Carvin
A masculine variant of the name Carvin, possibly derived from French roots signifying a small car or chariot.
Name Census estimates that about 492 living Americans carry the first name Carvin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Carvin today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carvin births was 1957 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carvin. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
492
~ 1 in 696,655 Americans
Peak year
1957
17 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2017 SSA rank
#12,601
Tracked since 1916
Census
Carvin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 434 people with the first name Carvin, which placed it at #22,808 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#22,808
National first-name rank
People counted
434
434 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carvin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carvin is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (23.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Carvin described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Carvin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.1% · 291
- White23.0% · 100
- Two or more races3.2% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 7
Popularity
Carvin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carvin from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 122 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Carvin by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Carvin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carvins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Carvin
The given name Carvin is believed to have originated from the Old French word "carvin," which means "maker of shields or armor." This name can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when it was commonly used by blacksmiths and armorers who crafted protective gear for knights and soldiers.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carvin can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landowners and their properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. In this document, a man named Carvin is listed as a blacksmith residing in the village of Wiltshire.
During the Crusades, the name Carvin gained popularity among soldiers and warriors who relied on the expertise of skilled armorers to provide them with durable and reliable equipment for battle. It is believed that some Crusaders adopted the name Carvin as a symbol of their respect for these skilled craftsmen.
In the 14th century, a renowned Italian painter and sculptor named Carvin di Piero, known for his intricate works in marble and bronze, gained recognition for his artistic contributions. He was born in Florence in 1330 and is considered one of the pioneers of the Renaissance art movement.
Another notable figure with the name Carvin was Carvin Jansen, a Dutch explorer and navigator who lived from 1580 to 1638. He is credited with mapping and charting several islands in the Caribbean and played a significant role in the Dutch exploration of the Americas.
In the realm of literature, Carvin Hawthorne was an American writer and poet who lived from 1804 to 1864. He is best known for his poetry collection "Mosses from an Old Manse," which explored themes of nature and the human condition.
During the 19th century, Carvin Burroughs, an English industrialist and entrepreneur, made significant contributions to the development of the steam engine and the manufacturing of locomotives. He was born in 1812 and his innovations had a lasting impact on the Industrial Revolution.
While the name Carvin may not be as prevalent today as it once was, its rich history and association with skilled craftsmen, artists, explorers, and innovators have left an indelible mark on various cultural and historical contexts.
People
Carvin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carvin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Carvin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carvin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 492 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carvin going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 696,655 US residents.
Is Carvin a common name?
We classify Carvin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 730 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carvin most popular?
The single biggest year for Carvin was 1957, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carvin is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carvin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 434 people with the name Carvin, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,808 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Carvin in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Carvin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carvin leans strongly male. 430 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Carvin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carvin is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are White (23.0%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Carvin most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Carvin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (291 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Carvin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carvin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carvin in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Carvin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carvin in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Carvin can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Carvin?
You can see how many Americans are named Carvin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.