Avery
Derived from an Old English name meaning "ruler of elves".
Roughly 223,423 people in the United States go by the first name Avery, which ranks #31 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 71.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Avery today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Avery births was 2014 (11,861 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Philip (221,451).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Avery. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Avery with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Avery started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Avery is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
223K
~ 1 in 1,534 Americans
Peak year
2014
11,861 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#31
Tracked since 1880
Census
Avery in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 175,335 people with the first name Avery, which placed it at #316 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#316
National first-name rank
People counted
175K
175,335 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
58.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Avery
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avery is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.2%) and Black (8.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Avery described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Avery at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.0% · 128,081
- Hispanic or Latino9.2% · 16,209
- Black or African American8.2% · 14,337
- Two or more races6.6% · 11,548
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 3,845
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1,315
Gender
Gender distribution for Avery
Avery is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 230,393 total registrations, 65,711 (28.5%) were male and 164,682 (71.5%) were female.
Avery as a male name
- Ranked #259 in 2024
- 1,348 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (2,283 births)
Avery as a female name
- Ranked #31 in 2024
- 5,632 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (9,578 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Avery on both sides of the split. Of the 175,333 people counted with this name, 48,029 were male (27.4%) and 127,304 were female (72.6%).
Popularity
Avery: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Avery from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 103,340 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Avery remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Avery by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Avery during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Averys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Avery, while Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,389 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Avery
The name Avery has its origins in the ancient Anglo-Norman French language and culture. It derives from the Old French word "aveir" or "avoir," meaning "to have" or "to possess." The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century, when Norman French was widely spoken in England following the Norman Conquest.
In its earliest forms, Avery was spelled as "Averie," "Averi," or "Auverie." It was initially used as a surname, referring to someone who oversaw the care of horses and stables, or managed the resources and possessions of a lord or landowner. The name eventually transitioned into a masculine given name, reflecting the qualities of wealth, prosperity, and possession.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Avery can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as a surname, "Averie," indicating its use in medieval England.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Avery. One of the earliest was Avery Jenour (c. 1130-1190), an English Augustinian canon and scholar who wrote extensively on theology and philosophy. Another early figure was Avery of Stanton (c. 1200-1270), a prominent English landowner and knight during the reign of King Henry III.
In the 16th century, Avery Phillipps (1537-1594) was an English politician and Member of Parliament who served under Queen Elizabeth I. During the English Civil War, Avery Welbeck (1615-1683) was a Royalist soldier and captain who fought for King Charles I against the Parliamentarians.
In more recent times, Avery Brundage (1887-1975) was an American athlete and influential administrator who served as the President of the International Olympic Committee from 1952 to 1972. Avery Dulles (1918-2008) was a prominent American Jesuit priest, cardinal, and theological scholar who made significant contributions to the study of Catholic theology.
While the name Avery has its roots in medieval France and England, it has since gained popularity across various cultures and regions, particularly in the English-speaking world. Its meaning and association with wealth, possession, and prosperity have contributed to its enduring appeal as a masculine given name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Avery
People
Avery + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Avery as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Avery: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Avery?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 223,423 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Avery going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,534 US residents.
Is Avery a common name?
We classify Avery as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 230,393 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Avery most popular?
The single biggest year for Avery was 2014, when 11,861 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Avery is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Avery in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 175,335 people with the name Avery, or 58.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #316 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Avery in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Avery?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Avery on both sides of the split. Of the 175,333 people counted with this name, 48,029 were male (27.4%) and 127,304 were female (72.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Avery?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avery is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.2%) and Black (8.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Avery most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Avery in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.0% (128,081 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Avery in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Avery a female name?
Yes, 71.5% of people registered as Avery in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Avery still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Avery in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Avery can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Avery?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Avery at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.