indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Gender Feminine
Usage Scottish Gaelic
Meaning & History
Most likely coined by James Macpherson (1736-1796), the Scottish antiquarian poet who published works allegedly translated from the ancient Gaelic bard Ossian. Macpherson seems to have based the name on Scottish Gaelic mala "brow, eyebrow" and mìn "smooth, soft", intending it to mean "smooth brow". The name was Anglicized as Malvina and Malavina.