Head to head · Girls' names
Averie vs Makenzie
#701 vs #700 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Makenzie is a whisker ahead (#700 vs #701 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Makenzie leads 5 measures of 6; Averie leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1970s: Averie —, Makenzie #4913 — Makenzie higher
- 1980s: Averie #9294, Makenzie #2516 — Makenzie higher
- 1990s: Averie #3638, Makenzie #465 — Makenzie higher
- 2000s: Averie #1108, Makenzie #193 — Makenzie higher
- 2010s: Averie #444, Makenzie #219 — Makenzie higher
- 2020s: Averie #558, Makenzie #526 — Makenzie higher
Makenzie stood higher in every recorded decade — 6 of 6.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Averie | Makenzie |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | — | #4913 |
| 1980s | #9294 | #2516 |
| 1990s | #3638 | #465 |
| 2000s | #1108 | #193 |
| 2010s | #444 | #219 |
| 2020s | #558 | #526 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Averie
From a medieval surname, itself from a Germanic name meaning roughly "elf power"
Avery is a medieval English surname taken from Norman French pronunciations of Germanic personal names. The main candidate is Alberic — alb, "elf", plus ric, "power, ruler" — while some name scholars trace the same surname to Norman forms of Alfred, "elf counsel". Both roads begin with that same old element for "elf".
Alberich → Alberic → Avery → Averie
How it traveled
The Germanic name Alberich traveled into France with the Frankish nobility, was smoothed by Norman French speakers into forms like Alveredus and Avery, and crossed to England after 1066 as a surname. English surnames were still moving freely into first-name use in the American colonies, and Avery followed that path, given to boys and girls alike.
Makenzie
son of Coinneach — the Gaelic name meaning "comely, handsome"
Coinneach is the Gaelic name usually anglicized as Kenneth, so the surname literally means "son of the comely one." The patronymic sense belongs to the surname's origin, not to modern use as a given name.
Coinneach → Mac Coinnich → Mackenzie → Makenzie
How it traveled
Mac Coinnich was a Scottish Gaelic patronymic — son of Coinneach — and it became the name of a powerful clan in the western Highlands, anglicized into English records as Mackenzie and McKenzie. Scottish and Ulster emigration carried the surname through Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, where it settled into the ordinary stock of English-language surnames.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Averie
AY-vuh-ree
Identical to Avery. Many speakers compress it to two syllables, AYV-ree, in ordinary conversation; both are standard and no one will correct either.
- Ave — Said AY-vee; the most common informal clip within families.
- Avie — Informal, and the spelling that matches the parent name's ending.
- Ava — Used informally by some families, though it stands fully on its own as a given name.
Makenzie
muh-KEN-zee
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The spelling maps cleanly onto the sound, so first-time readers rarely stumble — the ambiguity is in writing it, not saying it.
- Kenzie — The standard short form, and also given as a full name in its own right in the US.
- Kenz — Informal, mostly used among friends and siblings.
- Mak — Informal short form drawn from the first syllable; also written Mack.
- Kenzi — An alternative spelling of the short form, used the same way.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Averie if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Averie from Makenzie.
Choose Makenzie if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMakenzie is stepping back from its peak
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Averie
Strengths
- Everyone already knows how to say it — the sound is Avery, which needs no explanation anywhere in the English-speaking world.
- Sits on a documented line running back to Norman French and, before that, Germanic Alberich.
- Rare enough day to day that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate, while never sounding unfamiliar.
To consider
- Avery is the default spelling, so Averie will be corrected on forms, name tags and email addresses for life. Worth deciding now whether that trade is one you mind.
- The -ie ending places this version squarely in a recent wave, and its bearers are overwhelmingly children and young people. On an adult resume it reads as young for some years yet.
- The sound belongs to boys as well as girls through Avery, so anyone hearing the name before seeing it written will not know which to expect. The spelling does the signaling here, and only on paper.
Makenzie
Strengths
- Reads exactly as it sounds: no silent letters, no guesswork for a teacher or a receptionist seeing it written for the first time.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Kenzie, already in wide independent use.
- Traces back through a documented Scottish clan name to Gaelic Mac Coinnich, so the history is real and checkable.
To consider
- Mackenzie is the spelling most people default to, and McKenzie is close behind. A Makenzie will spend a lifetime saying "no c" — manageable, but constant.
- The name has been in steady use long enough to cluster around a particular age band, so it currently reads as belonging to teenagers and young adults more than to babies. That fades as any name's cohort grows up.
- The root is a patronymic meaning "son of Coinneach," which matters to some parents and not at all to others; in US records the given name is overwhelmingly used for girls.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Averie and Makenzie in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Averie and Makenzie?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Averie and Makenzie each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Averie or Makenzie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Averie or Makenzie?
- Makenzie, in 2025: Makenzie ranked #700 with 406 babies; Averie ranked #701 with 404 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Averie or Makenzie?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Averie moved down 274 places; Makenzie moved down 355 places.
- Which is the older name, Averie or Makenzie?
- Averie entered the US charts in 1985; Makenzie entered the US charts in 1975. On the American record, Makenzie is the older name.
- How many people are named Averie and Makenzie?
- About 13,500 people named Averie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 44,500 people named Makenzie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Averies or Makenzies in the classroom?
- Averie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Makenzie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Averie, Makenzie and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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