Kelven
A boy's name with disputed origins, potentially Scottish or English.
Name Census estimates that about 104 living Americans carry the first name Kelven. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kelven today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kelven births was 1961 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kelven. 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
104
~ 1 in 3,295,715 Americans
Peak year
1961
12 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2011 SSA rank
#13,394
Tracked since 1957
Census
Kelven in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 218 people with the first name Kelven, which placed it at #36,419 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
#36,419
National first-name rank
People counted
218
218 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
38.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kelven
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelven is Black at 38.5%. The next largest groups are White (24.8%) and Hispanic (20.2%). 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 Kelven 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 Kelven at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American38.5% · 84
- White24.8% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino20.2% · 44
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.3% · 29
- Two or more races2.8% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Kelven: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kelven from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 35 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kelven 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 Kelven during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kelven
The name Kelven has its origins in the ancient Celtic language spoken across parts of Europe during the Iron Age and medieval periods. It is derived from the root word "kel," which means "bright" or "shining." The addition of the suffix "-ven" likely evolved from the Old Celtic word "vindo," meaning "white" or "fair."
This suggests that Kelven was originally used as a descriptive name, perhaps referring to someone with bright or fair features. The name's earliest known usage can be traced back to the 5th century CE, where it appears in some ancient Gaelic manuscripts as "Celven" or "Celvyn."
One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Kelven of Strathclyde, a Scottish prince who lived in the late 6th century. He is mentioned in the historical chronicles of the Kingdom of Strathclyde, which encompassed parts of modern-day Scotland and northern England.
In the 9th century, Kelven the Wise was a renowned scholar and philosopher in the medieval Kingdom of Northumbria. His writings on astronomy and natural sciences were highly influential during that time period.
During the Norman conquest of England in the 11th century, a notable figure named Kelven de Beaumont fought alongside William the Conqueror. He was later granted lands in Leicestershire and is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086.
In the 12th century, Kelven of Mercia was a prominent figure in the English clergy. He served as the Bishop of Chester from 1153 to 1181 and is known for his involvement in the construction of Chester Cathedral.
Another historical figure with this name was Kelven the Red, a Scottish warrior who fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the early 14th century. He is mentioned in the chronicles of the time for his bravery in battles against the English forces.
People
Kelven + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kelven as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kelven: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kelven?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 104 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kelven 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 3,295,715 US residents.
Is Kelven a common name?
We classify Kelven as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 113 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kelven most popular?
The single biggest year for Kelven was 1961, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kelven is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kelven in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 218 people with the name Kelven, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,419 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 Kelven 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 Kelven?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kelven appears almost entirely male. Of the 214 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Kelven?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kelven is Black at 38.5%. The next largest groups are White (24.8%) and Hispanic (20.2%). 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 Kelven most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kelven in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.5% (84 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 Kelven in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kelven a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kelven 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 Kelven still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kelven 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 Kelven 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 Americans are named Kelven?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Kelven at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.