Nevin
Masculine · “little saint”
Nevin is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 6,372 boys against 99 girls since 1880.
Nevin comes from Irish and Scottish surnames whose root is a word for a saint — the little holy one, which is what naomhán means.
How old is the name Nevin?
Nevin first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Nevin alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 4,900 people named Nevin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nevin most popular?
Nevin peaked in 1926, reaching #916 nationally. Today it ranks #3949, 3,033 places below that high. See the whole 1926 chart.
Where it comes from
From naomh to Nevin
The story of Nevin
Naomh is the Irish word for a saint and for anything consecrated, and the diminutive gave a personal name and then surnames — Ó Naomháin and Mac Naoimhín, anglicized as Nevin, Niven and Nevins. The surname reached America with Irish and Scottish emigration, and its use as a given name appears in the records from the 1910s onward, peaking in the 1920s.
Meaningscholars disagree
little saint; or son of the saint
Irish Naomhán is a diminutive of naomh, a saint or holy person. Scottish Mac Naoimhín gives MacNiven, the same root. A third reading takes it from cnámh, a bone. The first is the best supported.
How the name formed
- naomh
- Naomhán
- Nevin
Related forms: Naomhán · Mac Naoimhín · Niven
Pronouncing Nevin
NEV-in
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Nevin
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
- 1888
- Most boys named
- 2007140 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #916reached in 1926
- Change vs 2022
- −34.1%27 in 2025, from 41
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.
Nevin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Naomhán in Irish — same name
- Mac Naoimhín in Scottish Gaelic — related form
- Niven in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Pennsylvania, Texas.
Nevins among us
people named Nevin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 63,262 born in 2025 was named Nevin
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 Hansel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nevin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Hansel climbed just as high around 1905, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Hansel's path sketches the road Nevin is walking now.
Nevin 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 Nevin is headed
Nevin is easing off slowly — about 15% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Nevin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nevin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Irish meaning that is unusually gentle for a surname root.
- Vin is a complete short form in its own right.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Nevin, Niven and Nevan are all in use and none is dominant.
- It is close to Kevin and Devin in an American ear.
- It reads as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
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Nevin
Masculine · #3949 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nevins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,900 people named Nevin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nevin in 2025?
- Nevin ranks #3949 among US boy names in 2025, with 27 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nevin?
- About 1 in every 63,262 US boys born in 2025 was named Nevin — 27 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nevin with classmates?
- Nevin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nevin
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 Nevin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nevin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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