Avril
A feminine name of French origin meaning "born in April".
Name Census estimates that about 3,182 living Americans carry the first name Avril. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Avril today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Avril births was 2008 (155 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Avril. 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
3.2K
~ 1 in 107,717 Americans
Peak year
2008
155 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
1995 SSA rank
#1,847
Tracked since 1919
Gender
Gender distribution for Avril
Out of the 3,376 babies given the name Avril since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Avril as a male name
- Ranked #8,986 in 1995
- 5 male births in 1995
- Peak: 1995 (5 births)
Avril as a female name
- Ranked #1,847 in 2024
- 108 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (155 births)
Popularity
Avril: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Avril 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 1,233 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Avril remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Avril 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 Avril during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Avrils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Avril, while Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 90 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Avril
The name Avril originates from the French word for the month of April, "avril". It can be traced back to the Latin word "aperire", which means "to open", referring to the opening of buds and flowers during the spring season.
The name Avril has been used since the Middle Ages, with some of the earliest recorded uses dating back to the 13th century in France. It was a popular name among the French nobility during this time period.
In medieval French literature, the name Avril is mentioned in several works, such as the Roman de la Rose, a 13th-century allegorical dream poem. The name was often associated with the themes of renewal, rebirth, and the arrival of spring.
One of the earliest recorded individuals named Avril was Avril de Pisseleu, a French noblewoman and mistress of King Francis I of France in the 16th century. She lived from around 1499 to 1577.
During the Renaissance period, the name Avril became more widespread across Europe, particularly in France and England. It was sometimes used as a masculine name as well, with variants like Avrill or Averill.
In the 18th century, Avril-Philippine-Lenor de Romilly, Madame de Souza, was a French novelist and salonnière who lived from 1761 to 1836. Her works were well-regarded in literary circles of the time.
Another notable figure with the name Avril was Avril Phaedra Douglas Campbell, better known as Avril Anriou, a British writer and artist who lived from 1909 to 1990. She was known for her surrealist works and her involvement in the Bloomsbury Group.
In the 20th century, the name Avril gained popularity as a feminine given name, particularly in English-speaking countries. One of the most famous individuals with this name is the Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, born in 1984.
Another notable Avril was Avril Henry, an Australian author and journalist who lived from 1936 to 2018. She was known for her works on Australian history and culture.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Avril
People
Avril + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Avril 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
Avril: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Avril?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,182 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Avril 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 107,717 US residents.
Is Avril a common name?
We classify Avril as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,376 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Avril most popular?
The single biggest year for Avril was 2008, when 155 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Avril is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Avril a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Avril 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.
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.