Nevin
A Gaelic name meaning "holy" or "innocent", often associated with purity.
Name Census estimates that about 5,012 living Americans carry the first name Nevin. It is a predominantly male name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Nevin today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nevin births was 2007 (146 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nevin. 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 Nevin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Nevin is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 99 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
5.0K
~ 1 in 68,387 Americans
Peak year
2007
146 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,359
Tracked since 1888
Census
Nevin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,212 people with the first name Nevin, which placed it at #3,798 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
#3,798
National first-name rank
People counted
5.2K
5,212 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nevin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nevin is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.9%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Nevin 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 Nevin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.4% · 3,567
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.9% · 568
- Black or African American7.5% · 391
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 385
- Two or more races4.9% · 255
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 46
Gender
Gender distribution for Nevin
Nevin leans heavily male at 98.5% of total registrations, but 99 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nevin as a male name
- Ranked #3,359 in 2024
- 35 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (140 births)
Nevin as a female name
- Ranked #16,912 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2000 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nevin leans strongly male. 4,698 people counted with this name were male (90.2%), compared with 512 female bearers (9.8%).
Popularity
Nevin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nevin from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,279 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nevin 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 Nevin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nevins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Pennsylvania, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Nevin, while Georgia, Colorado, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 147 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nevin
The given name Nevin has its roots in the Gaelic language, originating from Ireland and Scotland. It is derived from the old Irish word "Naomh" or "Neiuidh," meaning "holy" or "sacred." This name likely emerged during the early medieval period, around the 5th to 7th centuries, when Christianity was spreading throughout the Celtic regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nevin can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. It mentions a person named "Neuin" who was a scribe and scholar in the 9th century. The name also appears in various Irish and Scottish genealogical records from the Middle Ages.
In the 11th century, a renowned Irish monk and historian named Nevin of Kildare lived in the monastery of Kildare. He is known for his contributions to the preservation of Irish historical records and manuscripts. Another notable figure was Nevin of Aghaboe, an Irish abbot and saint who lived in the 6th century and founded the monastery of Aghaboe in County Laois, Ireland.
During the 12th century, a Scottish nobleman named Nevin de Crauford was a prominent figure in the court of King William the Lion. He was granted lands in Ayrshire, Scotland, and his descendants continued to use the name Nevin for generations.
In the 16th century, a Welsh poet and translator named Nevin ap Howel Swrdwal gained recognition for his works, including translations of classical Greek and Latin texts into Welsh. He played a significant role in the development of Welsh literature during the Renaissance period.
Another notable figure was Nevin Perier, a French Huguenot who fled religious persecution in the 17th century and settled in Ireland. He became a successful merchant and landowner, and his descendants continued to bear the name Nevin in Ireland and later in America.
People
Nevin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nevin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nevin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nevin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,012 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nevin 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 68,387 US residents.
Is Nevin a common name?
We classify Nevin as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,441 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nevin most popular?
The single biggest year for Nevin was 2007, when 146 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nevin is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nevin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,212 people with the name Nevin, or 1.73 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,798 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 Nevin 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 Nevin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nevin leans strongly male. 4,698 people counted with this name were male (90.2%), compared with 512 female bearers (9.8%). 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 Nevin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nevin is White at 68.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.9%) and Black (7.5%). 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 Nevin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nevin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.4% (3,567 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 Nevin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nevin a male name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Nevin 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 Nevin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nevin 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 Nevin 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 Americans are named Nevin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.