Mervin
Masculine · “sea eminence”
Mervin is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 12,322 boys against 38 girls since 1880.
Mervin is the Welsh Merfyn — sea eminence, perhaps — and Merfyn Frych founded a dynasty that ruled Gwynedd for centuries.
How old is the name Mervin?
Mervin was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Mervin alive today was born around 1943, making them about 82 years old. About 5,600 people named Mervin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mervin most popular?
Mervin peaked in 1920, reaching #377 nationally. Today it ranks #2363, 1,986 places below that high. See the whole 1920 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Merfyn to Mervin
The story of Mervin
Merfyn Frych took the throne of Gwynedd in 825 and his descendants, including Rhodri the Great and Hywel the Good, ruled Wales for generations. The name anglicized as Mervyn and Mervin. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
sea eminence
From the Welsh Merfyn, generally read as mor, 'sea', and a second element variously given as myn, 'eminence', or a personal element. The reading is standard but not firmly established. An alternative route derives Mervin from the Irish Muirfinn.
How the name formed
- Merfyn
- Mervin
Related forms: Merfyn · Mervyn
Pronouncing Mervin
MUR-vin
Two syllables, stress on the first. Welsh Merfyn is MER-vin with a crisper first vowel.
Nicknames for Mervin
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
- 1922221 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #377reached in 1920
- Change vs 2022
- +34.9%58 in 2025, from 43
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.
Mervin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Merfyn in Welsh — related form
- Mervyn in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana.
Mervins among us
people named Mervin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 29,450 born in 2025 was named Mervin
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 Alphonso test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mervin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Alphonso climbed just as high around 1900, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Alphonso's path sketches the road Mervin is walking now.
Mervin 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 Mervin is headed
Mervin should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Mervin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mervin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A dynasty that ruled Wales for centuries descends from the man who carried it.
- Merv and Vin are two short forms, both with real records.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The second element is genuinely disputed.
- It is period-coded to the mid-twentieth century.
- Mervyn and Mervin are both in circulation.
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What they receive
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Mervin
Masculine · #2363 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mervins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,600 people named Mervin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mervin in 2025?
- Mervin ranks #2363 among US boy names in 2025, with 58 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mervin?
- About 1 in every 29,450 US boys born in 2025 was named Mervin — 58 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mervin with classmates?
- Mervin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mervin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Javi#2363 · Zacchaeus#2363 · Pete#2363 · Herman#2363 · Clint#2363 · Lipa#2363 · Reuven#2363 · Kyngston#2363
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mervin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mervin and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
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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