Malvine

This name means “thin eyebrows, thin forehead (brow), breathing sweetness from her eyes.” It is a feminine given name derived from the Gaelic “mala mhinn” (smooth brow). The 18th-century Scottish poet James Macpherson invented it. The name could derive from Old High German name, a combination of “mahal / *maþla” (assembly) plus “vin / *-winiz” (friend) or from the Latin “malva.” Malva, known as common mallow to English speaking Europeans, acquired the common names of cheeses, high mallow, and tall mallow “mauve des bois by the French” as it migrated from its native home in western Europe, North Africa, and Asia through the English speaking world.