Alvin is a boy's name of German origin meaning “elf friend.” In 2024 it was given to 316 boys in the United States.
Alvin belongs to the German and French tradition. Its meaning — “elf friend” — is the sense carried by its German roots, and it is the meaning we verified against published sources for this page. It travels in a few spellings: Elvin.
In the United States, Alvin first appears in Social Security records in 1880. It climbed to its best-ever rank of #66 in 1927, and in 2024 316 babies received the name — 161,108 in total since 1880. Those are the official counts, not estimates.
More names from the German shelf:
Alvin means “elf friend” in its German roots. We check every meaning against published sources before it appears here.
Alvin is a boy name. In 2024, 316 babies received the name in the US.
Alvin comes from the German and French tradition. It is also spelled Elvin.
Alvin first appears in US records in 1880. Its best-ever ranking was #66 in 1927, and 316 babies were given the name in 2024.
Alvin is pronounced /ˈælvɪn/ (IPA).
Meaning and origin for this page were checked against this source. US popularity figures are from the Social Security Administration's public baby-names data. If you spot an error, write to [email protected] — accuracy is the whole point of this site, and corrections are made fast.
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