Tavin
Masculine · “twin”
Tavin is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 1,880 boys against 23 girls since 1880.
Tavin most likely comes from Tavish, which is how Scots Gaelic says Thomas. Tamhas gives Tavish, Tavis and the surname MacTavish, and Tavin is the American respelling that swaps the ending for the fashionable -in. Its peak is 2009, at the height of the -in and -en boys' endings, and it is one of the few of that group with a genuine Scottish ancestor behind it.
How old is the name Tavin?
Tavin first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Tavin alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 1,900 people named Tavin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tavin most popular?
Tavin peaked in 2009, reaching #1182 nationally. Today it ranks #5861, 4,679 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From te'oma to Tavin
The story of Tavin
Tamhas is the ordinary Scots Gaelic form of Thomas, and the medial mh is said as a v — which is why the anglicized forms are Tavish and Tavis rather than anything closer to the original spelling. MacTavish, the clan name, means son of Thomas. Scottish and Ulster-Scots migration brought all of these to America. Tavin itself is recent: it appears in American records from the 1990s and peaks in 2009, and its ending belongs to the enormous -in and -en fashion of that decade that also produced Gavin, Nolan, Aiden and Colin at their highest levels ever.
Meaningscholars disagree
twin, through the Scots Gaelic form of Thomas
Thomas comes from Aramaic te'oma, 'twin' — the apostle is called Didymus in Greek, which is also 'twin'. Scots Gaelic renders it Tamhas, said with a v sound in the middle, which produces Tavish and Tavis in English. If Tavin descends from that line, it carries the meaning. But it may equally be a respelling of Gavin with a T, or a clipping of Octavian, and neither of those routes gives the same answer. The Scottish derivation is the most likely and not the only one.
How the name formed
- te'oma
- Thomas
- Tamhas
- Tavish
- Tavin
Related forms: Tavish · Tamhas · Tavis
Pronouncing Tavin
TAV-in
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the short a of have. There is no competing saying, and the spelling gives English readers no difficulty.
Nicknames for Tavin
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
- 1981
- Most boys named
- 2009153 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1182reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- −16.7%15 in 2025, from 18
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.
Tavin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tavish in Scottish — related form
- Tamhas in Scottish Gaelic — related form
- Tavis in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Tavins among us
people named Tavin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 113,872 born in 2025 was named Tavin
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 Cardell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tavin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Cardell climbed just as high around 1955, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Cardell's path sketches the road Tavin is walking now.
Tavin 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
Tavin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tavin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The pronunciation is unambiguous from the spelling.
- Tav and Vin are both usable short forms with different characters.
- It has a plausible Scottish ancestry rather than being a pure invention.
- It is easily heard as Gavin, Tavon or Devin.
- The route from Tavish is likely but not documented, so the meaning needs a qualifier.
- The -in ending dates the name to the 1995-2020 window.
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Tavin
Masculine · #5861 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tavins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Tavin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tavin in 2025?
- Tavin ranks #5861 among US boy names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tavin?
- About 1 in every 113,872 US boys born in 2025 was named Tavin — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tavin with classmates?
- Tavin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tavin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eber#5861 · Wilton#5861 · Ruby#5861 · Stacy#5861 · Garner#5861 · Caldwell#5861 · Severin#5861 · Newton#5861
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tavin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tavin and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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