April
A feminine name derived from the Latin aperire, meaning "to open" or "opening".
Name Census estimates that about 220,387 living Americans carry the first name April. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named April today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of April births was 1980 (11,518 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for April. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Although April is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 667 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1970s, recent registration numbers for April have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
220K
~ 1 in 1,555 Americans
Peak year
1980
11,518 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2004 SSA rank
#502
Tracked since 1917
Gender
Gender distribution for April
Out of the 243,028 babies given the name April since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
April as a male name
- Ranked #11,478 in 2004
- 5 male births in 2004
- Peak: 1980 (45 births)
April as a female name
- Ranked #502 in 2024
- 607 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1980 (11,473 births)
Popularity
April: popularity over time
The SSA tracks April from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 77,186 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
April by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name April during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aprils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named April, while Wyoming, Vermont, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,709 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of April
The name April originates from the Latin word "Aprilis", which was the name given to the fourth month of the Roman calendar. The etymology of "Aprilis" is uncertain, but it is believed to be derived from either the Latin verb "aperire" meaning "to open", referring to the opening of buds and flowers during spring, or from the Etruscan word "aprilis", which may have been the name of an Etruscan goddess.
The month of April was sacred to the Roman goddess Venus, the deity of love and beauty. Some scholars suggest that the name April could also be linked to the Greek word "Aphrodite", the Greek equivalent of Venus. This connection between April and the goddess of love and fertility may have influenced the naming of children born during this month.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name April is found in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", written in the late 14th century. In the prologue, Chaucer mentions "Aprill with his shoures soote", referring to the sweet showers of April that bring forth the renewal of spring.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name April. April Underwood (1859-1937) was a prominent British suffragette and activist for women's rights. April Greiman (born 1948) is an American graphic designer and artist known for her innovative work in digital typography and design.
In literature, April is the name of a character in the novel "Les Misérables" by Victor Hugo. The character, April Gervais, is a young girl who becomes a symbol of innocence and redemption in the story.
Another famous bearer of the name is April Stevenson (1938-2020), a Canadian artist and sculptor known for her large-scale public art installations. April O'Neil, a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, is also a well-known namesake.
While the name April has its roots in ancient Roman and Greek cultures, it has transcended its origins and become a popular name in modern times, representing the renewal of spring and the celebration of nature's beauty.
People
April + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with April as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
April: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named April?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 220,387 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for April going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,555 US residents.
Is April a common name?
We classify April as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 243,028 babies have been registered with this name.
When was April most popular?
The single biggest year for April was 1980, when 11,518 babies received the name. The fact that the average living April is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is April a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as April in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.