Marvin

Where Marvin comes from

From Welsh Merfyn (“Mervyn”), probably from mêr (“marrow”) + myn (“eminent”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Marvin
  • Welsh
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #184 among boys — 69 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1927
    Marvin Minsky born
    American cognitive scientist
  3. 1931
    Peak, #44
    4,360 babies named Marvin — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1939
    Marvin Gaye born
    American R&B and soul singer
  5. 1970
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #153.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Welsh.
Namesakes
  • Marvin Gaye · American R&B and soul singer, 1939–1984
  • Marvin Minsky · American cognitive scientist, 1927–2016
  • Marvin Plattenhardt · German association football player, born 1992
  • Marvin Hamlisch · American composer and conductor, 1944–2012
  • Marvin Harris · American anthropologist, 1927–2001

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.