Name of the Week

^.


A friendly retro surname-firstname,
recently revived in Scotland.

 

Origin:

Calvin was originally a surname, adopted as a first name in honour of Protestant leader John Calvin (1509-1564). His birth name was Jehan Cauvin, a variant of the French surname Chauvin which derives from chauve "bald," most likely originally a name given to a priest. The Latin form was Calvinus (from the Latin calvus "bald") and was thus rendered as Calvin in English. Calvinus itself was used as a name during the Roman Republic and Empire. Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, for example, was a Roman general and senator contemporary with Julius Caesar and, before that, there was a 4th century BC Republican statesman named Titus Veturius Calvinus. As Calvinus was their cognomen, it would have been a personal name adopted during their lifetime — what we would now call a nickname — presumably because they had little hair, or perhaps ironically because they had a lot of it.

Usage:

As a given name, Calvin dates from the 17th century when it was used in honour of John Calvin (1509-1564), the founder of Calvinism and author of the Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), one of the most influential theological works of all time. Some boys were named "John Calvin" (like President Coolidge) in his honour, others simply "Calvin". In the 19th century it was also commonly combined with Luther in honour of Protestant reformer Martin Luther.  In some cases, Calvin was used as an adoption of a rare family surname. It could be that, in some cases, Calvin derived from the French Chauvin; in others it seems to be a spelling variant of Colvin and Kelvin.  The name Chauvin also appeared in the popular 1831 vaudeville La Cocarde Tricolore in the character Nicholas Chauvin, a soldier of Napoleon's Grand Armee. From him we get the word chauvinism, which originally meant someone who was extremely patriotic. It is quite likely that the character was based on a real person, as the surname Chauvin was common in Napoleon's army. According to data from the 1881 UK census (right), Calvin was registered 112 times, making it the 2553th most common name. Interestingly, Calvin was more common as a given name than a surname. The surname Calvin was only listed 107 times and was centered in Lancashire and Cumberland.  In the 20th century another notable namesake appeared on the scene who also boosted the name: American President Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), in office 1923-1929.  The impact was marked in America particularly where Calvin saw a decisive spike in the 1920s. From ranking #163 in 1919, Calvin was #44 in America by 1924. It was, however, back down to #111 in 1930 and has never been in the US Top 100 since.  In Britain, Calvin's usage was rather different. During the 20th century, Calvin averaged around three births per year in England and Wales and about 5 per decade in Scotland. It grew moderately more popular across Britain in the 1920s, but didn't really pick up until the 1940s, peaking in the 1960s.  Here is a breakdown of the birth registrations for Calvin per decade in England and Wales: 1840s: 15 births 1850s: 38 births 1860s: 31 births 1870s: 42 births 1880s: 42 births 1890s: 16 births 1900s: 31 births 1910s: 18 births  1920s: 45 births 1930s: 76 births 1940s: 196 births 1950s: 371 births 1960s: 670 births Needless to say, Calvin was never popular enough to make it into the top 100 in England, Wales or Scotland during the 20th century but was used quite consistently.  Since 1996, Calvin has been in moderate use in England and Wales. It was at a peak in 1998 at #204 (159 births) but gradually begin to decline afterwards until it picked up more usage again in 2006 (coinciding with the introduction of the Hollyoaks character Calvin Valentine).  In 2013, Calvin ranked #447 with 89 births. Kalvin ranked #2055 with 10 births.  Given population size, relatively Calvin has been more popular in Scotland in recent years, even ranking in the Scottish top 100. It ranked #167 (27 births) in 2005, #120 (49 births) in 2007, #97 (63 births) in 2009, #92 (66 births) in 2010, #107 (55 births) in 2011, #94 (73 births) in 2012 and #92 (70 births) in 2013.

Famous Bearers:

History: * John Calvin (1509-1564), Protestant reformer and founder of Calvinism. He is recognised as a saint in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church. * Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), 30th President of the United States of America. * Edward Calvin Kendall (1886-1972), Nobel Prize winning American chemist. * Calvin Abrams (1924-1997), Major League Baseball outfielder. Contemporary: * Calvin Klein (b.1942), fashion designer. * Calvin Murphy (b.1948), former NBA basketball player. * Calvin Broadus Jr. aka "Snoop Dogg" (b.1971), American rapper and song-writer. * Calvin Harris (born Adam Wiles) (b.1984), Scottish singer-songwriter.  * Calvin Andrew (b. 1986), English footballer; a striker for Rochdale. Literature and Other Media: * Calvin, a main character of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. * Calvin Valentine, a character on the soap opera Hollyoaks (2006-2011). * Calvin Candie, a main character in the movie Django Unchained (2012).

Variants:

Kalvin

Pronunciation:

KAL-vin [key]

Possible diminutives:

Cal, Cav, Vinnie

Sibling Names:

Camille     Roxanne     Betsy     Marina     Corinne     Maggie  Ronnie     Quentin     Fraser     Winston     Dexter     Ross

Name Lists:

Resurrected Retro

 

If you like Calvin you may also like:   Alvin, Clayton, Elvis, Cavan, Vincent, Curtis, Reggie, Marvin, Campbell, Lincoln

 

Thanks to Elizabeth for requesting this post.