How popular is the baby name Kevin in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Kevin.

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Popularity of the baby name Kevin


Posts that mention the name Kevin

Pop culture baby name game, 2020

Happy birthday, Elvis!

It’s hard to put into words just how bizarre 2020 was.

Despite this…people still had babies in 2020, and people still paid attention to pop culture in 2020. (In fact, thanks to quarantine, many people probably paid a lot more attention to pop culture than usual last year.) So, let’s put the seriousness of 2020 aside for a second and kick off the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game!

Of course, “pop culture” includes not just things like movies and music and social media, but also anything that was in the news — including COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and the U.S. presidential election.

Which baby names will see higher usage — or appear for the very first time — in the 2020 SSA baby name data thanks to pop culture?

Here are some initial ideas (plus some context):

  • Aalam, DJ Khaled’s baby
  • Ahmaud, shooting of Ahmaud Arbery
  • Amala, Doja Cat album
  • Azula, character from Avatar: The Last Airbender (made available on Netflix in mid-2020)
  • Breonna, shooting of Breonna Taylor
  • Bryant, death of Kobe Bryant
  • Casme, contestant on season 19 of The Voice
  • Catori, Chris Brown’s baby (suggested by alex)
  • Chadwick, death of Chadwick Boseman
  • Charli, singer Charli XCX
  • Corona, coronavirus
    • Not to mention the brand new Daddy Yankee song “Corona” [vid]…
  • Crozier, naval captain Brett Crozier (suggested by elbowin)
  • Daisy, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom’s baby
  • Desz, contestant on season 19 of The Voice
  • Doja, singer Doja Cat
  • Domhnall, Irish actor on (canceled) HBO series Run
  • Dua, singer Dua Lipa
  • Esty, character on the Netflix miniseries Unorthodox
  • George, killing of George Floyd
  • Gianna, death of Gianna Bryant
  • Greta, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg
  • Isaias, hurricane
  • Jack, death of Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s unborn baby
  • Kamala, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris
  • Kamiyah, character in the Lifetime movie Stolen by My Mother: The Kamiyah Mobley Story*
  • Kaori, Kevin Hart’s baby
  • Katara, character from Avatar: The Last Airbender
  • Kobe, death of Kobe Bryant
  • Kraken, NHL expansion team (Seattle)
  • Larriah, contestant on season 19 of The Voice
  • Laura, hurricane
  • Lenin, Starbucks barista Lenin Gutierrez (suggested by elbowin)
  • Liberty, Meghan McCain’s baby
  • Lovella, singer Matt Bellamy’s baby
  • Lynika, death of Lynika Strozier (suggested by elbowin)
  • Lyra, Ed Sheeran’s baby
  • McGivney, beatification of Fr. Michael McGivney
  • Neowise, comet (suggested by elbowin)
  • Onyx, Iggy Azalea’s baby
  • Raddix, Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden’s baby
  • Rayshard, shooting of Rayshard Brooks
  • River, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara’s baby
  • Robinette, President-elect Joseph Robinette Biden (suggested by elbowin)
  • Rona, coronavirus
  • Rue, Teyana Taylor and Iman Shumpert’s baby
  • Rumble, model Lucky Blue Smith’s baby
  • Ruth, death of RBG
  • Sovereign, Usher’s baby
  • Tchalla, death of Chadwick Boseman (who played T’Challa in 2018’s Black Panther)
  • Wenliang, Chinese doctor Li Wenliang (suggested by elbowin)
  • Willa, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s baby
  • Win, Ciara and Russell Wilson’s baby
  • Yara, actress Yara Shahidi
  • Zuko, character from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Some of the names from the 2019 game could be applicable to the 2020 data as well.

Also, feel free to zoom out and consider name trends this year. Here are a few ways in which baby-naming may have been influenced by our collective experience of COVID-19, for instance:

  • “In my opinion this unprecedented situation will affect naming towards something “bolder” or “more badass” baby names and so you’ll probably see a spike of certain names like King, Major or Royal.” (Gheba)
  • “I’d bet on the rise of virtue names, or at least modern version of virtue names, like Brave/Bravery, Courage, Honor, etc. And I’d say names like Legend, Messiah, Legacy, Major, King, will probably rise some more too.” (Skizzo)
  • “I think it will also affect which media influence names this year. Eg we’ll miss out on names inspired by Olympic athletes, but might see even more from Netflix and YouTube.” (Clare)

What other names (or name trends) should we add to the list? Let me know by leaving a comment below. Just remember to make a note of the pop culture influence!

I’ll post the results as soon as I can after the SSA releases the 2020 data (in May of 2021, hopefully).

*Did you know that the actress who played Kamiyah in that Lifetime movie is named Rayven Symone Ferrell? Certainly a nod to Raven-Symoné…

Where did the baby name Gevan come from in 1952?

The book "Area of Suspicion" (1954) by John D. MacDonald

The baby name Gevan was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data in 1952:

  • 1954: unlisted
  • 1953: unlisted
  • 1952: 12 baby boys named Gevan [debut]
  • 1951: unlisted
  • 1950: unlisted

But it wasn’t just any old one-hit wonder — it was the top one-hit wonder of the year. And that’s not all — it also tied for top boy-name debut name of the year.

The influence behind Gevan eluded me for a long time…mainly because I wasn’t looking for it. The name Kevin was very trendy in the 1950s, so I initially wrote off Gevan as variant of fast-rising Kevin.

When I finally decided to take a second look at Gevan, though, I did indeed find a distinct explanation.

It was a story called “My Brother’s Widow,” published serially in Collier’s weekly magazine over five consecutive issues from mid-March to mid-April, 1952.

The story’s main character was Gevan “Gev” Dean. After his brother Ken was murdered, Gev returned to his hometown to mind the lucrative family business, Dean Products, where there was an internal power struggle going on. He also had to deal with Ken’s widow, Niki — who happened to be his former girlfriend:

gevan, 1952

After “My Brother’s Widow” came out in Collier’s, author John D. MacDonald beefed it up and released it as a standalone book with a new title, Area of Suspicion, in early 1954.

Further research reveals that at least two of the baby Gevans born in 1952 had the middle name Dean. And other Gevan Deans were born in later years/decades, no doubt to parents who had picked up the book.

Do you like the name Gevan? How would you pronounce it?

P.S. John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel The Executioners was turned into the 1962 movie Cape Fear.

Sources: Area of Suspicion – The Trap of Solid Gold, John D. MacDonald – Wikipedia, SSA

Where did the baby name Lucan come from in 1977?

Title of the TV series "Lucan" (1977-1978)

The name Lucan first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1977:

  • 1979: 21 baby boys named Lucan
  • 1978: 41 baby boys named Lucan
  • 1977: 16 baby boys named Lucan [debut]
  • 1976: unlisted
  • 1975: unlisted

The names Lucas and Luke were on the rise at the time, but the influence in this case was pop culture: Lucan, a television series that aired irregularly from mid-1977 to late 1978.

The show starred actor Kevin Brophy as Lucan, who’d been raised by wolves for the first 10 years of his life, then “civilized” in a university lab for the next 10 years. As a young man, he struck out on his own to solve the mystery of his identity.

In the show, the name “Lucan” was pronounced with equal stress on both syllables: loo-kan. Not like Duncan or Deacon, but like the name Lou followed by the verb can (“Lou can…”). The show’s creators likely based the name on the Ancient Greek word for “wolf,” which has been transliterated various ways (e.g., lukos, lykos, lukon, lykon).

Do you like the name Lucan? (Do you like it more or less than Lucas and Luke?)

Source: Strong’s Greek: 3074. lukos — a wolf

What popularized the baby name Tevin in the early 1990s?

Tevin Campbell's debut album T.E.V.I.N. (1991)
Tevin Campbell album “T.E.V.I.N.“

In 1990, the uncommon baby name Tevin shot all the way into the boys’ top 500 — a jump that qualified Tevin as the fastest-rising baby name of the year. Tevin went on to reach peak popularity a couple of years later:

  • 1993: 1,201 baby boys named Tevin (rank: 241st)
  • 1992: 1,936 baby boys named Tevin (rank: 162nd) [peak]
  • 1991: 1,099 baby boys named Tevin (rank: 250th)
  • 1990: 607 baby boys named Tevin (rank: 381st)
  • 1989: 13 baby boys named Tevin
  • 1988: 10 baby boys named Tevin

Tevin’s sudden trendiness also bolstered the usage of similar names — including Tevan, Teven, Tevon, Tevyn, Telvin, and Tevaughn — in the early 1990s.

What was the influencing the name?

Texas-born R&B singer Tevin Campbell, who was just 13 years old when his first single came out.

His debut album, T.E.V.I.N. (1991), spawned eight singles — two of which became big hits. Grammy-nominated “Round and Round” peaked at #12 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in April of 1991, and slow jam “Tell Me What You Want Me To Do” peaked at #6 in February of 1992.

Here’s the audio for “Round and Round.” (The background vocals were contributed by Prince, who was also the writer and producer of the song.)

What are your thoughts on the name Tevin? (Do you like it more or less than, say, Kevin?)

Sources: Tevin Campbell – Billboard, Round and Round by Tevin Campbell – Songfacts, Tevin Campbell – Wikipedia, SSA