Avangeline
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the Germanic name Aveline.
Name Census estimates that about 481 living Americans carry the first name Avangeline. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Avangeline today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Avangeline births was 2017 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Avangeline. 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 Avangeline with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
481
~ 1 in 712,587 Americans
Peak year
2017
34 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,474
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Avangeline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Avangeline from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 277 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Avangeline remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Avangeline 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 Avangeline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Avangelines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Avangeline, while New York, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Avangeline
The name Avangeline has its origins in the medieval French language, derived from the Germanic roots "avan" meaning "to work" and "galen" meaning "to sing". It first emerged in the 12th century as a feminine form of the masculine name Avangal, which was popular among the nobility in parts of what is now northern France and Belgium.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Avangeline can be found in a 13th century French chanson de geste, or epic poem, which tells the story of a young noblewoman named Avangeline who joins a troupe of traveling minstrels. This literary work helped popularize the name across parts of Europe during the High Middle Ages.
By the 14th century, Avangeline had become a relatively common name among the upper classes in parts of France and the Low Countries. Notable bearers included Avangeline de Montfort (1307-1376), a French countess known for her patronage of the arts and her spirited defense of her lands during the Hundred Years' War.
The Renaissance period saw the name spread farther across Europe, particularly in Catholic regions. One of the most famous Avangelines was the Italian nun and mystic Avangeline Panigarola (1515-1587), who founded a convent and was later beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.
In England, the name took on a slightly different spelling, appearing as Evangeline in records from the 16th century onwards. One of the earliest English bearers was Evangeline Clopton (1565-1634), a wealthy heiress and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I.
While the name fell out of widespread use in most of Europe after the 17th century, it experienced a revival in parts of North America during the 19th century, inspired in part by the 1847 epic poem Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This work told the story of an Acadian woman named Evangeline who is separated from her lover during the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia.
People
Avangeline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Avangeline 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
Avangeline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Avangeline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 481 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Avangeline 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 712,587 US residents.
Is Avangeline a common name?
We classify Avangeline as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 485 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Avangeline most popular?
The single biggest year for Avangeline was 2017, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Avangeline is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Avangeline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Avangeline a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Avangeline 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 Avangeline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Avangeline 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 Avangeline 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Avangeline?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.