Kalvin
A masculine name of French origin meaning "little bald one".
Name Census estimates that about 6,325 living Americans carry the first name Kalvin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kalvin today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kalvin births was 2017 (177 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kalvin. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Kalvin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.3K
~ 1 in 54,190 Americans
Peak year
2017
177 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,781
Tracked since 1933
Census
Kalvin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,136 people with the first name Kalvin, which placed it at #3,837 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,837
National first-name rank
People counted
5.1K
5,136 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
38.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kalvin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalvin is White at 38.2%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (13.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Kalvin described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Kalvin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White38.2% · 1,963
- Black or African American29.2% · 1,498
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 682
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.8% · 607
- Two or more races6.0% · 309
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 77
Popularity
Kalvin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kalvin from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,468 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kalvin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kalvin by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kalvin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kalvins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Kalvin, while Oklahoma, Kansas, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 94 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kalvin
The name Kalvin is derived from the Latin name Calvinus, which means "bald" or "little bald one". This name has its origins in ancient Rome and was used as a surname or cognomen in Roman times.
The earliest recorded use of the name Kalvin can be traced back to the 5th century AD, when it was mentioned in various Latin texts and historical records. It is believed that the name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions of Europe where Latin was widely spoken.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Kalvin was John Calvin, the French theologian and prominent figure of the Protestant Reformation. Born in 1509 in Noyon, France, John Calvin played a crucial role in the development of the Calvinist branch of Protestantism, which emphasizes the absolute sovereignty of God and predestination.
Another notable figure with the name Kalvin was Calvisius Sethus, a Roman poet and philosopher who lived in the 4th century AD. His works, although largely lost, were highly regarded in his time and influenced other Roman writers.
In the 12th century, Kalvin de Montfort was a French nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heresy in southern France. His actions, while controversial, had a lasting impact on the region's religious and political landscape.
During the Renaissance period, Kalvin Gemma was an Italian mathematician and astronomer who made important contributions to the fields of celestial mechanics and cartography. Born in 1536 in Milan, he is best known for his work on the theory of comets and his accurate maps of the Mediterranean region.
Another individual with the name Kalvin was Kalvin Coolidge, an American politician who served as the 30th President of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in 1872 in Vermont, he is remembered for his conservative fiscal policies and his leadership during the economic boom of the 1920s.
People
Kalvin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kalvin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kalvin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kalvin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,325 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kalvin going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 54,190 US residents.
Is Kalvin a common name?
We classify Kalvin as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,616 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kalvin most popular?
The single biggest year for Kalvin was 2017, when 177 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kalvin is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kalvin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,136 people with the name Kalvin, or 1.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,837 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Kalvin in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Kalvin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kalvin appears almost entirely male. Of the 5,130 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Kalvin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kalvin is White at 38.2%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Hispanic (13.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Kalvin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kalvin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.2% (1,963 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Kalvin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kalvin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kalvin in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Kalvin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kalvin in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Kalvin can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Kalvin?
Find out how many Americans are named Kalvin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.