Irvine

Where Irvine comes from

Probably from Celtic words cognate with Welsh ir, yr (“green, fresh”) + afon (“water”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Irvine
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1882
    Irvine Robertson born
    Canadian rower
  2. 1883
    First appearance
    #799 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1905
    Peak, #786
    10 babies named Irvine — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1907
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births.
  5. 1958
    Irvine Welsh born
    Scottish writer
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Irvine Welsh · Scottish writer, born 1958
  • Irvine Robertson · Canadian rower, 1882–1956
  • Irvine Lenroot · American politician, 1869–1949
  • Irvine Arditti · British violinist and composer, born 1953
  • Irvine Laidlaw, Baron Laidlaw · British peer, born 1942

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.