Kelvin
Kelvin is a masculine given name, ultimately derived from the title of William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, who received a baronage named for the River Kelvin in 1892. Isolated use of Kelvin as a given name is recorded in England in the 1920s, and the name rises in popularity in the United States around 1950, according to the authors of the Oxford Dictionary of First Names possibly by association…
Meaning & Origin of Kelvin
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Kelvin is a masculine given name, ultimately derived from the title of William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, who received a baronage named for the River Kelvin in 1892. Isolated use of Kelvin as a given name is recorded in England in the 1920s, and the name rises in popularity in the United States around 1950, according to the authors of the Oxford Dictionary of First Names possibly by association…
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
The Story of Kelvin
The earliest SSA record of Kelvin as a baby boy name dates back to 1912, when 6 babies received it. 1961 was its biggest year on record, with 1,370 newborns named Kelvin — #209 in the national rankings. About 23% of every Kelvin on record arrived during the 1960s, its defining decade. As of 2026, Kelvin ranks #1,072 for baby boys with 204 births, falling sharply (-23%). All told, over 52K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1910s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Names that sound like Kelvin
Phonetically similar names — useful when Kelvin is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Kelvin
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About the name Kelvin
Kelvin is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1912 and has accumulated 52K births in the dataset. Kelvin's peak popularity came in 1961 when it ranked #207. Use the chart and map above to compare Kelvin's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1961 →
- Names of the 1960s →
- Names starting with "K" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.