Avery

Additional information: The name Avery is taken from the surname Avery, a Norman French translation of the Old English name Alfred, which in turn was derived from Ælfræd, meaning ‘Elf Counsel’. Avery is a gender neutral name; it is more common as a boys name in the United Kingdom, and more common as a girls name in the USA, reaching the thirteenth most popular name in the USA in 2014. It didn’t enjoy any substantial popularity as either a boys or a girls name before the 1990s.

It is the name of several towns and counties in the U.S.; there is also a crater on the Moon named Avery.

Although Avery is a boys name in its own right, names like Everett may ensure that there isn’t any confusion over the gender of the baby – this is also the case for Ivory for a girl. Alternate spellings include Averi or Averie, and in Russian Avery is a diminutive of the given name Averky. Avery is sometimes misspelled as Avry, and modern typing can sometimes result in spelling Avery as Cavery.

Avery Brooks is an American actor, best known for his role as Benjamin Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Other celebrities named Avery are Ralph Di Stasio, better known by his stage name of Avery Storm; Avery Fisher, the founder of Fisher Electronics and the man Avery Fisher Hall is named after; and Avery Brundage, who is president of the International Olympic Committee.

Famous fictional characters named Avery are Avery Arable from Charlotte’s Web, Avery Barkley from Nashville, and Avery, a minor character from the Harry Potter series.

The pirate Henry Every was known as the King of the Pirates in the late seventeenth century, and was written about using the name Avery. He pulled off the most profitable raid in written history, and disappeared with his loot in 1696, never to be seen again.