Avon
Of Celtic origin, meaning river or water.
Name Census estimates that about 1,195 living Americans carry the first name Avon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Avon today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Avon births was 1948 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Avon. 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 Avon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 286,824 Americans
Peak year
1948
46 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,245
Tracked since 1893
Census
Avon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,163 people with the first name Avon, which placed it at #11,166 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
#11,166
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
56.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Avon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avon is Black at 56.3%. The next largest groups are White (28.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.6%). 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 Avon 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 Avon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American56.3% · 655
- White28.1% · 327
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.6% · 77
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 52
- Two or more races3.7% · 43
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Avon
Avon is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,323 total registrations, 1,623 (69.9%) were male and 700 (30.1%) were female.
Avon as a male name
- Ranked #5,245 in 2024
- 18 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1921 (32 births)
Avon as a female name
- Ranked #13,500 in 1992
- 5 female births in 1992
- Peak: 1953 (23 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Avon on both sides of the split. Of the 1,162 people counted with this name, 701 were male (60.3%) and 461 were female (39.7%).
Popularity
Avon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Avon from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 357 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Avon 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 Avon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Avons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Maryland, North Carolina, New York recorded the most babies named Avon, while Virginia, Missouri, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Avon
The name Avon is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic language spoken by the Britons, the people who inhabited modern-day England and Wales before the Roman conquest. It is derived from the Celtic word "abona," which means "river" or "stream." The name was likely given to children born near a river or stream, as was common in many ancient cultures.
The earliest recorded use of the name Avon can be traced back to the Roman period in Britain, where it was used as a place-name for several rivers, including the famous River Avon that flows through the cities of Bristol and Bath. The name was also used in various forms, such as "Avona" and "Aufona," in ancient texts and records.
In the early medieval period, the name Avon was occasionally used as a personal name, although its use was not widespread. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name being used as a personal name dates back to the 11th century, when it was given to a monk named Avon of Evesham, who lived in the abbey of Evesham in Worcestershire, England.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Avon. One of the most famous was Avon of Stratford (c. 1160 - c. 1240), an English clergyman and philosopher who served as the Chancellor of Oxford University in the early 13th century.
Another notable figure with the name Avon was Avon Gillam (1795 - 1864), an American politician and judge who served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Supreme Court.
In the 20th century, Avon Rennie (1914 - 1992) was a Canadian politician and diplomat who served as the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations and played a key role in the negotiations that led to the creation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Avon Barclay (1920 - 2003) was an American actor and playwright who was best known for his work in the theater and on television in the 1950s and 1960s.
Finally, Avon Williams (1910 - 1994) was an American jazz musician and bandleader who led several successful swing and jazz bands in the 1930s and 1940s.
While the name Avon has its roots in ancient Celtic culture and has been used throughout history, it has never been a particularly common name. However, its unique and historical origins have made it a distinctive and memorable choice for parents seeking a name with a strong connection to the past.
People
Avon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Avon 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
Avon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Avon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,195 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Avon 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 286,824 US residents.
Is Avon a common name?
We classify Avon as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,323 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Avon most popular?
The single biggest year for Avon was 1948, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Avon is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Avon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,163 people with the name Avon, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,166 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 Avon 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 Avon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Avon on both sides of the split. Of the 1,162 people counted with this name, 701 were male (60.3%) and 461 were female (39.7%). 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 Avon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avon is Black at 56.3%. The next largest groups are White (28.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.6%). 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 Avon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Avon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.3% (655 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 Avon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Avon a male name?
Yes, 69.9% of people registered as Avon 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.
Is Avon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Avon 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 Avon 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 common is the name Avon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.