US Popularity Rank: 2007

Origin: Scottish

Meaning: Narrow water; Unit of absolute temperature scale

Kelvin is a river name that gained popularity as a masculine given name thanks to William Thomson, 1st Baron of Kelvin. William Thomson, a.k.a Lord Kelvin, was a Scottish mathematician, mathematical physicist, and engineer who received a baronage named after the River Kelvin. This river flows through Glasgow in Scotland, with theories suggesting "narrow water" to be its meaning from the Gaelic caol abhainn. The unit of temperature kelvin is named for him, after he correctly determined the exact value of the lower limit of the thermodynamic temperature scale.