Trev is a short form of Trevor or Trevelyan, names linked to Welsh place-name elements for settlement.
Trev begins as the natural short form of Trevor, but has established itself as an independent given name in its own right, particularly in Britain and Australia. Trevor itself is Welsh in origin, deriving from the place-name element tref, meaning "homestead" or "settlement," combined with mawr, meaning "large." It was originally a Welsh surname that migrated into the given name tradition in the nineteenth century, carried by the wave of interest in Celtic heritage names.
The journey from Welsh toponym to British given name is well-worn — scores of names followed the same path — but Trevor proved particularly sticky. As Trevor spread through the English-speaking world in the mid-twentieth century, its diminutive Trev became the everyday version — the name used by mates at the pub, by sports commentators in Australia, by anyone wanting to signal familiarity and uncomplicated friendliness. Trevor Nunn, the celebrated theater director, brought the full form cultural prestige; Trevor Howard gave it cinematic gravity.
But Trev, as the nickname, became associated with a different kind of appeal — the reliable, good-humored, unaffected Englishman or Australian. In recent decades, as parents have increasingly chosen short names as given names rather than nicknames, Trev has been registered at birth in Britain and Australia with notable frequency. It belongs to a family of names — Bev, Kev, Roz, Dez — that are unmistakably British in their casual energy, clipped and warm simultaneously. Trev manages to feel both retro and effortlessly approachable, the name of someone who makes friends easily and forgets grudges quickly.