Gavin

English

Etymology

Medieval variant of Gawain, the name of an Arthurian knight, first recorded as Old French Gauvain. The form Gavin survived in Scotland and spread to other English-speaking countries in the 1960s. Doublet of Gawain.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡævɪn/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ævɪn

Proper noun

Gavin (plural Gavins)

1. A male given name from the Celtic languages.
   • 2009 April 25, “Meet Number 16 Bus Shelter”, in Austin Daily Herald‎^[1], archived from the original on 20 July 2025:

     New Zealand registration officials apparently blocked other questionable names in the past, including Fish and Chips and Sex Fruit, but allowed others, such as Number 16 Bus Shelter and Violence. […] I’m fine with the Gavins and the Masons and the Chloes, but the Poppy Honeys and the Banjos and the Sex Fruits simply have to go.

   • 2024 September 23, Soumya Karlamangla, “California Bans All Plastic Bags After Its First Effort Backfired”, in The New York Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 7 October 2024:

     Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation on Sunday banning the sale at grocery checkouts of all plastic bags, regardless of thickness. The only option for customers who lack their own reusable shopping bags will be buying paper bags for 10 cents each.

2. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Translations

male given name

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 加文 (Jiāwén)

• French: Gauvain (fr)
• Galician: Galván (gl), Gauvain
• Italian: Galvano (it)

See also

• Gawaine, Gawain
• Gavino

Further reading

• http://www.medievalscotland.org/problem/names/gavin.shtml

Anagrams

• Givan, Vigan, vagin-, vigna