The name Alvin is derived from the Old English and Old Germanic names Aelfwine and Alvwin. These names are composed of the elements "alf" meaning "elf" and "wine" meaning "friend". The Old English and Old Germanic forms gradually evolved into the modern name Alvin over the centuries.

Alvin can be traced back to the early Middle Ages in parts of what is now England and Germany. It became a relatively common given name among Anglo-Saxons and Germanic peoples during this era. The name carried associations with mythological elves and sprites from Germanic folklore.

One of the earliest known records of the name Alvin appears in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. An entry lists an individual named "Aluuinus" as a landowner in Hertfordshire.

In the 12th century, a monk named Alwin authored the Vita Sancti Birini, an important early biography of Saint Birinus, an apostolic missionary who helped establish Christianity in Wessex. This Alwin has sometimes been confused with the chronicler Alwin of Tewkesbury from around the same time period.

The legendary English outlaw and folk hero Robin Hood had a son named Alwin in some medieval ballads and stories from the 13th and 14th centuries. In the 15th century, the name appeared as "Alwyne" in records associated with the English county of Somerset.

A prominent figure named Alvin Tortor served as the Mayor of London in 1349 during the outbreak of the Black Death pandemic in England. He played a key role in managing the city's response to the crisis.

In the 17th century, the Puritan minister Alvyn Talmadge was born in Suffolk, England in 1607. He later emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and became an influential figure among early settlers in New England.