Meanings
nounKevinism (uncountable)
- humorousnonce wordrareuncountableA tendency to use exotic, especially American, first names for children, especially in German-speaking areas.
For women, the name "Chantal" suffers the most from Kevinism.
2012 January 5, Angela Mulholland, “Kevin, Chantal among worst names for online dating”, in CTV News1 more example
An article on Kevinism [note: this article contains a lot of German] in Die Welt quotes sociologist Jürgen Gerhards, who asserts that Anglo-American names (Mandy, Justin, Angelina to name a few more) are a lower-class phenomenon.
2012 February 1, Sarah Zhang, “The Strange German Disease Called "Kevinism": Can a Lame Name Mess Up Your Life?”, in Discover
Origin
From Kevin + -ism, translating German Kevinismus.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Kevinism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kevinism
MLA
“Kevinism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kevinism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Kevinism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Kevinism.
Source: Kevinism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.