Head to head · Boys' names
Avery vs Jeremy
#291 vs #292 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Avery is a whisker ahead (#291 vs #292 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, Avery leads 3 measures of 6; Jeremy leads 2.
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
- 1880s: Avery #548, Jeremy — — Avery higher
- 1890s: Avery #470, Jeremy — — Avery higher
- 1900s: Avery #565, Jeremy — — Avery higher
- 1910s: Avery #557, Jeremy — — Avery higher
- 1920s: Avery #598, Jeremy #2633 — Avery higher
- 1930s: Avery #688, Jeremy #1512 — Avery higher
- 1940s: Avery #743, Jeremy #910 — Avery higher
- 1950s: Avery #673, Jeremy #728 — Avery higher
- 1960s: Avery #580, Jeremy #463 — Jeremy higher
- 1970s: Avery #584, Jeremy #30 — Jeremy higher
- 1980s: Avery #529, Jeremy #29 — Jeremy higher
- 1990s: Avery #323, Jeremy #54 — Jeremy higher
- 2000s: Avery #226, Jeremy #112 — Jeremy higher
- 2010s: Avery #193, Jeremy #173 — Jeremy higher
- 2020s: Avery #239, Jeremy #253 — Avery higher
Avery stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Avery took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Avery | Jeremy |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #548 | — |
| 1890s | #470 | — |
| 1900s | #565 | — |
| 1910s | #557 | — |
| 1920s | #598 | #2633 |
| 1930s | #688 | #1512 |
| 1940s | #743 | #910 |
| 1950s | #673 | #728 |
| 1960s | #580 | #463 |
| 1970s | #584 | #30 |
| 1980s | #529 | #29 |
| 1990s | #323 | #54 |
| 2000s | #226 | #112 |
| 2010s | #193 | #173 |
| 2020s | #239 | #253 |
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
Avery
elf ruler, from Germanic alf 'elf' and ric 'power, ruler'
Avery and Aubrey are two English outcomes of the same Germanic name, Alberich, which reached England through Norman French.
Alberich → Auberi → Aubrey → Avery
How it traveled
The Germanic name Alberich — alf, 'elf', plus ric, 'power' or 'ruler' — arrived in England with Norman French speakers, who had reshaped it into forms like Auberi and Auvrey. Those forms produced both Aubrey and Avery in medieval English use, and Avery then settled into an English family name carried down the generations.
Jeremy
the Lord will raise up
Hebrew Yirmeyahu. The verb is usually read as to lift or exalt, though a minority reading takes it as to loosen or set free. The divine element at the end is the standard one, the same that closes Isaiah and Zechariah.
Yirmeyahu → Ieremias → Jeremy → Jeremiah
How it traveled
The prophet gave English a word for a kind of writing. A jeremiad is a long, mournful complaint about the state of the world, and it is named directly for the tone of Lamentations, the book traditionally ascribed to him.
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
Avery
AY-vuh-ree
Often compressed to two syllables, AYV-ree, in ordinary speech. Both are standard and no one will correct you.
- Ave — Informal household short form, usually rhyming with 'save'.
- Avi — Informal, and also a standalone given name of separate Hebrew origin.
- Aves — Casual, more common among friends and siblings than adults.
- Ave-Ave — Doubling used with small children; drops away with age.
- Also Ry.
Jeremy
JERR-uh-mee
Three syllables with the stress at the front and a middle vowel reduced almost to nothing. Spelling and sound agree throughout, and the name is never mispronounced.
- Jem — Cut from the front; warm, literary and much commoner in Britain.
- Jez — Informal and British; carries a considerably cheekier tone than the full name.
- Remy — Taken from the back of the name; a standing French name in its own right.
- Jerry — The older short form, shared with Gerald and Gerard and dated by that company.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Avery if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAvery is stepping back from its peak
- a long American recordAvery was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Jeremy if you want…
- a newer arrivalJeremy entered the US charts in 1923
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
Avery
Strengths
- One spelling that almost everyone can write on first hearing, with no silent letters to explain.
- A documented line back to medieval England and, before that, to Germanic Alberich — the same root that gave Aubrey.
- Works for a son or a daughter without changing form, and is well established in both directions in American use.
To consider
- Because most Averys are girls, a boy named Avery will meet assumptions on paper — forms, class lists, first emails. Nothing that a spoken introduction doesn't fix, but it happens repeatedly.
- Ava and Avery sit close together in sound and in current use, so expect the occasional mix-up between the two, and think about it before pairing them with a sibling name that starts the same way.
- Averie, Averi and Avry all exist as spellings, so you may sometimes be asked which one you meant.
Jeremy
Strengths
- It has been in continuous English use for something like eight centuries.
- The short forms are unusually varied, from literary to blunt to French.
- It is familiar to everyone while remaining well clear of the current crowd.
To consider
- Its peak generation is recent enough to date the name clearly to most ears.
- Jeremiah is currently the fuller and more fashionable of the two forms.
- A well-read stranger may reach for jeremiad, which is not a flattering word.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Avery
40%chance Avery feels dated by 2040
Avery sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Jeremy
25%chance Jeremy feels dated by 2040
Jeremy peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Avery and Jeremy 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 Avery and Jeremy?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Avery and Jeremy — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Avery or Jeremy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Avery or Jeremy?
- Avery, in 2025: Avery ranked #291 with 1,156 babies; Jeremy ranked #292 with 1,152 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Avery or Jeremy?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Avery moved down 80 places; Jeremy moved down 60 places.
- Which is the older name, Avery or Jeremy?
- Avery was already in use when US records began in 1880; Jeremy entered the US charts in 1923. On the American record, Avery is the older name.
- How many people are named Avery and Jeremy?
- About 62,000 people named Avery are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 421,000 people named Jeremy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Averys or Jeremys in the classroom?
- Avery will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jeremy 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 Avery, Jeremy and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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