Avory
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially derived from French.
Name Census estimates that about 849 living Americans carry the first name Avory. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 57.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Avory today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Avory births was 2014 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Avory. 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.
People living today
849
~ 1 in 403,715 Americans
Peak year
2014
56 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,647
Tracked since 1991
Census
Avory in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 699 people with the first name Avory, which placed it at #16,219 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
#16,219
National first-name rank
People counted
699
699 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Avory
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avory is White at 51.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.0%) and Black (16.3%). 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 Avory 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 Avory at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.9% · 363
- Hispanic or Latino18.0% · 126
- Black or African American16.3% · 114
- Two or more races10.2% · 71
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Avory
Avory is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 859 total registrations, 362 (42.1%) were male and 497 (57.9%) were female.
Avory as a male name
- Ranked #9,039 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (21 births)
Avory as a female name
- Ranked #6,647 in 2024
- 17 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (35 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Avory on both sides of the split. Of the 706 people counted with this name, 291 were male (41.2%) and 415 were female (58.8%).
Popularity
Avory: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Avory from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 364 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Avory 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 Avory during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Avorys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Avory
The given name Avory has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically Old English and Old Norse. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "afora," which means "favored" or "beloved," and the Old Norse word "áfr," meaning "elf" or "supernatural being." The name was likely coined during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, between the 5th and 11th centuries AD.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Avory can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions an individual named "Avorus" who held land in Lincolnshire. This suggests that the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxon population before the Norman Conquest.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Avory was relatively uncommon but appeared sporadically in various historical records. One notable bearer of the name was Avory de Chastillon, a French nobleman who fought in the Third Crusade (1189-1192) under King Richard I of England.
In the 14th century, an English scholar and theologian named Avory of Metz gained recognition for his writings on philosophy and logic. He was born around 1300 and taught at the University of Paris.
During the Renaissance period, the name Avory appeared in several works of literature. In William Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor," one of the characters is named Avory Shallow, a cousin of Justice Shallow.
In the 18th century, Avory Menzies was a Scottish botanist and plant collector who made significant contributions to the study of Australian flora. He was born in 1763 and served as a naval surgeon before embarking on his botanical expeditions.
Another notable bearer of the name was Avory Dunagan, an American soldier and politician who served in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He was born in 1818 in Tennessee and later became a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives.
While the name Avory has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by individuals from various backgrounds and professions, reflecting its enduring appeal and timeless quality.
People
Avory + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Avory 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
Avory: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Avory?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 849 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Avory 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 403,715 US residents.
Is Avory a common name?
We classify Avory as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 859 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Avory most popular?
The single biggest year for Avory was 2014, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Avory is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Avory in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 699 people with the name Avory, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,219 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 Avory 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 Avory?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Avory on both sides of the split. Of the 706 people counted with this name, 291 were male (41.2%) and 415 were female (58.8%). 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 Avory?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Avory is White at 51.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.0%) and Black (16.3%). 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 Avory most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Avory in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.9% (363 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 Avory in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Avory a female name?
Yes, 57.9% of people registered as Avory 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 Avory still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Avory 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 Avory 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 people are named Avory?
Find out how many Americans are named Avory on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.