Given name & surname
Craven
“a cowardly man”
Craven is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “a cowardly man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “a cowardly man.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1916. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Craven through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 371
- 371 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1956
- 12 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #12,423 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 12,423 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 315 as a first name in 2020; 14,810 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.
Craven’s family of names
Craven has a related form in Cravan. Craven has a related form in Cravin. Craven has a related form in Cravon.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Craven, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Vyron
Vyron is a masculine given name from Greek, ultimately from English.
>99% boys
Gale
“a foreigner” · “one who is cheerful”
85% boys · 15% girls
Ken
“born of fire” · “handsome, fair one”
>99% boys
Derwin
“a friend of the deer; a gifted friend”
>99% boys
Stanton
“from the stone town”
>99% boys
Carlton
“from the free man's town”
>99% boys
Al
“one who counsels the elves” · “one who is noble and bright”
>99% boys
Stanford
“from the stony ford”
>99% boys