Kevin
See also: Kévin
English
Etymology
Name of a seventh-century Irish saint, from Irish Caoimhghin or Caoimhín, from Old Irish Cóemgen (literally “homely birth”). It first became popular outside Ireland in the mid-twentieth century.
Pronunciation
- enPR: kĕ'vĭn, IPA(key): /ˈkɛvɪn/, enPR: kĕ'vən, IPA(key): /ˈkɛvən/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛvɪn, -ɛvən
Proper noun
Kevin (plural Kevins)
- A male given name from Irish.
- (British, derogatory, slang) A working-class male.
- Synonym: Kev
Quotations
- 1990, Ruth Rendell, Going Wrong, →ISBN, page 157:
- "Guy," he said. He said it slowly and with a certain puzzlement. He said it again, thoughtfully, as if it were a name of someone he had known long ago but couldn't quite place. "Guy. Yes - don't you find it difficult being called that? I mean, if Nora hadn't said, I'd have put you down as a Kevin, or a Barry. Yes, Barry would suit you."
He looked like an innocent child, smiling, wide-eyed, his cheeks plump and rosy, defying the object of his insults to take offence.
- 1996, Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes, Harper Collins Publishers., →ISBN, page 203:
- They sit by the fire smoking and talking about names. Mam says she likes the names Kevin and Sean but Bridey says, Ah no, there's too many of them in Limerick. Jesus, Angela, if you stuck your head out of the door and called, Kevin or Sean, come in for your tea, you'd have half o' Limerick running to your door.
Related terms
- (pet form) Kev, Kevo, Kevinito
Descendants
Translations
male given name
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See also
Anagrams
Breton
Proper noun
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Kevin
- a male given name
References
- Alain Stéphan, Tous les Prénoms bretons, 1996, Éditions Jean-Paul Gisserot, →ISBN, page 63
Cebuano
Etymology
From English Kevin, from Irish Caoimhghin or Caoimhín, from Old Irish Cóemgen (literally “comely birth”).
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: Ke‧vin
- IPA(key): /ˈkebin/, [ˈki.bɪn̪]
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ke.vin/
Usage notes
The name Kevin has come to be an undesirable name after its period of popularity in the 1990s. It has come to represent lower-class low-intellect uncouth boorish behaviour.[1]
Coordinate terms
- Kevine (f)
Synonyms
German
Etymology
Borrowed from English Kevin. First popularised in the late 1970s after footballer Kevin Keegan, who played for Hamburger SV from 1977 to 1980.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkɛ.vɪn/
Audio (file)
Usage notes
- In recent decades, Kevin has become rather stigmatised in German-speaking Europe as a name typical of the uneducated classes. To a lesser degree the same is also true of other English given names (an interesting contrast to the otherwise high prestige of the English language).
Derived terms
Portuguese
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈkɛ.vĩ/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈkɛ.vi.nɨ/
- (Northern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈkɛ.bi.nɨ/ [ˈkɛ.βi.nɨ]
Derived terms
- Kevinho
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkebin/ [ˈke.β̞ĩn]
- Rhymes: -ebin
- Syllabification: Ke‧vin
Swedish
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
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