Mervyn
Gender | Masculine |
---|---|
Origin | |
Word/name | Welsh |
Other names | |
Related names | Mervin, Merfyn, Merwin, Marvin |
Mervyn is a masculine given name and occasionally a surname which is of Old Welsh origin, with elements mer, probably meaning "marrow", and myn, meaning "eminent".[1]
Despite the misconception of the letter 'V' being an English spelling, through Roman occupation of Britain, the Welsh language (at least for spelling) was Latinised and through centuries of evolution of the Welsh language, the modern Welsh spelling for Mervyn is Merfyn.
People with the given name[]
- Mervyn or Merfyn Frych, king of Gwynedd (c. 825-844)
- Mervyn Archdall (disambiguation), various persons
- Mervyn S. Bennion (1887–1941), US Navy captain killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor
- Mervyn Carrick (born 1946), Northern Ireland politician
- Mervyn Davies, Baron Davies of Abersoch (born 1952), former banker and UK government minister
- Mervyn Davies (1946–2012), Welsh former rugby union player
- Mervyn Day (born 1955), English former football goalkeeper
- Mervyn Dillon (born 1974), West Indian cricketer
- Mervyn M. Dymally (born 1926), American politician, first Trinidadian Lieutenant Governor of California
- Mervyn Fernandez (born 1959), former National Football League and Canadian Football League wide receiver
- Mervyn Fonseka, Solicitor General of Sri Lanka from 1943-1945
- Merv Griffin (1925-2007), American singer, television host and media mogul
- Merv Harvey (1918–1995), Australian cricketer
- Mervyn Hill (1902–1948), Welsh cricketer
- Merv Hughes (born 1961), Australian cricketer
- Mervyn Johns (1899–1992), Welsh film and television actor
- Mervyn King (economist) (born 1948), British economist, Governor of the Bank of England
- Mervyn King (judge), former judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa and chairman of the King Committee on Corporate Governance
- Mervyn King (darts player) (born 1966), British darts player
- Mervyn King (bowls) (born 1966), English bowls player
- Mervyn Kitchen (born 1940), English former first-class cricketer and international umpire
- Mervyn LeRoy (1900–1987), American film director, producer and sometime actor
- Mervyn Middlecoat (1940–1971), Pakistan Air Force wing commander
- Mervyn Peake (1911–1968), English modernist writer, artist, poet and illustrator, best known for his Gormenghast series
- Mervyn Pike, Baroness Pike (1918–2004), British politician
- Mervyn Rose (born 1930), Australian tennis player
- Mervyn Silva (born 1944), controversial Sri Lankan politician
- Mervyn Spence (born 1965-6), Northern Irish musician
- Mervyn Stockwood (1913–1995), Anglican Bishop of Southwark
- Mervyn Taylor (born 1931), Irish former politician
- Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven (1593–1631), convicted rapist and sodomite
- Mervyn Warren (born 1964), American film composer, record producer, music conductor, music arranger, lyricist, songwriter, pianist, and vocalist
- Muff Winwood (born 1943), English Musician and A & R
- Mervyn Wood (1917–2006), Australian rower
Fictional characters[]
- Mervyn Bunter, a butler in Dorothy Sayers' stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey
- Mervyn, Sheriff of Rottingham, in the Mel Brooks film Robin Hood: Men in Tights
People with the surname[]
- Audley Mervyn (1603?–1675), lawyer and politician in Ireland
- William Mervyn (1912–1976), English actor
See also[]
- Mervyn's, a defunct American department store chain
- Merlin (disambiguation)
- Mervin (disambiguation)
- Merwin (disambiguation)
References[]
- ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hodges, Flavia (1992) [1990]. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 235. ISBN 0192116517.
Categories:
- Given names
- Surnames
- Masculine given names