Melvin

See also: melvin

English

Etymology

Variant of the Scottish surname Melville, from a place name Malleville in Normandy, from Latin mala (“bad”) + Old French ville (“settlement”).

• Used to Anglicize Mac Gille Beathain in Scotland and Ó Maoil Mhín in Ireland.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛlvɪn/

Proper noun

Melvin

1. A surname from Old French
   • 1824 Thomas M'Crie, The Life of Andrew Melville, W. Blackwood (1824), page 416:

     Melville always wrote his name Melvinus in Latin, and he is often called Melvin in English. Hence some have concluded that Melvin, and not Melville, was his proper name. But they are merely different modes of pronouncing the same family appellation.

2. A male given name transferred from the surname.
   • 1976 Melvin Belli, My Life on Trial: An Autobiography, Morrow, →ISBN, page 21:

     And for some reason, they called me Pete. My mother, who probably dug up the name Melvin from some romantic novel about Englishmen drinking tea, cringed at the "Pete".

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Cebuano

Etymology

From English Melvin.

Proper noun

Melvin

1. a male given name from Old French

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Swedish

Etymology

Recently borrowed from English Melvin.

Proper noun

Melvin c (genitive Melvins)

1. a male given name.

Usage notes

• Popular in Sweden in the 2000s.