Given name & surname · also Gaelic
Niven
“one who is sacred; little bone”
Niven is a variant of Nevin. One Latin interpretation is “one who is sacred; little bone.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Niven is a variant of Nevin. One Latin interpretation is “one who is sacred; little bone.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Irish.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2007. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Niven through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 24
- 24 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2012
- 7 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 6 in 2014. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 7 in 2012. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 202 as a first name in 2020; 1,245 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.
Niven’s family of names
Niven has a related form in Nevin. Niven is an English adaptation of Gille. Niven is an English adaptation of Naoimhean.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Niven
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Niven, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Keveen
Keveen is a masculine given name from Old Irish. It is used in Manx.
>99% boys
Nealon
“the champion”
>99% boys
Slevin
“man from the mountains”
>99% boys
Ieuan
“God is gracious”
>99% boys
Drennan
“descendant of Draighneán”
>99% boys
Drennen
“descendant of Draighneán”
>99% boys
Mckeon
McKeon is a surname from Irish.
>99% boys
Guinness
“son of Angus”
>99% boys