Find out how popular the last name Kervin is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Kervin.

Kervin, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Kervin surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kervin in America

Kervin is the 26671st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kervin surname appeared 913 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Kervin.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kervin to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Kervin

The surname Kervin has its origins in the Brittany region of northwestern France, dating back to the early medieval period around the 9th century. It is believed to be derived from the Breton words "ker," meaning "home" or "settlement," and "vin," meaning "white" or "fair," potentially referring to a fair-haired person or someone from a settlement with light-colored buildings.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kervin can be found in the Cartulaire de Redon, a medieval cartulary from the Abbey of Redon in Brittany, which dates back to the 9th century. The name appears as "Kervinius," indicating its Breton origins.

In the 12th century, the name Kervin was mentioned in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The entry records a landowner named Aluredus Kervin in the county of Gloucestershire.

During the 13th century, there are records of a knight named Sir Robert Kervin, who fought in the Crusades and was awarded lands in Normandy for his service. His descendants continued to use the surname in Normandy and surrounding regions.

In the 15th century, a notable figure bearing the surname Kervin was Jean Kervin, a French playwright and poet born in Brittany around 1420. His works were influential in the development of French Renaissance literature.

Another prominent individual with the surname Kervin was Sir Thomas Kervin, a British naval officer who served in the Royal Navy during the 17th century. He was born in 1635 in Cornwall and played a significant role in several naval battles against the Dutch and French fleets.

Throughout history, variations of the name have included Kervyn, Kerven, and Kerven-Lecart, reflecting regional differences in spelling and pronunciation. Place names like Kervyn-Nalinnes in Belgium and Kervin-Marquion in France may have influenced the surname's evolution.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kervin

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Kervin.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Kervin was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Kervin has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Kervin was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Kervin, please contact us.

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