Kevin
Masculine name of Irish origin derived from the old Celtic term "cuifin" meaning birth.
Name Census estimates that about 1,074,301 living Americans carry the first name Kevin. It sits at #196 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kevin today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kevin births was 1963 (30,732 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kevin. 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 Kevin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Kevin is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 5,333 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1960s, recent registration numbers for Kevin have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
1.1M
~ 1 in 319 Americans
Peak year
1963
30,732 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#196
Tracked since 1912
Census
Kevin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,015,224 people with the first name Kevin, which placed it at #24 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
#24
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0M
1,015,224 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
336.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kevin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kevin is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.2%) and Black (10.7%). 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 Kevin 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 Kevin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.0% · 690,306
- Hispanic or Latino13.2% · 133,790
- Black or African American10.7% · 108,294
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 52,672
- Two or more races2.5% · 24,974
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 5,188
Gender
Gender distribution for Kevin
Out of the 1,188,207 babies given the name Kevin since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Kevin as a male name
- Ranked #196 in 2024
- 1,822 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1963 (30,611 births)
Kevin as a female name
- Ranked #16,448 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1977 (149 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kevin appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,015,227 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Kevin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kevin from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 272,538 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
Kevin 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 Kevin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kevins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Kevin, while Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23,219 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kevin
The name Kevin has its origins in the ancient Celtic language and culture. The name is derived from the Irish-Gaelic word "caomhán," which means "descendant of the noble birth." It is also believed to have been derived from the Old Irish name "Cóemgein," meaning "birth of the fair one."
The earliest recorded use of the name Kevin dates back to the 6th century AD, when it was borne by the Irish saint and patron of the Glendalough monastery, St. Kevin. Born around 498 AD, St. Kevin is revered for his ascetic lifestyle and his devotion to the Christian faith. His feast day is celebrated on June 3rd in the Catholic Church.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Kevin saw limited use primarily within Ireland and among Irish communities abroad. It wasn't until the 19th century that the name began to gain popularity outside of Ireland. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Kevin O'Doherty, an Irish poet and chieftain who lived in the 15th century.
The name Kevin gained broader recognition in the early 20th century, particularly after the publication of the novel "The Waves" by Virginia Woolf in 1931, which featured a character named Kevin. Around the same time, Kevin Barry, an Irish revolutionary and soldier, became a prominent figure in the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921).
Another notable bearer of the name was Kevin Kline, the American actor born in 1947, who is known for his roles in films such as "A Fish Called Wanda," "The Big Chill," and "Sophie's Choice." In the literary world, Kevin Brownlow, born in 1938, is a renowned British filmmaker and film historian known for his work in preserving and restoring silent films.
The name Kevin also has a strong association with sports. Kevin McHale, born in 1957, was a professional basketball player and coach who played for the Boston Celtics and won three NBA championships. Kevin Keegan, born in 1951, is a famous English football player and manager who played for Liverpool and captained the England national team.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Kevin
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Kevin Allen
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Kevin Anderson
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Kevin Bacon
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Kevin Brady
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Kevin Bray
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Kevin Brown
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Kevin Carter
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Kevin Connor
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Kevin Costner
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Kevin Covais
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Kevin Dillon
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Kevin Donovan
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Kevin Garnett
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Kevin Hall
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Kevin Hardy
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Kevin Harvick
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Kevin Hooks
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Kevin Johnson
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Kevin Jones
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Kevin Kline
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Kevin Lima
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Kevin Macdonald
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Kevin Mawae
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Kevin Mccarthy
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Kevin Mchale
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Kevin Millar
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Kevin Millwood
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Kevin Oconnor
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Kevin Pollak
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Kevin Reynolds
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Kevin Richardson
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Kevin Smith
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Kevin Sorbo
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Kevin Sullivan
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Kevin Tenney
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Kevin Tighe
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Kevin Williamson
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Kevin Young
People
Kevin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kevin 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
Kevin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kevin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,074,301 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kevin 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 319 US residents.
Is Kevin a common name?
We classify Kevin as "Very Common". It ranks above 100% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,188,207 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kevin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kevin was 1963, when 30,732 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kevin is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kevin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,015,224 people with the name Kevin, or 336.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24 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 Kevin 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 Kevin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kevin appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,015,227 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 Kevin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kevin is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.2%) and Black (10.7%). 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 Kevin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kevin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.0% (690,306 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 Kevin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kevin a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Kevin 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 Kevin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kevin 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 Kevin 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 common is the name Kevin?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Kevin at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.