Gavin
/ˈɡævɪn/
"gavin" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Gavin” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,551 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #10,551
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A male given name from the Celtic languages.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Gavin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡævɪn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #10,551 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Gavin” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Gavin is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡævɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,551 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for Gavin, with forms such as "agvin", "gaivn", and "gavinn". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "gin", "goin", "grin", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Medieval variant of Gawain, the name of an Arthurian knight, first recorded as Old French Gauvain. The form Gavin survived in Scotland and spread to other English-speaking countries in the 1960s. Doublet of Gawain. The correct English form is Gavin, spelled G-A-V-I-N.
Definition
- 1A male given name from the Celtic languages.
- 2A surname originating as a patronymic.
Etymology
Medieval variant of Gawain, the name of an Arthurian knight, first recorded as Old French Gauvain. The form Gavin survived in Scotland and spread to other English-speaking countries in the 1960s. Doublet of Gawain.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: agvin,gaivn,gavinn,gavni,gavvin,ggavin,gvain
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Gavin - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “Gavin”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-A-V-I-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡævɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “gin” - see the side-by-side comparison. Gavin vs gin
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.