Avalyn
Of Scottish origin, meaning "beautiful river child".
Name Census estimates that about 3,528 living Americans carry the first name Avalyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Avalyn today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Avalyn births was 2017 (295 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Avalyn. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Avalyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Avalyn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.5K
~ 1 in 97,153 Americans
Peak year
2017
295 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,951
Tracked since 1932
Census
Avalyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,553 people with the first name Avalyn, which placed it at #6,321 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,321
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,553 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Avalyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avalyn is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.4%) and Two or More Races (8.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Avalyn described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Avalyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.5% · 1,697
- Hispanic or Latino14.4% · 368
- Two or more races8.7% · 223
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.0% · 128
- Black or African American4.9% · 124
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 13
Popularity
Avalyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Avalyn from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,336 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Avalyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Avalyn 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 Avalyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Avalyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Avalyn, while West Virginia, Iowa, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 67 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Avalyn
The name Avalyn is a relatively modern invention, likely derived from the combination of the names Ava and Lynne. Its origins can be traced back to the Germanic name Ava, which means "life" or "breath." This name was popularized in the medieval period and has been used as a standalone name or as a diminutive of other names like Aveline or Avila.
While the name Avalyn itself does not have a long historical record, its components have been present in various cultures throughout history. The name Ava has been used in various forms, such as Eva, Evelyn, and Aveline, across different regions and time periods. For instance, the name Eva is mentioned in the Bible and has been popular among Christian communities.
The earliest recorded use of the name Avalyn is relatively recent, with birth records from the late 20th century showing its emergence as a given name. However, it is challenging to pinpoint the exact time and place of its origin due to its modern nature.
Despite its relatively new status, there are a few notable individuals who have borne the name Avalyn throughout history. One example is Avalyn West (born 1940), an American actress and model best known for her roles in television shows and films in the 1960s and 1970s.
Another individual with this name is Avalyn Elizabeth Kessler (born 1935), an American educator and author who has written several books on educational topics and teaching strategies.
Avalyn June Williams (1919-2011) was an American botanist and ecologist known for her research on plant communities in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
Avalyn Taylor (born 1982) is a Canadian actress and singer who has appeared in various television shows and films, including the popular science fiction series "Stargate SG-1."
Avalyn Laverne Jones (1926-2020) was an American civil rights activist and educator who played a significant role in desegregating schools in Oklahoma during the civil rights movement.
While the name Avalyn is relatively new and lacks a long historical lineage, its components and variations have been present in various cultures and time periods, reflecting the diverse influences that have shaped the evolution of names over time.
People
Avalyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Avalyn 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
Avalyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Avalyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,528 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Avalyn 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 97,153 US residents.
Is Avalyn a common name?
We classify Avalyn as "Rare". It ranks above 95.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,560 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Avalyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Avalyn was 2017, when 295 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Avalyn is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Avalyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,553 people with the name Avalyn, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,321 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Avalyn in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Avalyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Avalyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,556 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Avalyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avalyn is White at 66.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.4%) and Two or More Races (8.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Avalyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Avalyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.5% (1,697 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Avalyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Avalyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Avalyn 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.
Is Avalyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Avalyn in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Avalyn can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people share the name Avalyn?
Find out how many Americans are named Avalyn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.