Avan
Masculine
Avan is given to both — 994 boys and 57 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Avan is a short modern name with real neighbors in several languages — Kurdish, Hebrew and Welsh each have words close to it, and none is confirmed as the source.
How old is the name Avan?
Avan first appears in US birth records in 1923 — 102 years ago. The typical Avan is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Avan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Avan most popular?
Avan peaked in 2012, reaching #1657 nationally. Today it ranks #3848, 2,191 places below that high. See the whole 2012 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Avan
Ours, offered as ours. Two of the neighbors here are good ones. Kurdish avan names those who build, from a root about construction and cultivation. Hebrew even is a stone, and it opens Ebenezer — the stone of help. American naming almost certainly reached these four letters by way of Avery and Evan rather than either language. Naming the neighbors without claiming them is the honest thing to do.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source is established. Kurdish avan is a word for builders or those who construct. Hebrew even is a stone. Welsh Evan is a form of John. The Av- opening of modern American naming is a fourth candidate and none is documented for this name.
Pronouncing Avan
AY-van
Two syllables, first stressed. Some families say ah-VAHN.
Nicknames for Avan
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
- 1923
- Most boys named
- 201293 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1657reached in 2012
- Change vs 2024
- −3.4%28 in 2025, from 29
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.
Avan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Evan in English — related form
- Avan in Kurdish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Louisiana.
Avans among us
people named Avan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 61,003 born in 2025 was named Avan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Avan
- #3848
- Avan on the 2025 chart
- #887
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Avan went to 28 boys in 2025, but Aavan and Avaan are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 41, which makes it the 887th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,961 places above the chart.
- Avan28
- Aavan7
- Avaan6
About 1 boy in 41,660 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 61,003 for Avan itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Waleed test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Avan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Waleed climbed just as high around 1975, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Waleed's path sketches the road Avan is walking now.
Avan 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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Avan is headed
Avan should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Avan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Avan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Van and Avi are both complete short forms in their own right.
- Four letters and two syllables, about as easy to write as a name gets.
- Read correctly on sight by most English speakers.
- The first vowel is unsettled between AY and AH.
- Evan is far more common and will be assumed and written.
- There is no documented meaning for the spelling.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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Avan
Masculine · #3848 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Avans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Avan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Avan?
- Avan is the most-used spelling in US records — 28 of the 41 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Aavan and Avaan.
- How popular is the name Avan in 2025?
- Avan ranks #3848 among US boy names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Avan?
- About 1 in every 61,003 US boys born in 2025 was named Avan — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Avan with classmates?
- Avan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Avan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Armand#3848 · Tracy#3848 · Stafford#3848 · Dewey#3848 · Donny#3848 · Trevion#3848 · Coltyn#3848 · Isreal#3848
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Avan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Avan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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