Kevin

Where Kevin comes from

Name of a seventh-century Irish saint, from Irish Caoimhghin or Caoimhín, from Old Irish Cóemgen (literally “dear birth/person”). It first became popular outside Ireland in the mid-twentieth century.
— Wiktionary's entry for Kevin
  • Irish
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1912
    First appearance
    #1,746 among boys, 9 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1955
    Kevin Costner born
    American actor and filmmaker
  3. 1957
    Kevin Rudd born
    26th Prime Minister of Australia
  4. 1963
    Peak, #11
    30,613 babies named Kevin — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1996
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #26.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Irish.
Namesakes
  • Kevin Costner · American actor and filmmaker, born 1955
  • Kevin Rudd · 26th Prime Minister of Australia, born 1957
  • Kevin De Bruyne · Belgian association football player, born 1991
  • Kevin Spacey · American actor, born 1959
  • Kevin Keegan · English association football player and manager, 1951–2026

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.