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    The surname Gavin

    A patronymic surname, carried by 14,061 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈɡævɪn/ 2 syllables Soundex G150 Also a first name

    Gavin: #2,569 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Gavin #2,569, 14,061 people Gavin: #2,569 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Gavin #2,569, 14,061 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Gavin is more common than 98.4% of them.

    Origin

    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.

    Gavin is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 14,061 people named Gavin in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 21,958 Americans. That is up 4.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 13,515.

    #2,569
    rank among US surnames
    14,061
    people in 2010
    4.8
    per 100,000 Americans
    +4%
    change since 2000 (was #2,453)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #2,560Irizarry14,11421,875
    #2,562Rapp14,10721,886
    #2,563Foss14,09421,906
    #2,564McClelland14,09221,909
    #2,565Kilpatrick14,08721,917
    #2,566Daigle14,08421,922
    #2,567Burdick14,08121,926

    Who is named Gavin

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    76% of people named Gavin identified as white (not Hispanic), 18% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 76%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 18%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.3%
    • Two or more races 1.5%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.8%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Gavins

    3 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • John Gavin
      American film actor and former Ambassador to Mexico (1931–2018)
    • Erica Gavin
      American actress, born 1947
    • Andy Gavin
      American video game programmer, born 1970

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Gavin

    Gavin has the Soundex code G150, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code G150.

    Questions

    Where does the surname Gavin come from?
    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.
    How common is the surname Gavin?
    14,061 people in the United States had the surname Gavin in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 21,958 Americans. It ranked 2,569th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Gavin?
    In the 2010 Census, 76% of people named Gavin identified as white (not Hispanic), and 18% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Gavin?
    John Gavin, American film actor and former Ambassador to Mexico (1931–2018), followed by Erica Gavin.
    Where is the surname Gavin most common?
    Wikidata records people named Gavin in the United States.
    How do you pronounce Gavin?
    Gavin is /ˈɡævɪn/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Gavin?
    Gavin is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
    Is the surname Gavin getting more or less common?
    More common. 13,515 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 14,061 in 2010, up 4.0%.
    Is Gavin also a first name?
    Yes. Gavin is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.