ALVIN MARTIN

From an Old English personal name derived from ælf ‘elf, supernatural being’ + wine ‘friend’. This was not especially common in Britain either before or after the Norman Conquest, but it is popular in the United States. The reasons for this are not entirely clear; association with Calvin may be a factor. A more plausible (though less elevated) explanation is that this was the name given to the naughty chipmunk in a popular television cartoon series of the 1960s.

English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, Czech, Slovak, Spanish (Martín), Italian (Venice), etc.: from a personal name (Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars, genitive Martis, the Roman god of fertility and war, whose name may derive ultimately from a root mar ‘gleam’). This was borne by a famous 4th-century saint, Martin of Tours, and consequently became extremely popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. As a North American surname, this form has absorbed many cognates from other European forms.