Gavin

//ˈɡævɪn// name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A male given name from the Celtic languages.

    "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."

  2. 2
    A surname originating as a patronymic.

Example

More examples

"California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a first-of-its-kind law that will allow student athletes to hire agents and negotiate payments for the use of their name, image and likeness."

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.

More for "gavin"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.