Avery
A boy's surname that most families now pick for girls
Popularity over time
Avery ranked #37 among girls born in the U.S. in 2025. Its highest rank was #12, in 2013. In 2000 it was #176. It is used for boys too: #291 among boys in 2025.
Rank among U.S. girls (#1 is the most common). Higher on the chart means more popular. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
How it sounds
Living with the name Avery
Avery has drifted. A few generations ago it was mostly a boy's name, and today in the U.S. you will meet far more girls who carry it. That drift is the honest catch. Choose it for a son and people may assume he is a girl on paper. Choose it for a daughter and she may share the class with another Avery or two. The second snag is small but daily: some people say all three syllables, AY-vuh-ree, and some squeeze it into AY-vree. Neither is wrong, so pick one and use it every time.
Look under the surface and the name gets older. It began as an English surname, and most sources trace it to Norman French forms of Alfred or Alberich. Both older names open with a Germanic word for elf. Alfred adds the word for counsel, which is why elf counsel is the meaning you see most.
In daily use it is easy. There is no tricky letter, it ends on a soft ee, and it sits nicely before one-syllable surnames like Avery Stone or Avery Lam. With a surname that also ends in ee, say Avery Kelly, the two endings echo. Avie and Ave are the usual nicknames, though many kids never get one. The name sounds as fine on an office door as it does on a cubby. It also travels well, since most languages can say it without a struggle.
Things to consider
- Avery and Ava are hard to tell apart when shouted across a yard. Two kids with those names in one house will both answer every call, or worse, neither will.
- If you love the old story behind it, Alfred makes a fun middle name for a boy and quietly ties the name back to its root. For a girl, Alfreda is a bolder nod that few people will see coming.
- The ee ending is everywhere right now. Lined up with siblings like Emery or Reese, the family may sound more matched than you planned. A sibling name with a hard ending, like Jasper or Atlas, breaks the pattern.
Names that pair well
Sibling names
Middle names to try
- Avery Claire
- Avery James
- Avery Louise
- Avery Cole
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Questions parents ask about Avery
Is Avery related to Aubrey?
Possibly. If Avery comes from Alberich, as some sources suggest, then it and Aubrey are two branches of the same old name. If it comes from Alfred, they are only cousins in sound. Either way, the two make a poor sibling pair, since they sound so alike in a busy kitchen.
Is Averie or Averi a better spelling?
Both are real, but the plain Avery is the one people will guess. The other spellings look personal on a birthday cake and cost you a correction on every form, from the pediatrician to the passport office. Pick them only if the look is worth that small chore to you. Your child will be the one doing the spelling later.
Which middle names make Avery feel more boyish?
Short, firm middles do it best. Avery James, Avery Cole or Avery Thomas give the name a harder edge and make it read as a boy on paper. Soft middles like Rose or Louise pull it the other way. Saying the full name with your surname is the quickest test.
Meanings and origins follow the name dictionaries listed below. Where sources disagree we say so. Nicknames mix common short forms with informal ones families make up. A name's meaning says nothing about who a child will become.
Sources
- behindthename.com /name/avery
- en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Avery_(given_name)
- U.S. Social Security Administration baby name data, popularity ranks
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