Avelina
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "desired" or "longing".
Name Census estimates that about 1,342 living Americans carry the first name Avelina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Avelina today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Avelina births was 2016 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Avelina. 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 Avelina with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 255,406 Americans
Peak year
2016
64 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,218
Tracked since 1914
Census
Avelina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,970 people with the first name Avelina, which placed it at #5,683 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
#5,683
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
2,970 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
61.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Avelina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avelina is Hispanic at 61.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.2%) and White (9.3%). 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 Avelina 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 Avelina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino61.4% · 1,824
- Asian and Pacific Islander26.2% · 779
- White9.3% · 277
- Two or more races1.6% · 47
- Black or African American1.2% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 7
Popularity
Avelina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Avelina from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 405 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Avelina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Avelina 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 Avelina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Avelinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, New Mexico recorded the most babies named Avelina, while Pennsylvania, New York, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 70 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Avelina
The name Avelina has its origins in Latin, derived from the word "avellana" meaning "hazelnut". It is a feminine form of the name Avellino, which refers to a town in the Campania region of southern Italy.
Historically, the name Avelina was first recorded in the 4th century AD, when it was borne by a Roman Christian martyr named Avelina, who was killed during the persecution of Diocletian. Her feast day is celebrated on November 29th in the Roman Catholic Church.
During the Middle Ages, the name Avelina was relatively uncommon, but it gained popularity in certain regions of Italy, particularly in the areas around the town of Avellino. It was also occasionally seen in parts of Spain, where it was likely influenced by the Spanish word "avellana", also meaning "hazelnut".
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Avelina can be found in the 12th century, when it was used by a Italian noblewoman named Avelina di Monferrato (1135-1199). She was the daughter of William V, Marquess of Montferrat, and played a significant role in the politics of her time.
Another notable bearer of the name Avelina was Avelina Losada (1908-1998), a Spanish writer and poet from Galicia. She was known for her works that celebrated the culture and landscapes of her homeland.
In the 16th century, there was a Spanish nun named Avelina de la Cruz (1530-1605) who was venerated for her piety and devotion to the Catholic faith. She founded a convent in Salamanca and was known for her charitable works.
Another historical figure with the name Avelina was Avelina Valades (1822-1904), a Mexican educator and activist who played a significant role in promoting women's education and rights in her country.
Lastly, Avelina Lésper (1888-1974) was a Mexican artist and sculptor who gained recognition for her works depicting indigenous themes and subjects. Her sculptures can be found in various public spaces and museums across Mexico.
People
Avelina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Avelina 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
Avelina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Avelina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,342 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Avelina 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 255,406 US residents.
Is Avelina a common name?
We classify Avelina as "Rare". It ranks above 91.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,730 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Avelina most popular?
The single biggest year for Avelina was 2016, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Avelina is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Avelina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,970 people with the name Avelina, or 0.98 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,683 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 Avelina 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 Avelina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Avelina appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,978 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 Avelina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avelina is Hispanic at 61.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (26.2%) and White (9.3%). 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 Avelina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Avelina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.4% (1,824 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 Avelina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Avelina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Avelina 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 Avelina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Avelina 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 Avelina 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 Americans are named Avelina?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.