April
Masculine · “the fourth Roman month”
April is given to girls far more often — 242,925 girls against 667 boys since 1880. See April as a girl name
April is one of the very few month names English uses as a given name, and the month's own name defeated the Romans, who guessed at it and left the guess in the record. The day at the start of it has an origin story that almost everybody repeats and that does not hold up.
How old is the name April?
April first appears in US birth records in 1959 — 66 years ago. The typical April alive today was born around 1980, making them about 45 years old. About 600 people named April are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name April most popular?
April peaked in 1980, reaching #1410 nationally. See the whole 1980 chart.
Where it comes from
From Aprilis to April
The story of April
The standard explanation of April Fools' Day is that France moved New Year from the spring to the first of January in fifteen sixty-four, and that people who went on celebrating in April were mocked as fools. It is repeated everywhere and the evidence does not support it. French New Year practice varied by region and by purpose long before and after that edict; the earliest clear references to an April custom of sending people on fools' errands come from the Low Countries and from England, not from the areas that changed latest; and comparable spring mockery festivals existed across Europe with no calendar dispute behind them. Historians of folklore generally say the origin is unknown. The story survives because it is tidy, which is the usual reason a false etymology outlives a true one.
Meaningscholars disagree
the fourth Roman month, of unknown derivation
Roman antiquarians connected Aprilis to aperire, to open, on the reasoning that buds open then. That is a guess made by people who no longer knew, and modern scholarship treats it as folk etymology; an Etruscan borrowing has also been proposed. Nothing is settled.
How the name formed
- Aprilis
- April
Related forms: Avril · Aprilia · Abril
Pronouncing April
AY-pril
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The Spanish and French forms stress the second syllable, which makes them sound like different names.
Nicknames for April
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1959
- Most boys named
- 198045 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1410reached in 1980
- Change vs 1999
- 0.0%5 in 2004, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
April in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Avril in French — same name
- Aprilia in Italian — related form
- Abril in Spanish — same name
Aprils among us
people named April are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
April sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Everybody knows the word, so nothing has to be taught.
- Two syllables with front stress is easy to say and quick.
- It carries a season without being a flower name or a virtue name.
- It is a month, so a birthday in any other month invites the question.
- Aprille, Apryl and Avril are all recorded and will be written for it.
- The month's own name has no established meaning, so there is nothing solid to report.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put April to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
April
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Aprils are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named April are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name April in 2025?
- April is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name April with classmates?
- April will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anthony#46 · Andrew#73 · Alexander#30 · Aaron#80 · Adam#101 · Arthur#87 · Albert#614 · Austin#113
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles April? See the current top 100.
Choosing between April and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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