Kelvin

Scottish
"narrow or wooded river"

Kelvin Origin and Meaning

The name Kelvin is a boy's name of Scottish origin meaning "narrow or wooded river".

A tributary of the River Clyde in Scotland, called in Scottish Gaelic Abhainn Cheilbhinn: caol ("narrow") or coille ("wooded") + abhainn ("river"). As a surname, it derives from the name of the river.

As a given name, it first entered usage in the 1920s in the UK, inspired by renowned British physicist, mathematician and engineer William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, who worked at the University of Glasgow for over fifty years. When he was ennobled by Queen Victoria in 1892, he chose the honorary title Kelvin, after the river which flows past his laboratory. The unit of absolute temperature kelvin (K) is also named in his honor.

In the US, Kelvin caught on as a first name in the 1950s – no doubt influenced by Kevin, which was really taking off in popularity around the same time, as well as Calvin and Melvin, which were falling out of use. It peaked in the early 1960s and has been dropping steadily since, but remains in the Top 1000 today.

# 964 in the US

Kelvin Rank in US Top 1000

# 561 on Nameberry

Kelvin Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Kelvin Popularity

Famous People Named Kelvin

  • Kelvin Benjamin
    American football player
  • Kelvin MacKenzie
    English newspaper editor
  • Kelvin Sampson
    American college basketball coach
  • Kelvin Mercer aka Posdnuos
    member of rap trio De La Soul
  • Kelvin Burt
    English racing driver
  • Kelvin Tan
    Singaporean pop singer
  • Kelvin Fletcher
    English actor

Kelvin in Pop Culture

  • River Kelvin in Glasgow
    Scotland, eponym of William Thomson, 1st Lord Kelvin, Scottish physicist and engineer, inventor of the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature