Gavin
A given name of Celtic origin possibly meaning "white hawk" or "hawk's battle".
Name Census estimates that about 185,415 living Americans carry the first name Gavin. It sits at #255 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gavin today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gavin births was 2007 (11,889 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gavin. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gavin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Gavin is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 395 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
185K
~ 1 in 1,849 Americans
Peak year
2007
11,889 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#255
Tracked since 1913
Census
Gavin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 168,736 people with the first name Gavin, which placed it at #329 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
#329
National first-name rank
People counted
169K
168,736 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
55.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gavin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gavin is White at 77.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Gavin 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 Gavin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.8% · 131,321
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 15,243
- Two or more races5.8% · 9,738
- Black or African American4.3% · 7,179
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 4,217
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1,038
Gender
Gender distribution for Gavin
Out of the 188,526 babies given the name Gavin since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Gavin as a male name
- Ranked #255 in 2024
- 1,380 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (11,863 births)
Gavin as a female name
- Ranked #10,589 in 2023
- 9 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2004 (55 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gavin appears almost entirely male. Of the 168,745 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Gavin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gavin from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 88,668 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gavin 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 Gavin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gavins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Gavin, while District of Columbia, Wyoming, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,639 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gavin
The given name Gavin has its roots in the medieval Celtic culture, originating from the Welsh language. It is derived from the Welsh word "gafyn," which means "hawk" or "small hawk." This suggests a connection to the natural world and a potential symbolic association with strength, keen vision, and agility.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Gavin dates back to the 12th century in Wales. It was initially a surname before gaining popularity as a given name. The name Gavin has also been spelled as Gavyn, Gaven, and Gawain in various historical records.
One of the earliest and most renowned historical figures bearing the name Gavin was Sir Gawain, a nephew of King Arthur in the Arthurian legends. He is celebrated as one of the greatest knights of the Round Table and is portrayed as a symbol of courage, chivalry, and honor in the famous 14th-century poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight."
Another notable historical figure with the name Gavin was Gavin Douglas (c. 1474-1522), a Scottish Bishop and poet. He is best known for his translation of Virgil's Aeneid into Scots, which is considered a literary masterpiece and a significant contribution to the preservation of the Scots language.
In the 16th century, Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798) was a renowned Scottish painter and archaeologist. He is particularly celebrated for his neoclassical paintings and his contributions to the rediscovery and preservation of ancient Roman art and architecture.
Gavin Ewart (1917-1995) was a British poet and writer who gained recognition for his contributions to the literary scene in the mid-20th century. He was known for his witty and satirical writings, which often explored themes of modern urban life and social commentary.
Gavin Bryars (born 1943) is a respected British composer and musician. He is widely acclaimed for his innovative and experimental works that blend classical and contemporary styles, including his famous composition "The Sinking of the Titanic," which incorporates the sounds of the ship's hull creaking as it sank.
Throughout history, the name Gavin has been associated with individuals who have made significant contributions to various fields, including literature, art, music, and more. Its Celtic origins and symbolic connection to the natural world have added a unique and enduring quality to this name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Gavin
People
Gavin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gavin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gavin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gavin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 185,415 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gavin 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 1,849 US residents.
Is Gavin a common name?
We classify Gavin as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 188,526 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gavin most popular?
The single biggest year for Gavin was 2007, when 11,889 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gavin is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gavin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 168,736 people with the name Gavin, or 55.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #329 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 Gavin 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 Gavin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gavin appears almost entirely male. Of the 168,745 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Gavin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gavin is White at 77.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.0%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Gavin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gavin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.8% (131,321 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 Gavin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gavin a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Gavin 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 Gavin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gavin 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 Gavin 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 Gavin?
You can see how many people share the name Gavin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.