Kelvin
From the River Kelvin in Scotland, which supplied the title the physicist William Thomson took as Lord Kelvin when he was made a peer.
Kelvin in 2025
Kelvin was given to 214 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 2,117th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 15,492 babies born.
The history of Kelvin
Kelvin reached its highest point in 1961, when 1,380 babies were given the name, ranking 441st that year.
Across the 114 years of records since 1912, 51,855 babies have been named Kelvin. Half of them were born before 1980, which places the name's centre of gravity with Generation X.
Kelvin by decade
| Decade | Babies named Kelvin | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 11 | 4,744 |
| 1920s | 61 | 4,711 |
| 1930s | 182 | 2,143 |
| 1940s | 228 | 2,429 |
| 1950s | 5,203 | 524 |
| 1960s | 11,952 | 441 |
| 1970s | 8,008 | 521 |
| 1980s | 7,241 | 600 |
| 1990s | 7,433 | 602 |
| 2000s | 6,264 | 815 |
| 2010s | 3,875 | 1,116 |
| 2020s | 1,397 | 1,896 |
Where Kelvin is heading
Kelvin has fallen 46% over the past decade, from 399 babies in 2015 to 214 in 2025.
Names like Kelvin
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Kelvin.