Calvin
Masculine · “little bald one”
Calvin is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 221,064 boys against 1,223 girls since 1880. See Calvin as a girl 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 was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Calvin alive today was born around 1963, making them about 62 years old. About 150,000 people named Calvin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Calvin most popular?
Calvin peaked in 1924, reaching #44 nationally. Today it ranks #132, 88 places below that high. See the whole 1924 chart.
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.
Cultural footprint
Calvin Coolidge (b. 1872) — The famously quiet "Silent Cal" president
Calvin Klein (b. 1942) — Built a fashion empire on his own name
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19244,918 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #44reached in 1924
- Change vs 2022
- +4.5%2,710 in 2025, from 2,593
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
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio.
Calvins among us
people named Calvin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 630 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 Floyd 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: Floyd climbed just as high around 1905, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Floyd's path sketches the road Calvin is walking now.
Calvin peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Calvin is headed
Calvin should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Calvin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Calvin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys 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.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Calvin
Masculine · #132 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 150,000 people named Calvin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Calvin in 2025?
- Calvin ranks #132 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,710 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Calvin?
- About 1 in every 630 US boys born in 2025 was named Calvin — 2,710 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.
Ryder#132 · Jordan#131 · Hunter#130 · Malachi#134 · Jasper#129 · Kayden#135 · Stetson#136 · Jonah#128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Calvin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Calvin and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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