Welcome to ASK AMANDA. I have a question about a newly popular baby name…is it on your list?

 

Ask Amanda

Q:    I know at least four people who have named their kid Avery in the past two years and there may be more that I am forgetting.  Have you seen a big uptick in Averys?

DIANA, Oakland, CA

 

A:    I have definitely seen Avery getting more popular and am not surprised to hear you’ve met quite a few baby Averys lately. So why are there so many baby Averys out there?

 

Avery’s got a lot of trends going for it:

 

1.       It has a similar sound to popular Ava and Eva

2.       It’s unisex (though it won’t be for long)

3.       It’s a surname name

4.       It’s similar in style to other popular names like Peyton and Madison

 

The Social Security website tracks name popularity and reports the Top 1000 every year. It’s one of my favorite websites. Here’s what it tells us:

 

·         As a boy’s name, Avery has been on the list since the very first year they started keeping track – 1880! That’s a long time. It’s spent most of that time in the 400-600 range. It reached its peak in 2006 at #211.

 

·         Avery didn’t enter the girl’s list for the first time until 1989. That year it was #976 and in 2008 it had skyrocketed all the way to #38.

 

In summary, Avery is more popular than ever for both boys and girls. However, even though Avery has a longer history as a boy’s name, the girl’s are taking ownership now.

 

NOTABLE AVERYS:

 

Avery Johnson – basketball player and former Dallas Mavericks coach

 

Avery Jukes – Butler basketball player who just played in the 2010 championship game

 

James Avery, Sr. – Actor from Fresh Prince of Bel Air

 

 

That’s Avery in a nutshell. What do you all think about the name?

 

 

 

 

Happy naming,

♥  Amanda

 

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

 

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

 

 

 

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES