Kavan
Masculine · “Irish Caomhanach”
The Kavanaghs descend from Diarmait Mac Murchada, the king of Leinster who was driven out in 1166 and came back with Norman mercenaries. Irish tradition has blamed him for the English conquest ever since, which is a heavy load for one family name to carry.
How old is the name Kavan?
Kavan first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Kavan alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 900 people named Kavan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kavan most popular?
Kavan peaked in 1995, reaching #2626 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 7,088 places below that high. See the whole 1995 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From caomh to Kavan
The story of Kavan
Diarmait Mac Murchada lost his kingdom of Leinster in 1166 and went to Henry II for help, returning with Norman lords including Richard de Clare, called Strongbow, to whom he married his daughter Aoife. The Normans took Wexford, Waterford and Dublin, Henry followed in 1171 to make sure his barons did not build a rival kingdom, and the English presence in Ireland dates from that intervention. Diarmait's son Domhnall was fostered at Cill Chaomhain and took the name Caomhanach, from which Kavanagh, and the family held land in Leinster for centuries afterwards. So the surname is a direct descendant of the single most consequential decision in Irish history, and Irish nationalist historiography has treated Diarmait as a traitor since at least the seventeenth century.
Meaningscholars disagree
Irish Caomhanach, follower of Caomhan
Kavan is a shortened form of Kavanagh, Irish Caomhanach, meaning a follower or foster-son of St Caomhan, from caomh, gentle or beloved. It may equally come from Cavan, the county, Irish An Cabhan, a hollow. The two are unrelated and the American record does not distinguish them. The peak is 1995.
How the name formed
- caomh
- Caomhanach
- Kavanagh
- Kavan
Related forms: Caomhanach · Kavanagh
Pronouncing Kavan
KAV-un
Two syllables, stress on the first. Kavanagh is three syllables, KAV-uh-nuh. The Irish caomh is said keev, so the anglicization has moved a long way from the source.
Nicknames for Kavan
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
- 1968
- Most boys named
- 200541 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2626reached in 1995
- Change vs 2024
- −53.3%7 in 2025, from 15
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.
Kavan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Caomhanach in Irish — related form
- Kavanagh in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Kavans among us
people named Kavan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Kavan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kavan
- #9714
- Kavan on the 2025 chart
- #888
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kavan went to 7 boys in 2025, but Cavan is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 40, which makes it the 888th most-given boys’ name of the year — 8,826 places above the chart.
- Cavan33
- Kavan7
About 1 boy in 42,702 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 244,011 for Kavan itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Kord test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kavan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kord climbed just as high around 1966, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kord's path sketches the road Kavan is walking now.
Kavan 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
Kavan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kavan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Kav and Van are both usable short forms.
- It is a genuine Irish name with a documented family history.
- Two syllables with a firm first-syllable stress.
- Kavanagh is the full and much commoner form.
- Two unrelated Irish sources produce similar spellings.
- It is easily confused with Cavan and Kevin.
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What they receive
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Kavan
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kavans 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 Kavan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kavan?
- Kavan is one of 2 recorded spellings. Cavan is the more common one — 33 births in 2025 against 7 for Kavan.
- How popular is the name Kavan in 2025?
- Kavan ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kavan?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Kavan — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kavan with classmates?
- Kavan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kavan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kavan? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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