Colvin
An English surname that may preserve a medieval personal name, and in some lines may be connected with the place-name Colwell/Colville tradition.
The #1,592 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,723 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical dictionaries do not give a single secure origin for Colvin. One line of explanation treats it as a surname from a medieval personal name, Colvin or Colvinus, which is recorded in Devon in the Domesday period. Another possibility is that it is related to surnames like Colville or Colwell, though the evidence in the older sources is not decisive.
History
Lower specifically notes a Devonshire landholder called Colvinus, which suggests an early English place-name or personal-name history in the southwest. The surname later appears in English records in various spellings, and modern bearers are especially found in Britain, Ireland, and the United States. Because the older authorities are brief and partly speculative, the exact line of descent remains uncertain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The name is old enough to appear in the Domesday-era historical tradition attached to Devonshire landholding families.
From the historical record
“H.R. COLVIN. Colvin or Colvinus was a Devonshire tenant in chief, and held his lands in the reign of Edw. the Confessor, aud at the making of Domesd. See Coffin. COLWELL. A corruption of Colville. H.R. COLYER. See Collier. COISIBE. COi\IBES. From A-Sax. co7nb, Celt, ovm, a hollow in a hill, a valley.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Colvin
- Marie Colvin (1956–2012)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.