NameCensus.

UK boy's name

Kelvin

A masculine name of Scottish origin related to the River Kelvin.

For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.

Kelvin is a boy's name in the UK records. People looking for Kelvin popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1460, with 18 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 1997, with 65 births.

This profile covers 1,119 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales, NRS Scotland and NISRA Northern Ireland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.

The latest count is about 28% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 1,427 living people in the UK are called Kelvin. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.

Key insights

  • Kelvin ranked #1460 for boys in England and Wales in 2024, with 18 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 1997, when 65 boys were registered as Kelvin.
  • Kelvin ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #392 in 2020.
  • About 1,427 living people in the UK are estimated to have Kelvin as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#1460

2024

Births in 2024

18

Latest year

Peak year

1997

65 births

Estimated living

1,427

2026

Meaning

What does Kelvin mean?

The name Kelvin is derived from the Celtic word "cuilen" which means "bright-headed" or "fair-haired". This name originated in Scotland and is believed to have first been used in the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.

The name Kelvin is thought to have been inspired by the River Kelvin, a tributary of the River Clyde that flows through the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The river was likely named after a Gaelic word meaning "peaceful" or "calm".

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kelvin was in the 14th century, when a Scottish nobleman named Kelvin of Ardrossan was mentioned in historical records. Kelvin of Ardrossan was a prominent figure in the Scottish Wars of Independence against England.

In the 16th century, there was a Scottish philosopher and mathematician named William Kelvin who lived from 1824 to 1907. He made significant contributions to the field of thermodynamics and was the first to propose the idea of absolute zero temperature. The unit of temperature "Kelvin" was named after him.

Another notable figure with the name Kelvin was Kelvin Sampson, an American basketball coach who was born in 1955. He coached several college teams, including the University of Oklahoma and Indiana University.

In literature, Kelvin Thrush was a character in the novel "The Pale King" by David Foster Wallace, published in 2011. The character was a tax auditor working for the Internal Revenue Service.

Kelvin Doran was an Australian rules football player who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in 1945 and played a total of 151 games for Hawthorn.

Overall, while the name Kelvin has its roots in Scottish and Celtic culture, it has been used throughout the English-speaking world and has been borne by individuals from various backgrounds and professions.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Kelvin over time

The chart below shows babies named Kelvin registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.

For Kelvin, the clearest high point is 1997. The latest England and Wales figure is 18 births in 2024, compared with 65 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Kelvin
016334965199620102024

Decades

Kelvin by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Kelvin was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.

Decade Average rank Total births Years covered
2020s #1561 81 5
2010s #1065 295 10
2000s #526 501 10
1990s #378 242 4

Geography

Where Kelvin is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Kelvin. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.

Kelvin ranks best in Northern Ireland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #392 in 2020.

Northern Ireland
3
Scotland
3

Across the UK

Kelvin in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#728 in 2023

36 years of NRS records, 284 total registered

Northern Ireland (NISRA)

#392 in 2020

9 years of NISRA records, 37 total registered

Notable bearers

Famous people named Kelvin

  • Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan

    association football player

    English and Nigerian footballer

    2002-

  • Kelvin Morgan

    association football player

    Gibraltarian association football player

    1997-

  • Kelvin Mellor

    association football player

    English footballer (born 1991)

    1991-

  • Kelvin Lomax

    association football player

    British footballer (born 1986)

    1986-

  • Kelvin Okafor

    draftsperson; contemporary artist

    artist

    1985-

  • Kelvin Wilson

    association football player

    English footballer (born 1985)

    1985-

  • Kelvin Langmead

    association football player

    British footballer (born 1985)

    1985-

  • Kelvin Fletcher

    actor; racing automobile driver; television actor

    British actor

    1984-

Related

Names similar to Kelvin

FAQ

Kelvin: questions and answers

How popular is the name Kelvin in the UK right now?

In 2024, Kelvin was ranked #1460 for boys in England and Wales, with 18 births registered.

When was Kelvin most popular?

The peak year on record was 1997, with 65 babies registered as Kelvin in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Kelvin?

A masculine name of Scottish origin related to the River Kelvin.

How many people are called Kelvin in the UK?

A total of 1,119 babies have been registered as Kelvin across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 284 more in Scotland and 37 in Northern Ireland.

Where is Kelvin most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Kelvin ranks best in Northern Ireland, where it placed #392 in 2020. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.

Which records is this page based on?

The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.