in French — same name
- Calvino in Spanish — related form
- Calvino in Italian — related form
Calvins among us
people named Calvin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named Calvin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Alvenia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Calvin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Alvenia climbed just as high around 1910, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Alvenia's path sketches the road Calvin is walking now.
Calvin sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Calvin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Calvin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Latin meaning that is plain and checkable rather than reconstructed.
- Two syllables and a spelling nobody has to be told.
- Cal works instantly and serves either child.
- It has been in continuous American use since records began.
- It means bald, which is a fact about somebody's ancestor and will amuse people.
- It carries a theological association for anyone who knows the history, and a fashion one for everyone else.
- A famous comic strip gave the name to a six-year-old for a decade, which is a warm association and a fixed one.
- The very few girls given this spelling will be read as boys on every form.
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What they receive
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Calvin
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Calvins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Calvin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Calvin in 2025?
- Calvin ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Calvin?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named Calvin — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Calvin with classmates?
- Calvin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Calvin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vina#11932 · Retta#11932 · Missouri#11932 · Iola#11932 · Eddie#11932 · Thomas#11932 · Louetta#11932 · Elvina#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Calvin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Calvin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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