Given name & surname · also Germanic
Baldwin
“a brave friend”
Baldwin is used as a given name and a surname. One German interpretation is “a brave friend.”
Original GermanBalduin
Meaning & origin
What it means
One German interpretation is “a brave friend.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Germanic.
How it developed
Its Germanic formation brings together bald (“bold, brave”) and wine (“friend”).
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Baldwin through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 634
- 634 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1965
- 13 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −43%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2023. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 13 in 1965. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 668 as a first name in 2020; 77,881 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Baldwin’s family of names
In English usage, Baldwin shares a linguistic root with the Faroese form BALDVIN. Baldwin has a related form in Baldee. Baldwin has a related form in Baldewin.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Baldwin has relatives in 14 languages. Lines run from its Proto-Germanic roots to each of them.
18 related names in 14 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 23
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 19
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Baldwin
- Baldwin IV of JerusalemKing of Jerusalem (1161-1185) (r. 1174-1185)
- Baldwin I of JerusalemKing of Jerusalem from 1100 to 11181058–1118
- Baldwin II of JerusalemCount of Edessa (r. 1100-1118) and King of Jerusalem (r. 1118–1131)1060–1131
- Baldwin I, Latin EmperorLatin Emperor of Constantinople (1172 - c.1205)
- Baldwin III of JerusalemKing of Jerusalem (1130-1163) (r. 1143-1163)
- Baldwin LonsdaleNi-Vanuatu politician and Anglican priest1948–2017
- Baldwin II, Latin EmperorEmperor of Constantinople1217–1273
- Baldwin V of FlandersCount of Flanders (1012-1067)
- Baldwin VI of FlandersCount of Mons and Hainaut and Flanders (1030-1070)1029–1070
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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