Calvin began as a French surname, Chauvin or Cauvin, which goes back to the Latin calvus and means "bald" or "little bald one". It became a given name in honor of the reformer John Calvin, and in America it belongs to President Calvin Coolidge and to the comic-strip boy of Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin ranked 214th in the United States in 2000, hovered in the 140s for most of the last decade and reached number 132 in 2025, its best position since 2000.