2000
#2,551
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 13,027
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.83
Uncommon Last name
Garvin
Derived from the Irish Gaelic surname "Ó Gairbhín," meaning "descendant of Gairbhín," a personal name meaning "rough" or "nasty."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 14,452 Americans carry the last name Garvin. That puts it at #2,783 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 4.22 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 23,717 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Garvin surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Garvin with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
14K
1 in 23,717
Census rank
#2,783
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
4.2
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
13K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 12,603 bearers of the surname Garvin in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 4.22 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2783rd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Garvin, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.7%. The next largest groups are Black (25.5%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Garvin
The surname Garvin originated in Scotland and is a variant of the name Garvine, which comes from the Gaelic word "garbh" meaning "rough" or "rugged." The earliest recorded instances of this surname date back to the 16th century in the parish records of Ayrshire and Renfrewshire.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, a record of landowners in England after the Norman Conquest, there is no mention of the name Garvin or its variants. However, the name appears in various historical documents and records from Scotland in the following centuries.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the surname Garvin was John Garvin, a Scottish clergyman who lived in the late 16th century and served as the minister of Kilwinning in Ayrshire.
In the 17th century, a prominent figure with this surname was Robert Garvin, a Scottish mathematician and astronomer who was born in Muirkirk, Ayrshire, around 1630. He contributed to the development of logarithms and published works on astronomy.
Another notable bearer of the Garvin name was James Garvin, a Scottish politician and lawyer who served as Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1766 to 1768.
In the 19th century, Joseph Garvin (1820-1896) was a Scottish businessman and philanthropist from Glasgow. He made his fortune in the textile industry and donated significant funds for educational and charitable causes.
During the same period, William Garvin (1847-1919) was a Scottish journalist and newspaper editor who worked for several influential publications, including the Newcastle Daily Chronicle and the Observer.
The surname Garvin can also be found in various place names and older spellings, such as Garvine and Garvan, which are still used in some areas of Scotland today.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Garvin
Among Census respondents with the surname Garvin, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.7%. The next largest groups are Black (25.5%) and Two or More Races (4.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Garvin bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Garvin surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.7% · 8,279
- Black or African American25.5% · 3,211
- Two or more races4.1% · 515
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 394
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 116
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 88
Timeline
Historical Census data for Garvin
Garvin appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,664
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 13,536
+509 bearers (+3.9%)
Per 100,000 4.59
Rank movement Down 113 places
2020
#2,783
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,603
-933 bearers (-6.9%)
Per 100,000 4.22
Rank movement Down 119 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,551 | 13,027 | 4.83 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,664 | 13,536 | 4.59 | +509 bearers (+3.9%) | Down 113 places |
| 2020 | #2,783 | 12,603 | 4.22 | -933 bearers (-6.9%) | Down 119 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Garvin surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,664 | #2,783 | -4.5% |
| Count | 13,536 | 12,603 | -6.9% |
| Per 100K | 4.59 | 4.22 | -8.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Garvin bearers went from 13,536 to 12,603 (-6.9% change). The surname moved down 119 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,664 to #2,783.
FAQ
Garvin surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Garvin?
Name Census estimates that about 14,452 living Americans carry the surname Garvin. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 23,717 residents.
How common is Garvin?
Garvin ranks #2,783 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 4.22 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 12,603 people with the surname Garvin. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (14,452), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 4.22 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 4.22 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Garvin.
Has Garvin become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Garvin went from 13,536 recorded bearers to 12,603. That is a decrease of 933 (-6.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,664 to #2,783.
What does the Census say about the background of Garvin?
Among Census respondents with the surname Garvin, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.7%. The next largest groups are Black (25.5%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Garvin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.7% (8,279 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Garvin appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (65.7%), Black (25.5%), Two or More Races (4.1%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Garvin (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Garvin mean?
Derived from the Irish Gaelic surname "Ó Gairbhín," meaning "descendant of Gairbhín," a personal name meaning "rough" or "nasty." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Garvin (4.22 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Garvin?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Garvin is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.