Avon
Feminine · “river”
Avon is given to both — 700 girls and 1,641 boys since 1880. See Avon as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Avon is a river name that went onto American certificates for sons and daughters both, and it is one of the plainest words in Britain: it is simply the old Brittonic noun for a river. The town that shares it owes its entire modern existence to a festival that was a disaster.
How old is the name Avon?
Avon first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Avon alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 400 people named Avon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Avon most popular?
Avon peaked in 1941, reaching #1696 nationally. See the whole 1941 chart.
Where it comes from
From abona to Avon
The story of Avon
Stratford was an unremarkable market town until an actor decided to hold a jubilee there in the seventeen-sixties, more than a century and a half after Shakespeare's death. David Garrick organized three days of processions, fireworks, a masquerade and an ode composed and recited by himself, in a temporary rotunda built by the river. It rained continuously. The river rose and flooded the rotunda; the fireworks would not light; the procession of characters was canceled; the horse race was run in a swamp. Not one line of any play was performed. Garrick lost a great deal of money and was mercilessly satirized. And yet it worked: the jubilee established the town as a place of pilgrimage, the birthplace was bought for the nation within a century, and the entire modern industry — theater, trust, tourism — descends from three wet days that staged none of the work.
Meaning
river
The word is the Brittonic noun for a river, taken by English speakers as a proper name because that is what they were told when they asked. Several rivers in Britain carry it independently. Whether a given American family meant the river, a surname or a place is not recorded.
How the name formed
- abona
- Avon
Pronouncing Avon
AY-von
Two syllables with the stress at the front in American English. The English rivers are said with a short first vowel, closer to AV-on, which is a noticeably different name.
Nicknames for Avon
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
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 195323 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1696reached in 1941
- Change vs 1991
- −16.7%5 in 1992, from 6
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.
Avons among us
people named Avon 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
Avon 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
- Four letters, no silent ones, and no realistic way to misspell it after hearing it.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- It names a real and very old thing, with a documented and simple meaning.
- A cosmetics company has owned the word commercially for over a century.
- The first vowel is said two different ways on the two sides of the Atlantic.
- The record holds it for daughters as well, so it signals nothing about sex.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Avon to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Avon? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Avon
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Avons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Avon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Avon in 2025?
- Avon is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Avon with classmates?
- Avon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Avon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Avon and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle