// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy did Niven go to the party? Because it was a "given".

For other uses, see Niven (disambiguation).

Niven is a surname. It is derived from the Scottish Gaelic Mac Cnaimhin.

Notable people with the name include:

• Archibald C. Niven (1803–1882), American politician
• Alan Niven, New Zealand manager of Guns n Roses
• Alan Niven (soccer) (1955–1999), Australian soccer player
• Alastair Niven (1944–2025), British literary scholar and author
• Charles Niven (1845–1923), Scottish mathematician
• Colin Niven (1903–1968), Australian rules footballer
• David Niven (1910–1983), British actor and author
• David Niven, Jr. (born 1942), British actor, producer and executive, son of David
• Derek Niven (born 1983), Scottish footballer
• Frances Gamble (1949–1997), née Niven, South African climatologist and speleologist
• Frederick Niven (1878–1944), Canadian novelist
• George Niven (1929–2008), Scottish footballer
• Ivan M. Niven (1915–1999), Canadian–American mathematician
• James Niven (1851–1925), Scottish physician
• Jennifer Niven, American novelist
• Jimmy Niven (1861–1933), Scottish footballer
• John Niven (born 1966), Scottish writer
• John Niven (footballer) (1921–2011), Scottish football player
• Kip Niven (1945–2019), American actor and theater director
• Larry Niven (born 1938), American science fiction author
• Margaret Graeme Niven (1906–1997), English artist
• Ninian Niven (1799–1879), Scottish horticulturist and landscape gardener
• Paul K. Niven Jr. (1924–1970), American journalist
• Peter Niven (born 1964), Scottish jockey
• Ray Niven (1911–1992), Australian footballer
• Robert Niven (English cricketer) (born 1948), English cricketer
• Robert Niven (New Zealand cricketer) (1859–1919), New Zealand cricketer
• Robert Niven (soldier) (1853–1921), American officer awarded the Medal of Honor
• Stuart Niven (born 1978), Scottish footballer
• Thornton M. Niven (1806–1895), Scottish-American architect and stonecutter
• William Niven (1850–1937), Scottish mineralogist and archeologist
• William Davidson Niven (1842–1917), British mathematician and electrical engineer
• William Dickie Niven (1879–1965), ecclesiastical historian

See also

• McNiven
• Nivan

References

• Hanks, P; Coates, R; McClure, P, eds. (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Vol. 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-879883-5.