Kavin
Masculine · “beauty”
Kavin is a Tamil word for beauty, and it is also, separately, a spelling of Kevin — two entirely unconnected names at the same four sounds.
How old is the name Kavin?
Kavin first appears in US birth records in 1950 — 75 years ago. The typical Kavin alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 2,800 people named Kavin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kavin most popular?
Kavin peaked in 1965, reaching #1163 nationally. Today it ranks #3949, 2,786 places below that high. See the whole 1965 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kavin
Ours, offered as ours. Tamil is one of the longest continuously documented literary languages on earth, with a poetic corpus going back two thousand years, and kavin belongs to its vocabulary of beauty. Irish Caoimhín belongs to a monastic tradition that produced Kevin of Glendalough, who is said to have stood so long in prayer that a blackbird nested in his hand. Two very old traditions, one modern spelling, and no relation whatever.
Meaningscholars disagree
beauty; or fair birth
Tamil kavin means beauty or grace and is used as a personal name. Separately Irish Caoimhín, giving Kevin, joins caomh, gentle or handsome, to a diminutive. The two are unrelated and both are documented.
Pronouncing Kavin
KAH-vin
Two syllables, first stressed. Some families say KAY-vin.
Nicknames for Kavin
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
- 1950
- Most boys named
- 201095 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1163reached in 1965
- Change vs 2023
- +68.8%27 in 2025, from 16
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.
Kavin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kavin in Tamil — same name
- Caoimhín in Irish — related form
- Kevin in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New Jersey.
Kavins among us
people named Kavin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 63,262 born in 2025 was named Kavin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Kavin
- #3949
- Kavin on the 2025 chart
- #888
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Kavin went to 27 boys in 2025, but Cavin and Kavyn are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 40, which makes it the 888th most-given boys’ name of the year — 3,061 places above the chart.
- Kavin27
- Cavin8
- Kavyn5
About 1 boy in 42,702 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 63,262 for Kavin 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 Lemar test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kavin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lemar climbed just as high around 1900, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lemar's path sketches the road Kavin is walking now.
Kavin 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
Where Kavin is headed
Kavin is easing off slowly — about 30% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Kavin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kavin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two real and very old traditions produce it, Tamil and Irish.
- Vin is a complete short form in its own right.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- The first vowel is unsettled between KAH and KAY.
- Kevin is far more common and will be assumed and written.
- The two possible origins are entirely unrelated.
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Kavin
Masculine · #3949 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kavins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,800 people named Kavin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Kavin?
- Kavin is the most-used spelling in US records — 27 of the 40 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Cavin and Kavyn.
- How popular is the name Kavin in 2025?
- Kavin ranks #3949 among US boy names in 2025, with 27 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kavin?
- About 1 in every 63,262 US boys born in 2025 was named Kavin — 27 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kavin with classmates?
- Kavin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kavin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Stewart#3949 · Tillman#3949 · Ashley#3949 · Alfonzo#3949 · Blane#3949 · Brayton#3949 · Omega#3949 · Rufus#3949
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kavin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kavin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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