Kevin

History

Saint Kevin (died 618) founded Glendalough abbey in the Kingdom of Leinster in 6th-century Ireland. Canonized in 1903, he is one of the patron saints of the Archdiocese of Dublin.

Caomhán of Inisheer, the patron saint of Inisheer, Aran Islands, is properly anglicized Cavan or Kevan, but often also referred to as "Kevin".

The name was rarely given before the 20th century. In Ireland an early bearer of the anglicised name was Kevin Izod O'Doherty (1823–1905) a Young Irelander and politician; it gained popularity from the Gaelic revival of the late nineteenth century, with Kevin Barry and Kevin O'Higgins prominent in the Irish revolutionary period. Later it was "widely adopted throughout the English-speaking world", surging in popularity during the 1950s. In the United States the name's popularity peaked at rank 11 in 1963. It has steadily decreased in popularity since then, but was still given with moderate frequency in the 2010s, at rank 89 as of 2016. Kevin fell out of the US Top 100 the following year and now ranks at Number 156.

The name followed a similar trajectory in the United Kingdom, gaining popularity in the 1950s, peaking in the 1960s, gradually declining in the 1970s to 1980s, and falling out of the top 100 most popularly given names by the 1990s.

Oxford's A Dictionary of First Names suggests that anglicized Kevin may have influenced the adoption of Kelvin (in origin a river name) as a modern given name, which peaked in popularity at about the same time, albeit to a much lesser extent (peaking at rank 209 as of 1961 in the US).

In continental Europe, the name picked up popularity in the 1980s and 1990s via such American pop culture figures as actor Kevin Costner, singer Kevin Richardson, and, most prominently, Kevin McCallister, Macaulay Culkin's character in the Christmas comedy film Home Alone. The name "Kevin" was notorious for being extremely popular among lower-class parents in Europe between the end of the 1980s and the 2000s. The name peaked markedly in the early 1990s, reaching first rank in France (sometimes spelt Kévin) during 1989–1994, during 1991–1992 in Switzerland and in 1991 in Germany. In German markets, Home Alone was released as Kevin – Allein zu Haus. Especially in Germany, the name became associated with low social status, an attitude popularised in German journalism based on a 2009 master thesis on primary teachers' reactions to children's given names. Kevinismus has become German short-hand for negative social preconceptions about trendy or exotic names. The name has had similar negative connotations in France.

Fictional

Kevin, one of the four penguins from the VeggieTales spinoff 3-2-1 Penguins!

Kevin, a character from the cartoon Ed, Edd n Eddy

Kevin, the leading minion in Minions

Kevin, a character in the Canadian drama television series Neon Rider

Kevin, a character in Frank Miller's Sin City yarns

Kevin, the leader of the Jelly Spotters from SpongeBob SquarePants

Kevin, a character in Konami's role-playing game Suikoden IV

Kevin, a mobile crane from Thomas and Friends

Kevin, a flightless bird from Disney-Pixar's movie Up

Kevin, a character from the horror comic series Witch Creek Road

Kevin the Gerbil, a British puppet seen in many productions alongside Roland Rat

Kevin the Teenager, a character created and played by the comedian Harry Enfield

Cousin Kevin, a character in the musical film Tommy

Kevin Arnold, the main character played by Fred Savage in the American coming-of-age, comedy-drama television series The Wonder Years

Kevin Beckman, a character in the 2016 American supernatural comedy film Ghostbusters