# Gavin (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/gavin/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɡævɪn/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Gav |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 189,665 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 189,270 / 395 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,455, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Medieval variant of Gawain, the name of an Arthurian knight, first recorded as Old French Gauvain. The form Gavin survived in Scotland and spread to other English-speaking countries in the 1960s. Doublet of Gawain.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 21 | 6,208 |
| 2007 | 26 | 5,427 |
| 2008 | 33 | 4,576 |
| 2009 | 13 | 9,067 |
| 2010 | 12 | 9,425 |
| 2011 | 17 | 7,224 |
| 2012 | 15 | 7,964 |
| 2013 | 16 | 7,513 |
| 2014 | 10 | 10,414 |
| 2015 | 5 | 17,367 |
| 2016 | 5 | 17,135 |
| 2018 | 7 | 12,929 |
| 2019 | 5 | 16,366 |
| 2022 | 5 | 16,144 |
| 2023 | 9 | 10,607 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 9,016 | 37 |
| 2012 | 8,260 | 40 |
| 2013 | 7,422 | 50 |
| 2014 | 6,622 | 61 |
| 2015 | 5,794 | 70 |
| 2016 | 4,944 | 80 |
| 2017 | 4,159 | 96 |
| 2018 | 3,475 | 111 |
| 2019 | 3,013 | 128 |
| 2020 | 2,589 | 142 |
| 2021 | 2,216 | 174 |
| 2022 | 1,798 | 206 |
| 2023 | 1,515 | 232 |
| 2024 | 1,384 | 255 |
| 2025 | 1,125 | 303 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 35 | 845 |
| 2012 | 31 | 947 |
| 2013 | 33 | 882 |
| 2014 | 31 | 935 |
| 2015 | 28 | 1,024 |
| 2016 | 26 | 1,081 |
| 2017 | 20 | 1,289 |
| 2018 | 12 | 1,875 |
| 2019 | 14 | 1,655 |
| 2020 | 27 | 1,019 |
| 2021 | 19 | 1,329 |
| 2022 | 17 | 1,469 |
| 2023 | 26 | 1,108 |
| 2024 | 35 | 898 |
| 2025 | 33 | 934 |

## In other languages

- Chinese: 加文
- French: Gauvain
- Italian: Galvano

## People named Gavin

- Gavin Newsom, 40th governor of California since 2019
- Gavin McInnes, Canadian far-right commentator
- Gavin Williamson, British Conservative party politician (born 1976)
- Gavin MacLeod, American actor (1931–2021)
- Gavin Harrison, British drummer
- Gavin Rossdale, British musician
- Gavin McCann, English footballer (born 1978)
- Gavin DeGraw, American singer
- Gavin Creel, American actor and singer (1976–2024)
- Gavin Hoyte, English-Trinidadian footballer (born 1990)
- Gavin O'Connor, American film director, screenwriter, producer, playwright and actor (b. 1963)
- Gavin Bryars, English composer and double bassist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.