Given name & surname
Calvin
“the little bald one”
Calvin is used as a given name and a surname. One French interpretation is “the little bald one.”
Original FrenchChauvin
Meaning & origin
What it means
One French interpretation is “the little bald one.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is French.
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
Calvin through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 222,287
- 221,064 boys · 1,223 girls
- Most popular year
- 1924
- 4,940 babies
- 2025
- 2,717
- #132 for boys · #12,161 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −4%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 2,710 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 132 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 4.1% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 4,918 in 1924. It also appeared in 7 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (189). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 124,765 as a first name in 2020; 9,020 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.
Calvin’s family of names
In English usage, Calvin has a diminutive in Cal. In English usage, Calvin as a surname shares a linguistic root with the Galician form Calviño. Calvin has a related form in Calven.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Calvin has relatives in 16 languages. Lines run from its French roots to each of them.
Frenchwhere Calvin comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 11
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Calshort form · English
- Calvanvariant
- Calvenvariant
- Calvonvariant
- Calvynvariant · Afrikaans
- Calvinnlikely variant
- Callvinlikely variant
- Calvineovariant
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Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 12
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Chauvindoublet · French
- Kalvinequivalent
- 加爾文borrowing · Chinese
- Calviñocognate · Galician
- ΚαλβίνοςGreek
- Кальви́нRussian
- KalwinPolish
- CalvinusLatin
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See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Calvin
- Snoop DoggAmerican rapper (born 1971)
- Calvin KleinAmerican fashion designer (born 1942)
- Anele NgcongcaSouth African footballer1987–2020
- Calvin Jong-a-PinDutch association football playerborn 1986
- Calvin RamsayScottish association football playerborn 2003
- Calvin SmithAmerican sprinterborn 1961
- Calvin BasseyNigerian association football playerborn 1999
- Calvin StengsDutch association football playerborn 1998
- Cal Ripken Jr.American retired baseball player (born 1960)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Calvin, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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