Meaning: Its source is gwalch, a Welsh name meaning "White hawk."

Languages: This boy's name is used in English and Scots Gaelic.

Alternative Spellings: Gavan and Gaven

Variant Forms: Gawain and Gavyn

Non-English Forms: Gauvain

Popularity: The name Gavin ranked 69th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration statistics and 685th in popularity for males of all ages in a sample of the 1990 US Census.

Narrative: This name also could mean ''little falcon.'' It first appeared in writing in the French form Gauvain, though its ultimate source was probably the Welsh legends of King Arthur's knights.

One of the more famous of these knights was best known by the Welsh form Gawain, and this might be the common ancestor of the French Gavain and the modern English and Scots form Gavin.