Kevin
Top 1000
About Kevin
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.
Pronounced KEV-in.
As of October 2026, Kevin ranked #221 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #11 in 1963, Nameberry popularity #214.
Editor's take: The name Kevin is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "handsome".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #70 | 5,901 | 3,072 |
| 2015 | #79 | 5,184 | 2,704.6 |
| 2016 | #90 | 4,554 | 2,399.7 |
| 2017 | #102 | 3,833 | 2,070.8 |
| 2018 | #125 | 3,143 | 1,730.6 |
| 2019 | #149 | 2,622 | 1,461.4 |
| 2020 | #157 | 2,384 | 1,381.2 |
| 2021 | #183 | 2,109 | 1,205.5 |
| 2022 | #182 | 2,077 | 1,189.6 |
| 2023 | #187 | 1,919 | 1,121.8 |
| 2024 | #196 | 1,822 | 1,057.5 |
| 2025 | #221 | 1,628 | 953.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Kevin.
- Brian
- Justin
- Steven
- Carlos
- Mark
- Alan
- Jeremy
- Bryan
- Derek
- Brandon
- Jared
- Chris
- Jeffrey
- Danny
- Sean
- Tony
- Keith
- Eric
- Stephen
- Andy
Kevin on lists
Famous Kevins
- 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
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