Kervin
Masculine · “little dark one”
Kervin is an Irish surname wearing an American spelling, and it has a substantial second home: Haiti, where French-influenced naming has made Kervin and Kerlin ordinary men's names. Its American peak is 1963, and the record carries both communities.
How old is the name Kervin?
Kervin first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Kervin alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 1,400 people named Kervin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kervin most popular?
Kervin peaked in 1963, reaching #1426 nationally. Today it ranks #6143, 4,717 places below that high. See the whole 1963 chart.
Where it comes from
From ciar to Kervin
The story of Kervin
The O Ciarmhacain were a Galway family and the surname Kirwan is one of the fourteen Tribes of Galway, the merchant families who dominated the city for centuries. Irish emigration carried it to America. Separately, Haitian naming draws on French, on invention and on a distinctive local stock, and Kervin, Kerlens, Wisly and Jameson are all ordinary Haitian men's names that puzzle Americans. Haitian migration to the United States grew substantially from the 1960s, and the American record for Kervin reflects both that community and the older Irish one.
Meaningscholars disagree
little dark one
Irish O Ciarmhacain is built on ciar, 'dark, black', with mac, 'son', and a diminutive — so descendant of the little dark son. It anglicized as Kerwin, Kirwan and Kervin. A separate Welsh route through Cerwyn has been proposed. And in Haitian usage the name may be an independent French-influenced formation. The dark element is standard in the Irish reading and the other routes are not documented.
How the name formed
- ciar
- O Ciarmhacain
- Kerwin
- Kervin
Related forms: Kirwan · Kerwin · Kervin
Pronouncing Kervin
KER-vin
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the ending reduced. Haitian French usage puts the stress at the end, ker-VAN, with a nasal final vowel. Both are heard on American bearers.
Nicknames for Kervin
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
- 1916
- Most boys named
- 198946 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1426reached in 1963
- Change vs 2023
- +75.0%14 in 2025, from 8
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.
Kervin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Kirwan in Irish — related form
- Kerwin in English — spelling variant
- Kervin in Haitian Creole — same name
Kervins among us
people named Kervin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 122,005 born in 2025 was named Kervin
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 Cornelio test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Kervin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Cornelio climbed just as high around 1947, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Cornelio's path sketches the road Kervin is walking now.
Kervin 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
Kervin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Kervin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Vin is a complete name available as a short form.
- It has genuine Irish and Haitian traditions behind it.
- The pronunciation is obvious from the spelling in English.
- Kervin, Kerwin and Kirwan all circulate and are easily confused.
- Two stress patterns circulate depending on the community.
- The Irish derivation is standard but not fully secure.
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What they receive
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Kervin
Masculine · #6143 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Kervins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Kervin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kervin in 2025?
- Kervin ranks #6143 among US boy names in 2025, with 14 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Kervin?
- About 1 in every 122,005 US boys born in 2025 was named Kervin — 14 in all.
- Will my child share the name Kervin with classmates?
- Kervin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Kervin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ruel#6143 · Cornell#6143 · Vasco#6143 · Kemper#6143 · Yates#6143 · Roark#6143 · Raja#6143 · Orville#6143
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kervin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kervin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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