Boy · Scottish place name
Kelvin
Say it: KEL-vin
Meaning
From the River Kelvin in Glasgow, best known through the title of the physicist Lord Kelvin; the river name is probably Gaelic but its meaning is uncertain.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Taken up as a first name after Lord Kelvin's fame in the late 19th century, and most used in the US in the 1960s to 1980s.
Its wave through time
Most used in the 1960s
In the United States
- 50,686 babies given this name since 1912
- At its height in 1963, about 1 in 1,500 boys
- 239 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Kelven
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.