# Alvin (given name)

Alvin is a male given name.
In the Balkans, it is popular among Bosniaks in the former Yugoslav nations, as well as among Albanians. The name is a variation of Elvin, another name commonly used within these groups. Its popularity among these communities is likely due to its similarity to Aldin, a name also shared by many in the region.
Additionally, the name is used in other cultures, including English, French, German, Dutch, Polish, Hungarian, and Slovene.

## Etymology

Alvin was introduced in the 19th century based on surnames that were in turn derived from the Old English names Æthelwine and Ealdwine. The names mean "noble friend" and "old friend" respectively.
The corresponding German name is Alwin, which continues the Old High German names Albwin and Adalwin.

### Given names

* Alvin Adams (1804–1877, early 19th-century American businessman
* Alvin Ailey, African-American choreographer and activist
* Alvin Burke, Jr. (born 1973), birth name of Hassan Hamin Assad, better known as Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP)
* Alvin Langdon Coburn (1882–1966 , photographer
* Alvin Dark (1922–2014), Major League Baseball player and manager
* Alvin Davis (born 1960), Major League Baseball player
* Alvin Elchico (born 1974), Filipino broadcast journalist
* Alvin Fielder (1935–2019), American jazz drummer
* Alvin Gipson (1914–1987), American baseball player
* Alvin Goldman (born 1938), American philosopher
* Alvin Edwin Graham, Canadian politician
* Alvin Hall (born 1952), American financial advisor, author, and TV presenter
* Alvin Harrison (born 1974), American Olympic gold medal runner
* Alvin O. Hofstad (1905–1962), American farmer and politician
* Alvin P. Hovey (1821–1891), American Civil War general, Indiana supreme court justice, congressman, and governor of Indiana
* Alvin Hung, creator of GoAnimate
* Alvin Karpis (1907–1979), noted American criminal and "public enemy"
* Alvin Kraenzlein (1876–1928), American athlete, four-time gold medalist at the 1900 Paris Olympics
* Alvin Boyd Kuhn (1880–1963), American religious scholar
* Alvin Lee, born Graham Barnes (1944–2013), English guitarist and singer
* Alvin Lucier (1931–2021), American composer
* Alvin Martin (born 1958), English footballer
* Alvin Mitchell (disambiguation), multiple people
* Alvin Moore (disambiguation), multiple people
* Alvin K. C. Ng (born 1989), apprentice jockey
* Alvin Plantinga (born 1932), American philosopher
* Alvin Francis Poussaint (1934–2025), American psychiatrist
* Alvin Robertson (born 1962), NBA basketball player
* Alvin Saunders (1817–1899), governor of Nebraska Territory and later U.S. Senator from Nebraska
* Alvin Singleton (born 1940), American composer
* Alvin Stardust, born Bernard Jewry (1942–2014), English pop singer
* Alvin Toffler (1928–2016), American writer and futurist
* Alvin Williams (born 1974), American basketball player
* Alvin Williams (born 1965), American football player
* Alvin C. York (1887–1964), famous World War I soldier, Medal of Honor awardee

### In popular culture

* Alvin, one of many pseudonyms of Ken Laszlo, Eurobeat vocalist
* Alvin Seville, of fictional animated characters Alvin and the Chipmunks
* Alvin Tarleton, father of M.O.D.O.K. in the miniseries M.O.D.O.K.: Head Games
* Father Alvin, a character in the 2018 role-playing video game Deltarune
* Alvin Miller, the main protagonist of the alternate history fantasy novel series The Tales of Alvin Maker