# Kevinismus

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***Kevinismus*** ("Kevinism") is a German term for the practice of giving children trendy, exotic-sounding names as opposed to traditional German ones. It is often considered to be an indicator of [low social class](/source/Low_social_class).[1] The prototypical example is [Kevin](/source/Kevin), which like most such names came to Germany from [Anglo-American](/source/Anglo-Americans) culture. Specifically, Kevin McCallister, the protagonist of the 1990 comedy film *[Home Alone](/source/Home_Alone)* (titled *Kevin – Allein zu Haus* in the German release) is credited with making Kevin the most popular boys' name chosen in Germany in 1991.[2] [Kevin Costner](/source/Kevin_Costner)'s 1990 film *[Dances with Wolves](/source/Dances_with_Wolves)* is often cited as an additional factor.[3] Both films were released in Germany in 1991 and were the two most successful films there in that year.[4] However, the name had already been introduced to Germany and achieved brief popularity in the late 1970s, during English footballer [Kevin Keegan](/source/Kevin_Keegan)'s spell with [Hamburger SV](/source/Hamburger_SV).[5]

Sometimes ***Chantalismus*** ("Chantalism") is used as a female equivalent, from the French name [Chantal](/source/Chantal).[6]

## Overview

The issue of whether parents of lower socioeconomic status have a greater tendency to give their children Anglo-American or other exotic names has been discussed by German [sociologists](/source/Sociology) from various points of view, and there is no consensus among them.[7] Because of the unusual and sudden popularity of the name, the term *Kevinism* (or *Chantalism* after the female given name Chantal) for this [cliché](/source/Clich%C3%A9) was first created by the satirical website [Uncyclopedia](/source/Uncyclopedia), and was subsequently picked up by journalists.[6]

According to a master's thesis presented at the [University of Oldenburg](/source/University_of_Oldenburg) in 2009, certain given names of students can lead to prejudice on the part of teachers.[8] For example, the name "[Kevin](/source/Kevin)" (an anglicised name of Irish origin), given to a German child, indicates to German teachers that such a student is prone to attention-seeking behaviour, as well as lower scholastic performance, and is also indicative of a lower [socioeconomic status](/source/Socioeconomic_status). It was not possible to determine whether this also causes a student to be treated less well.[9] Prejudice of this type is understood to be more prevalent among teachers in [Western Germany](/source/Old_states_of_Germany). English or otherwise exotic given names are often understood and stigmatised in the [old states of Germany](/source/Old_states_of_Germany) as being typically "[Ossi](/source/New_states_of_Germany#Culture)".[10] English given names in [East Germany](/source/East_Germany) were particularly popular in the 20 years preceding [German reunification](/source/German_reunification). There, this trend was also popular among the middle class, while the preference for such given names today, particularly in Western Germany, is perceived as a lower-class phenomenon.[11]

The word "Alpha-Kevin" (combination of [Alpha male](/source/Alpha_(ethology)) and the given name), as being representative of a particularly unintelligent young person, was, for a time, at the top of the list, which was the subject of a 2015 online poll for the [German Word of the Year](/source/Word_of_the_year_(Germany)) and, particularly, the youth word of the year. However, it was struck from the list of suggestions on account of being discriminatory towards people bearing the name Kevin.[12] The phenomenon in Germany, especially during limited periods of time, that particularly popular given names are associated with negative prejudices to the point of being used as swearwords, is not new from a linguistic perspective. In the past, this was the case, as an example, for given names including [Horst](/source/Horst_(given_name)), [Detlef](/source/Detlef), Uschi (German short form of Ursula) and [Heini](/source/Heini) (German short form of [Heinrich](/source/Heinrich_(given_name))).[13]

At a conference on the topic of "given names as social markers" in September 2015 the [onomatologist](/source/Onomastics) and [linguist](/source/Linguistics) Damaris Nübling spoke about a "[smear campaign](/source/Smear_campaign)" having been waged in Germany against given names such as Kevin and Chantal, and criticised the [rhetoric](/source/Rhetoric) concerning such given names as being "very cheap [polemic](/source/Polemic)".[14]

## References

1. Pribyl, Katrin (2008-02-26). [""Kevinismus": Wie Namen die Zukunft von Kindern beeinflussen"](https://www.welt.de/politik/article1727650/Wie-Namen-die-Zukunft-von-Kindern-beeinflussen.html). *DIE WELT*. Retrieved 2021-02-20.

1. [Ein Fall von Kevinismus (in German)](https://www.abendblatt.de/hamburg/article108215142/Ein-Fall-von-Kevinismus.html)

1. [Kevinismus und Chantalismus: Wenn der Vorname zur Hypothek wird (in German)](https://www.srf.ch/radio-srf-1/mundart/kevinismus-und-chantalismus-wenn-der-vorname-zur-hypothek-wird)

1. [Top 100 Deutschland 1991](https://www.insidekino.com/DJahr/D1991.htm)

1. Davies, Huw (4 September 2019). ["The bizarre history of football-inspired names: from German Kevins to the 600 Brazilians called Lineker"](https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/football-inspired-names-gary-lineker-kevin-keegan-germany-brazil). *[FourFourTwo](/source/FourFourTwo)*. Retrieved 26 November 2025.

1. [*Kevinismus, vermeidbare Kinderkrankheit*](https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article1473334/Kevinismus-vermeidbare-Kinderkrankheit.html) ["*Kevinism, an avoidable childhood illness*"] [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20161225080835/https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article1473334/Kevinismus-vermeidbare-Kinderkrankheit.html) 25 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine in Welt-Online dated 23 December 2007, viewed on 9 June 2013

1. [Is there such a thing as a classic lower-class name?](https://www.welt.de/welt_print/article1729043/Kevinismus-Gibt-es-den-klassischen-Unterschichtnamen.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20161130205727/https://www.welt.de/welt_print/article1729043/Kevinismus-Gibt-es-den-klassischen-Unterschichtnamen.html) 30 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine, *Die Welt*, 27 February 2008, last viewed on 24 December 2015

1. Julia Isabell Kube, "Given name research, Questionnaire study of teachers, whether prejudices concerning specific given names of grade school students are associated with specific personality markers", University of Oldenburg, Masters thesis, 2009

1. Oliver Trenkamp: ["Kevin is not a Name, but, instead, a diagnosis"](http://www.spiegel.de/schulspiegel/wissen/0,1518,649421,00.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120423044752/http://www.spiegel.de/schulspiegel/wissen/0,1518,649421,00.html) 23 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, *Der Spiegel*, 16 September 2009, last viewed on 17 September 2009.

1. ["Discrimination based on names – Mandys Suffering"](http://www.migazin.de/2012/02/27/mandys-leid/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143325/http://www.migazin.de/2012/02/27/mandys-leid/) 12 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine, *Migazin*, 27 February 2012, last viewed on 25 October 2015.

1. ["What is supposed to be the meaning of this?"](http://www.zeit.de/2012/45/Karriere-Erfolg-Namen) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20180404154226/http://www.zeit.de/2012/45/Karriere-Erfolg-Namen) 4 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine *Die Zeit*, 31 October 2012, last viewed on 25 October 2015

1. ["Youth word of the year 'Alpha-Kevin' is a non-starter"](https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/jugendwort-des-jahres-alpha-kevin-ist-raus-13720719.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20181116230442/http://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/jugendwort-des-jahres-alpha-kevin-ist-raus-13720719.html) 16 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine, *[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung](/source/Frankfurter_Allgemeine_Zeitung)*, 26 July 2015

1. [How names can become swear words, jetzt.de](http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/594291/Wie-Namen-zu-Schimpfwoertern-werden) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160426191145/http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de/texte/anzeigen/594291/Wie-Namen-zu-Schimpfwoertern-werden) 26 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, *Süddeutsche Zeitung*, 7 September 2015, last viewed on 19 September 2015

1. [Difficult given names "Nobody takes a Lilly seriously"](https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/menschen/namensforscherin-damaris-nuebling-ueber-schwierige-vornamen-13799882.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190120022749/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/menschen/namensforscherin-damaris-nuebling-ueber-schwierige-vornamen-13799882.html) 20 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine, *Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung*, 14 September 2015, last viewed on 19 September 2015.

## External links

- [Stupedia article on German Kevinism](https://www.stupidedia.org/stupi/Kevinismus)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kevinismus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevinismus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevinismus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.