How rare is the name Calvin?

124,765 people in the United States have the first name Calvin, about 1 in 2,421. It ranks #456 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

CALVIN

#456

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
124,765
About
1 in 2,421
This common or more
56.7%
Who bears it

Of the 124,765 people named Calvin, 50.2% reported their origin as White, 33.4% as Black and 6.8% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Calvin peaked in 1924, when 4,940 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1924
Births that year
4,940
In 2025*
2,717 ▼45%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 222,287 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Calvin by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1920s, when it ranked #191. The largest share of babies named Calvin, 23.9%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#2811,236
1890s#4081,102
1900s#4511,291
1910s#3935,744
1920s#19124,948
1930s#27314,284
1940s#27119,339
1950s#24730,741
1960s#32222,103
1970s#36813,978
1980s#34715,939
1990s#37116,899
2000s#43016,128
2010s#32523,105
2020s#25815,450
Before 19011.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–2712.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4512.6%
Baby boom 1946–6423.9%
Generation X 1965–8011%
Millennials 1981–9611.9%
Generation Z 1997–1211.9%
2013 and later14.9%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Calvin is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Calvin has been most common in Mississippi (2.1×), Louisiana (2×), and Arkansas (2×), and least common in Rhode Island (0.33×).

215,586 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Calvin

#454 Leonard · 124,979#455 Julio · 124,934#457 Kristina · 124,534#458 Mitchell · 124,130

Spelled almost the same

4 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Calvin, most common first.

#38,781 Calvina · 197#42,480 Calven · 169#51,177 Calvon · 115#52,605 Calvan · 106

Also a last name

As a last name, Calvin ranks #3,835 of 156,621, with 9,020 people. See Calvin as a last name

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