Kevin

Irish

"handsome"

Kevin Origin and Meaning

The name Kevin is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "handsome".

Kevin came to the US with the large wave of Irish Immigrants after World War I, hitting the US Top 1000 list for the first time in 1921 and never leaving.

Though an ancient Irish name -- a Saint Kevin founded a scholastic monastery near Dublin in the seventh century -- Kevin only became popular in Ireland at the same time it did in the US, when the Irish war for independence restored native Irish names to general use.

The name Kevin was derived from the name Caoimhín, which originated from the Irish elements coém, meaning "handsome," and gein, "birth." The feminine name Caiomhe, anglicized as Keeva, comes from the same origins.

Kevin has been waning in popularity in the US in recent years—it dropped out of the Top 100 for the first time since the Truman administration in 2017—but remains a popular name in countries as diverse as Italy, Mexico, Sweden, and several Eastern European countries. It was the top boys' name in France in the early 1990s—one of the first non-French names to hold the title.

That said, Kevinism has become slang for fleeting name phenomena, typically associated with pop culture trends. Internationally, it's identified as a stereotypical trendy "American" name.

There are many famous Kevins in the public eye, notably Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, and Kevin James. Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, was born Terrence Thomas Kevin O'Leary and founded The Learning Company.

Kevin Rank in US Top 1000

# 196 in the US

Kevin Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 169 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Kevin

• 196 US 2024
• 169 Nameberry 2025
• 265 England 2024
• 100 Ireland 2019
• 278 Germany 2016
• 184 Netherlands 2015
• 50 Italy 2017
• 45 Portugal 2020
• 101 Mexico 2021
• 88 sweden 2019
• 185 switzerland 2019
• 51 Hungary 2024
• 166 Poland 2020
• 66 Estonia 2024
• 97 slovenia 2019
• 72 Cats 2022

20 Names Similar to Kevin

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Kevin.

• Brian
• Justin
• Steven
• Bryan
• Jeremy
• Mark
• Alan
• Tony
• Brandon
• Johnathan
• Chris
• Carlos
• Jeffrey
• Jared
• Eric
• Derek
• Danny
• Stephen
• Scott
• Christian

Famous People Named Kevin

• Saint Kevin of Glendalough Irish abbot
• Kevin Norwood Bacon American actor
• Kevin Andrew Bridges Scottish comedian
• Kevin Fitzgerald Corrigan American actor
• Kevin Michael Costner American actor
• Kevin Wayne Durant American basketball player
• Kevin Earl Federline American dancer
• Kevin Maurice Garnett American basketball player
• Kevin Darnell Hart American actor and comedian
• Kevin James (Knipfing) American actor and comedian
• (Paul) Kevin Jonas II American musician
• Kevin Kilner American actor
• Kevin Anderson American actor
• Kevin Delaney Kline American actor
• Kevin Wesley Love American basketball player
• Kevin McCarthy American actor
• Kevin Michael McKeehan aka tobyMac American Christian singer,songwriter
• Kevin Edward McHale American basketball player
• Kevin Michael McHale American actor and singer
• Kevin McKidd Scottish actor
• Kevin Nealon American actor
• Kevin O'Leary Canadian businessman
• Kevin Oluwole Olusola American singer/beatboxer with group Pentatonix
• Kevin Elliot Pollak American actor
• Kevin Scott Richardson American singer
• Kevin Michael Rudd 26th Prime Minister of Australia
• Kevin Patrick Smith American film director and producer
• Kevin David Sorbo American actor
• Kevin Spacey American actor
• Kevin Tighe American actor
• Kevin Hagan White 45th mayor of Boston, USA
• Kevin Edmund "Youk" Youkilis American baseball player
• Kevin "K.O." Olusola American musician
• Kevin Kimmel (b. 1993) son of TV host Jimmy Kimmel
• Kevin Conroy (b. 1955) American voice actor
• Kevin Nash (b. 1959) American pro wrestler and actor
• Kevin Owens (born Kevin Steen in 1984) American pro wrestler
• Kevin Hines American author and filmmaker, survivor of a suicide attempt off the Golden Gate Bridge
• Kevin Kraus German footballer
• Kevin Müller German footballer
• Kevin Lankford German,American soccer player
• Kevin DuBrow American singer for Quiet Riot
• Kevin Hicks (b. 1970) 16 year old British boy who went and is still currently missing from Addiscombe, UK in 1986
• Kevin O'Reilly Irish Youtuber

The name Kevin in Pop Culture

• Kevin bird in the Disney/Pixar film "Up"
• Kevin alternate version of narrator Cecil in podcast "Welcome to Night Vale"
• Kevin Arnold character on TV's "The Wonder Years"
• Kevin Entwhistle character in J.K. Rowling's "The Original Forty"
• Kevin Flynn main character of the TRON film
• Kevin Grant character on TV series "Bracken's World"
• Kevin Khatchadourian character in book/movie "We Need To Talk About Kevin"
• Kevin Langley character in movie "Bean" played by Andy Lawrence
• Kevin McCallister main character in "Home Alone" film series
• Kevin Myers character in the "American Pie" series
• Kevin Price main character in musical "The Book of Mormon"
• Kevin Peyton character on TV's "Nurse Jackie"
• Kevin character from TV series "Supernatural"
• Kevin Copeland character in film "White Chicks"
• Kevin Copeland character in "The Mist"
• Kevin Duval a character on TV's "Scream"
• Kevin Wendell Crumb character from "Split"
• Kevin character from "Ed, Edd n Eddy"
• Kevin minion in the "Despicable Me" movies
• "Cousin Kevin " song by The Who
• Kevin Kellar character from the tv series "Riverdale"
• Kevin Rayburn character in Netflix's "Bloodline"
• Kevin Cozner character in TV series "Brooklyn Nine,Nine"
• Kevin Malone character from the show "The Office"
• Kevin Keene aka Captain N: The Game Master, from the NBC Saturday Morning Cartoon "Captain N: The Game Master"
• Kevin Old character in Lemony Snicket's "A Series Of Unfortunate Events" and "File Under: 13 Suspicious Incidents"
• Kevin Brown also known as "Agent K", a character from the "Men in Black" movies
• "Kevin" a slang term originating from the website Reddit that refers to a person of low intelligence