Marvin
Meaning of Marvin
Marvin drifts across the centuries like a quiet ship born in the Welsh mists yet warmed by Mediterranean sun, fashioned from the ancient Merfyn—“sea hill,” some say “eminent by the waves”—and echoing the Latin mare that fills every coastal breeze. First heard along craggy Celtic cliffs, the name journeyed through Norman halls, boarded immigrant vessels, and unfurled its full sail in mid-twentieth-century America, where it shimmered brightest before settling into the steady, unhurried current seen in today’s charts. He is remembered in the velvet soul of Marvin Gaye, in the stargazing curiosity of Marvin the Martian, and in countless quiet dreamers whose hearts beat like tides against stone. Spoken in English as MAHR-vin, the two syllables lap as a gentle wave against a harbor wall—strong, brief, faithful. To choose Marvin for a child is to tuck into his pocket a compass that points to both land and water, gifting him a heritage of perseverance, music, and moonlit sea spray, and inviting him into a lineage that, like the eternal ocean, never forgets how to sing.
Pronunciation
British English
- Pronunced as MAHR-vin (/ˈmɑr.vɪn/)
American English
- Pronunced as MAR-vin (/ˈmɑr.vɪn/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Marvin
| Marvin Gaye, the "Prince of Soul," was a Motown pioneer celebrated as one of the greatest singers ever. |
| Marvin Kitman was an American television critic and author who wrote for Newsday for 35 years, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and authored nine books, including humorous historical works on George Washington. |
| Marvin Hamlisch was an American composer and conductor who achieved the EGOT and, with Richard Rodgers, the unique PEGOT by winning a Pulitzer. |
| Marvin Lewis Jones Jr. is a former NFL wide receiver who played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, and Jacksonville Jaguars after his college career at California. |
| Marvin Bagley III is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards, a former Duke Blue Devil and 2018 Consensus All-American. |
| Marvin McCoy is a semi-professional defender for Cray Wanderers who represents Antigua and Barbuda internationally. |
| Marvin Louis Sapp is an American Gospel musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. |
| Marvin Lawrence Winans Sr. is an American pastor and gospel singer from the Winans family and The Winans group, known for his role in Tyler Perry's House of Payne. |
| Marvin Dunnette - Marvin D. Dunnette was an American psychology professor and a key figure in industrial and organizational psychology. |
| Marvin Pierce Bush is an American businessman and a member of the prominent Bush political family, being the son of former President George H. W. Bush and brother to former President George W. Bush. |
| Marvin Pierce - Marvin "Monk" Pierce was the president of McCall Corporation and the father of First Lady Barbara Bush, grandfather of President George W. Bush and Governor Jeb Bush, and father-in-law of President George H. W. Bush. |
| Marvin Isley was the youngest member and bass guitarist of the American family music group the Isley Brothers. |
| Marvin Camel was the first cruiserweight world champion and the first Native American to win a major world boxing title. |
| Marvin Willis Lucas Jr., an African-American retired school principal from Spring Lake, served as a Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives from 2001 to 2025. |
