Mervyn is a masculine given name and occasionally a surname which is of

Old Welsh Old Welsh ( cy, Hen Gymraeg) is the stage of the Welsh language from about 800 AD until the early 12th century when it developed into Middle Welsh.Koch, p. 1757. The preceding period, from the time Welsh became distinct from Common Brittonic ...

origin, with elements ''mer'', probably meaning "marrow", and ''myn'', meaning "eminent". 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 William Mervyn Carrick, known as Mervyn Carrick (born 13 February 1946) is a former Unionist politician from Northern Ireland representing the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Early life and career Born in Portadown, Carrick studied at Portad ...

(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 de Silva Mervyn de Silva (5 September 1929 – 22 June 1999) was a Sri Lankan journalist. He was the editor in chief of Lake House and of ''The Times of Ceylon'', editor of the ''Ceylon Daily News'' and the ''Lanka Guardian''. Early life and family Mervy ...

(1929-1999), Sri Lankan Sinhala journalist * Mervyn Dillon (born 1974), West Indian cricketer *

Mervyn M. Dymally Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (May 12, 1926 – October 7, 2012) was an American politician from California. He served in the California State Assembly (1963–66) and the California State Senate (1967–75) as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Califor ...

(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 Mervyn Fonseka, OBE, KC (1897–1946) was a Sri Lankan lawyer. He was the 15th Solicitor General of Ceylon. Educated at the Royal College, Colombo and at the Colombo Law College. He taught at briefly at Royal College before he joined the legal se ...

Solicitor General of Sri Lanka The Solicitor General of Sri Lanka is a post subordinate to the Attorney General of Sri Lanka. The Solicitor General of Sri Lanka assists the Attorney General, and is assisted by four Additional Solicitors General. Note that the post was Solicit ...

from 1943-1945 * Merv Griffin (1925-2007), American singer, television host and media mogul * Merv Harvey (1918–1995), Australian cricketer *

Mervyn Hill Mervyn Llewellyn Hill (23 June 1902 – 27 February 1948) was a Welsh first-class cricket wicketkeeper and batsman for Somerset between 1921 and 1932, and also appeared in matches for Glamorgan and Cambridge University. He was also a member of t ...

(1902–1948), Welsh cricketer *

Merv Hughes Mervyn Gregory Hughes (born 23 November 1961) is a former Australian cricketer. A right-arm fast bowler, he represented Australia national cricket team, Australia in 53 Test cricket, Test matches between 1985 and 1994, taking 212 wickets. He pla ...

(born 1961), Australian cricketer * Mervyn Jayasuriya (died 2008), Sri Lankan Sinhala radio announcer * 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 Mervyn LeRoy (; October 15, 1900 – September 13, 1987) was an American film director and producer. In his youth he played juvenile roles in vaudeville and silent film comedies. During the 1930s, LeRoy was one of the two great practitioners of ...

(1900–1987), American film director, producer and sometime actor *

Mervyn Maynard Mervyn "Merv" Maynard ( – 9 April 2017) was an Aboriginal Australian jockey who rode numerous winners in a career spanning almost five decades. Early life Mervyn Maynard was born around 1931, the son of Aboriginal activist Fred Maynard and M ...

(-2017), Aboriginal Australian jockey * 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 Irene Mervyn Parnicott Pike, Baroness Pike, (16 September 1918 – 11 January 2004) was a British Conservative politician. The name by which she came to be known, Mervyn, had been the name of her father's best friend, who was to have been her ...

(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), English nobleman convicted of rape and sodomy * Mervyn Warren (born 1964), American film composer, record producer, songwriter, pianist and vocalist * Muff Winwood (born 1943), English songwriter and record producer * Mervyn Wood (1917–2006), Australian rower

People with the surname

Audley Mervyn Sir Audley Mervyn of Trillick (1603?–1675) was a lawyer and politician in seventeenth-century Ireland. He was MP for County Tyrone and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons 1661-1666., page=109, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0I9AAAAAcAAJ ...

(1603?–1675), lawyer and politician in Ireland *

Audley Mervyn (died 1717) Sir Audley Mervyn of Trillick (1603?–1675) was a lawyer and politician in seventeenth-century Ireland. He was MP for County Tyrone and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons 1661–1666., page=109, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0I9AAAA ...

, Irish MP for Strabane and County Tyrone - see Tyrone (Parliament of Ireland constituency) *

Audley Mervyn (died 1746) Sir Audley Mervyn of Trillick (1603?–1675) was a lawyer and politician in seventeenth-century Ireland. He was MP for County Tyrone and Speaker of the Irish House of Commons 1661–1666., page=109, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0I9AAAAAcA ...

, Irish MP for County Tyrone - see Tyrone (Parliament of Ireland constituency) * William Mervyn (1912–1976), English actor

Fictional characters

* Mervyn Bunter, a butler in Dorothy Sayers' stories featuring Lord Peter Wimsey *

Mervyn Pumpkinhead This is a list of characters appearing in ''The Sandman'' comic book, published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. This page discusses not only events which occur in ''The Sandman'' (1989–1994), but also some occurring in spinoffs of ''The Sandman'' ...

, in ''The Sandman'' comic book * Mervyn, Sheriff of Rottingham, in the Mel Brooks film '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' * Sir Mervyn, a paladin in the video game ''

Dragon Quest VII ''Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past'' is a 2000 Japanese role-playing video game developed by Heartbeat and ArtePiazza, and published by Enix for the PlayStation. It was released in North America in 2001 under the title ''Dragon ...

'' * the title character of ''

Arthur Mervyn ''Arthur Mervyn,'' a novel written by Charles Brockden Brown, was published in 1799. One of Brown's more popular novels and representative of Brown's dark, gothic style and subject matter, ''Arthur Mervyn'' is also recognized as one of the most ...

'', a 1799 novel written by Charles Brockden Brown

References

{{given name, type=both Masculine given names

People with the given name

People with the surname

Fictional characters

See also

References