Avella
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially derived from Latin.
Name Census estimates that about 103 living Americans carry the first name Avella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Avella today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Avella births was 2020 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Avella. 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 Avella with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
103
~ 1 in 3,327,712 Americans
Peak year
2020
12 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,990
Tracked since 1962
Popularity
Avella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Avella from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 50 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Avella 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 Avella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Avella
The name Avella has its roots in the ancient Latin language, where it was derived from the word "avellaneus," meaning "hazelnut." This connection suggests that the name may have originated in regions of the Mediterranean where hazelnut trees were prevalent, such as Italy or Greece, during the Roman era.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Avella can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who mentioned a town called Avella in his work "Ab Urbe Condita." This town, located in the region of Campania in southern Italy, was renowned for its hazelnut cultivation and trade during the Roman Republic period.
In the Middle Ages, the name Avella gained popularity among Christian families, particularly in Italy and other parts of Europe influenced by Latin culture. This was likely due to the name's association with the hazelnut, which held symbolic significance in Christian iconography as a representation of fertility and abundance.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Avella was Avella of Vienne, a 6th-century Frankish abbess and saint. She is remembered for founding the Monastery of St. Pierre in Vienne, France, and her contributions to the spread of Christianity in the region.
Another individual of note was Avella Simonetti, an Italian painter active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. Born in Perugia around 1470, Simonetti was known for her religious works, including altarpieces and frescoes, which adorned churches throughout Umbria and Lazio.
In the 17th century, Avella Brancadoro emerged as a prominent figure in Italian literature. Born in Naples in 1628, she was a celebrated poet and member of the Accademia degli Oziosi, a prominent literary society of the time. Her works often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
Moving into the 18th century, Avella Germain was a French botanist and explorer who made significant contributions to the study of plant life in the Caribbean. Born in 1678 in Tonneins, France, she spent many years cataloging and documenting the flora of the West Indies, contributing to the advancement of botanical knowledge.
Finally, in the 19th century, Avella Cather was an American writer and teacher born in 1873 in Virginia. Although not as renowned as some of her contemporaries, Cather's works explored themes of rural life and the experiences of immigrant communities in the American Midwest, providing a unique perspective on the region's cultural landscape.
People
Avella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Avella 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
Avella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Avella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 103 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Avella 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 3,327,712 US residents.
Is Avella a common name?
We classify Avella as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 105 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Avella most popular?
The single biggest year for Avella was 2020, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Avella 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 Avella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Avella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Avella 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 Avella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Avella 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 Avella 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 Avella?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Avella at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.