Avery

English

"ruler of the elves"

Avery Origin and Meaning

The name Avery is a girl's name of English origin meaning "ruler of the elves".

Avery originated in the Middle Ages as a Norman-French pronunciation variation of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and the Ancient Germanic name Alberich. The elements aelf, meaning "elf" and ric, meaning "ruler" give Avery its meaning. While Avery is considered by many to be a surname name, it was a given name first. It was used as a patronymic surname when England began to require last names.

Though this unisex name has been around for a few decades, Avery is now a hot one for girls, partly as an alternative to the epidemic Ava. The female Avery has had a meteoric rise, moving up from Number 802 in 1990 to just outside the Top 10 in recent years. While it's still well-used for boys, it's among the most popular girls' names starting with A. Four times as many girls as boys were named Avery in 2018.

Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn may have started it all when they chose it for their daughter in 2005, just as they did with daughters Finley and Emery. Amy Locane used the name in 2009 and now Dr. Phil has a granddaughter named Avery.

On 30 Rock, Elizabeth Banks had an extended cameo playing Alec Baldwin's glamorous fiancée, Avery Jessup.

Avery Popularity

• 19 US 2020
• 92 Nameberry 2021
• 1 Unisex 2020
• 11 Future 2028
• 358 England 2020