Aviel
A Hebrew name meaning "Father of strength" or "My father is God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,271 living Americans carry the first name Aviel. It is a predominantly male name (95.9% of registrations). The average person named Aviel today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aviel births was 2024 (109 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aviel. 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 Aviel is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 53 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Aviel is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 269,673 Americans
Peak year
2024
109 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,626
Tracked since 1979
Gender
Gender distribution for Aviel
Aviel leans heavily male at 95.9% of total registrations, but 53 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Aviel as a male name
- Ranked #1,626 in 2024
- 104 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (104 births)
Aviel as a female name
- Ranked #15,568 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (8 births)
Popularity
Aviel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aviel from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 477 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
Aviel 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 Aviel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aviels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Aviel, while Washington, Virginia, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aviel
The name Aviel is derived from Hebrew origins and is believed to have emerged during the Biblical era. It is composed of two Hebrew elements: "av" meaning "father" and "el" meaning "God," collectively translating to "Father of God" or "My Father is God."
In the Hebrew Bible, Aviel is mentioned as the name of a prominent figure from the tribe of Benjamin. He is identified as the father of Ner, who was the grandfather of King Saul, the first monarch of the united Kingdom of Israel and Judah.
The earliest recorded usage of the name Aviel can be traced back to the Book of Chronicles in the Old Testament, where it is mentioned as the name of a Levite who assisted in transporting the Ark of the Covenant during the reign of King David.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Aviel. One of the earliest recorded was Aviel, a prominent rabbi and scholar who lived in the 12th century and authored several influential works on Jewish law and philosophy.
Another notable Aviel was Aviel Bushido (1587-1638), a Japanese samurai warrior and strategist who played a significant role in the Siege of Osaka, a critical event in the Sengoku period of Japanese history.
In the realm of literature, Aviel Galan (1923-1995) was a celebrated Israeli poet and author whose works explored themes of identity, belonging, and the human condition.
Aviel Yehezkel (1916-1994) was an Israeli politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Transportation in the Israeli government during the 1970s and 1980s.
Aviel Avitzur (1935-2020) was an influential Israeli sculptor and artist known for his monumental public sculptures that adorned various cities across Israel, including the iconic "Homage to Labor" in Tel Aviv.
People
Aviel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aviel 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
Aviel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aviel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,271 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aviel 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 269,673 US residents.
Is Aviel a common name?
We classify Aviel as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,285 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aviel most popular?
The single biggest year for Aviel was 2024, when 109 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aviel is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Aviel a male name?
Yes, 95.9% of people registered as Aviel in the SSA data are male. 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.