Gavin
Gavin was given to 1,125 boys in 2025, #303 among boys’ names; 189,665 Americans have been recorded with it since 1913 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 186,000 Americans named Gavin and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (98% of everyone recorded); the median is 18 years old and half are between 14 and 23.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Gavin by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Gavin mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Gavin is “a male given name from the Celtic languages.”
Medieval variant of Gawain, the name of an Arthurian knight, first recorded as Old French Gauvain. The form Gavin survived in Scotland and spread to other English-speaking countries in the 1960s. Doublet of Gawain.
/ˈɡævɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Gavin?
#303 among boys’ names, 2025
Gavin fell from #70 in 2015 to #303 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 3.0 to 0.66 per 1,000.
11,889 babies in 2007, the peak
Gavin peaked in 2007, when 11,889 babies were given it (11,863 boys, #32 among boys’ names). The 1,125 births of 2025 are 9% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,125 | #303 | 0.66 |
| 2024 | 1,384 | #255 | 0.80 |
| 2023 | 1,515 | #232 | 0.89 |
| 2022 | 1,798 | #206 | 1.0 |
| 2021 | 2,216 | #174 | 1.3 |
| 2020 | 2,589 | #142 | 1.5 |
| 2019 | 3,013 | #128 | 1.7 |
| 2018 | 3,475 | #111 | 1.9 |
| 2017 | 4,159 | #96 | 2.2 |
| 2016 | 4,944 | #80 | 2.6 |
Every recorded year (111)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 5,794 | #70 | 3.0 |
| 2014 | 6,622 | #61 | 3.4 |
| 2013 | 7,422 | #50 | 3.9 |
| 2012 | 8,260 | #40 | 4.4 |
| 2011 | 9,016 | #37 | 4.7 |
| 2010 | 9,626 | #38 | 5.0 |
| 2009 | 10,742 | #33 | 5.4 |
| 2008 | 11,752 | #30 | 5.8 |
| 2007 | 11,863 | #32 | 5.7 |
| 2006 | 10,479 | #38 | 5.1 |
| 2005 | 9,340 | #47 | 4.7 |
| 2004 | 8,610 | #52 | 4.3 |
| 2003 | 8,764 | #51 | 4.4 |
| 2002 | 6,951 | #61 | 3.6 |
| 2001 | 5,260 | #78 | 2.7 |
| 2000 | 4,686 | #85 | 2.4 |
| 1999 | 3,659 | #101 | 1.9 |
| 1998 | 3,195 | #116 | 1.7 |
| 1997 | 2,758 | #136 | 1.5 |
| 1996 | 1,633 | #192 | 0.86 |
| 1995 | 1,193 | #242 | 0.63 |
| 1994 | 1,121 | #257 | 0.58 |
| 1993 | 945 | #294 | 0.48 |
| 1992 | 1,067 | #266 | 0.53 |
| 1991 | 849 | #302 | 0.42 |
| 1990 | 860 | #294 | 0.42 |
| 1989 | 629 | #360 | 0.31 |
| 1988 | 544 | #370 | 0.28 |
| 1987 | 630 | #327 | 0.34 |
| 1986 | 535 | #355 | 0.29 |
| 1985 | 522 | #352 | 0.28 |
| 1984 | 513 | #355 | 0.28 |
| 1983 | 690 | #291 | 0.38 |
| 1982 | 477 | #368 | 0.26 |
| 1981 | 492 | #359 | 0.27 |
| 1980 | 350 | #444 | 0.20 |
| 1979 | 317 | #460 | 0.18 |
| 1978 | 366 | #403 | 0.22 |
| 1977 | 303 | #461 | 0.18 |
| 1976 | 317 | #439 | 0.20 |
| 1975 | 261 | #495 | 0.17 |
| 1974 | 270 | #485 | 0.17 |
| 1973 | 232 | #514 | 0.15 |
| 1972 | 174 | #604 | 0.11 |
| 1971 | 218 | #546 | 0.12 |
| 1970 | 207 | #564 | 0.11 |
| 1969 | 223 | #524 | 0.12 |
| 1968 | 189 | #550 | 0.11 |
| 1967 | 173 | #574 | 0.10 |
| 1966 | 147 | #615 | 0.08 |
| 1965 | 161 | #600 | 0.09 |
| 1964 | 152 | #631 | 0.08 |
| 1963 | 159 | #617 | 0.08 |
| 1962 | 154 | #626 | 0.07 |
| 1961 | 113 | #722 | 0.05 |
| 1960 | 100 | #765 | 0.05 |
| 1959 | 57 | #1,021 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 71 | #898 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 37 | #1,286 | 0.02 |
| 1956 | 65 | #927 | 0.03 |
| 1955 | 61 | #959 | 0.03 |
| 1954 | 76 | #829 | 0.04 |
| 1953 | 42 | #1,141 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 38 | #1,200 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 30 | #1,355 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 27 | #1,407 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 25 | #1,473 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 24 | #1,503 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 28 | #1,404 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 22 | #1,529 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 12 | #2,041 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 13 | #2,026 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 6 | #3,350 | under 0.01 |
| 1942 | 17 | #1,762 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 17 | #1,714 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 13 | #2,021 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 10 | #2,338 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 10 | #2,382 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 15 | #1,861 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 9 | #2,512 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 14 | #1,969 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 5 | #3,877 | under 0.01 |
| 1933 | 13 | #2,031 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 15 | #1,948 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 13 | #2,141 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 9 | #2,855 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 7 | #3,356 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 13 | #2,314 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 13 | #2,337 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 15 | #2,118 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 14 | #2,235 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 11 | #2,717 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 12 | #2,500 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 12 | #2,543 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,183 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 12 | #2,509 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 16 | #2,004 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 9 | #2,818 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 9 | #2,705 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 10 | #2,160 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 5 | #2,995 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Gavin a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Gavin has been given almost only to boys: 395 girls in 111 years of records.
Girls and boys named Gavin: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Gavin, and how old are they?
186,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 98% of the 189,665 Americans ever recorded as Gavin. The median Gavin alive today is 18 years old; half are between 14 and 23.
The 2020 Census counted 168,745 people named Gavin (416 women and girls, 168,329 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 176,835 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 42 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 918 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,490 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 12,100 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 123,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 45,800 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Gavin born?
The states with the most babies named Gavin are Pennsylvania, California and Texas, with 19% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 71 | #182 | 1.3× |
| California | 70 | #456 | 0.7× |
| Texas | 70 | #478 | 0.7× |
| New York | 64 | #293 | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 61 | #213 | 1.3× |
| Florida | 49 | #397 | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 46 | #249 | 0.9× |
| New Jersey | 46 | #206 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 42 | #297 | 0.9× |
| Massachusetts | 38 | #180 | 0.9× |
Where Gavin is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Gavin is most over-represented in Minnesota: since 1913 it was given 1.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Gavin with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 7 names spelled alike, given to 200,611 babies since 1880, Gavin is the most given (95% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,125 of their 1,161 babies (97%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Gavin
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Gavin and names like it
- Compare Gavin and GavynBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sGavin peaked in 2007.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Gavin since 1910.
- The top names of 2007The year the most babies were named Gavin.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Gavin alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with GMost given first.