Avion
Meaning "aircraft" or "airplane" from the French word for "plane".
Name Census estimates that about 2,901 living Americans carry the first name Avion. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Avion today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Avion births was 2018 (140 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Avion. 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.
Key insights
- • Avion is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 118,150 Americans
Peak year
2018
140 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,875
Tracked since 1976
Census
Avion in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,949 people with the first name Avion, which placed it at #7,709 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
#7,709
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,949 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Avion
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avion is Black at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.6%) and Hispanic (9.9%). 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 Avion 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 Avion at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.3% · 1,449
- Two or more races10.6% · 206
- Hispanic or Latino9.9% · 192
- White4.4% · 86
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Avion
Avion leans heavily male at 89.6% of total registrations, but 304 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Avion as a male name
- Ranked #1,875 in 2024
- 85 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (132 births)
Avion as a female name
- Ranked #15,862 in 2019
- 5 female births in 2019
- Peak: 1999 (37 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Avion leans strongly male. 1,618 people counted with this name were male (83.2%), compared with 327 female bearers (16.8%).
Popularity
Avion: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Avion from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,122 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Avion remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Avion 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 Avion during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Avions live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Illinois, New York, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Avion, while Kansas, Colorado, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 62 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Avion
The name Avion is derived from the French word 'avion', which means 'aircraft' or 'airplane'. Its origins can be traced back to the early 20th century, coinciding with the advent of aviation and the development of the first successful airplanes by pioneers like the Wright brothers.
One of the earliest recorded uses of Avion as a given name dates back to the 1920s, when it was bestowed upon a handful of children, likely inspired by the newfound wonder and fascination with the rapidly advancing field of aviation. During this era, aviators and pilots were celebrated as heroes, and naming a child Avion was perhaps seen as a way to honor the spirit of exploration and technological progress.
Throughout the 20th century, the name Avion appeared sporadically, although it remained relatively uncommon. Notable individuals who bore this name include Avion S. Villanueva (1915-2009), a Filipino pilot and aviation instructor who played a significant role in the development of the Philippine Air Force during World War II.
In the realm of literature, Avion served as the name of a character in the novel "The Aviators" by W.E.B. Griffin, published in 1997. This fictional character was a pilot during World War II, further cementing the name's association with aviation and the heroism of those who took to the skies.
Another noteworthy figure with the name Avion was Avion D. Crouse (1924-2015), an American aviator and decorated World War II veteran who flew numerous combat missions over Europe. His service and bravery earned him several prestigious awards, including the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters.
While the name Avion may not be among the most widespread or popular names globally, its unique connection to the world of aviation and the pioneering spirit of early flight makes it a distinctive and meaningful choice for parents who wish to celebrate this aspect of human history and technological achievement.
People
Avion + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Avion 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
Avion: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Avion?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,901 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Avion 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 118,150 US residents.
Is Avion a common name?
We classify Avion as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,935 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Avion most popular?
The single biggest year for Avion was 2018, when 140 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Avion is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Avion in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,949 people with the name Avion, or 0.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,709 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 Avion 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 Avion?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Avion leans strongly male. 1,618 people counted with this name were male (83.2%), compared with 327 female bearers (16.8%). 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 Avion?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avion is Black at 74.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.6%) and Hispanic (9.9%). 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 Avion most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Avion in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.3% (1,449 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 Avion in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Avion a male name?
Yes, 89.6% of people registered as Avion in the SSA data are male. 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 Avion still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Avion 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 Avion 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 many people have the name Avion?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Avion, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.