Humanverse

Avon vs Avory

American parents have registered 2,341 Avons since 1880, against 879 Avorys. But in 2025 it was Avory that was commoner, 19 babies to 18.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Avon against Avory, 1880 to 2025 0 15 30 45 60 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Avon Avory

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 118 years in which either name was published, Avon for 88 years and Avory for 30 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Avon Avory
Total US births 2,341879
Most in one year 4656
Babies in 2025 1819
Estimated living today 1,200870
Median age today 5914
Peak year 19212014
Best rank 1,296th boys4,178th girls
Rank in 2025 5,208th6,116th
First recorded 18931991
Girls / boys 700 / 1,641516 / 363

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Avons alive today are over 59; half the Avorys are over 14. That is 45 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Avon and Avory.