Popularity of the name Ava, 1880–2025
Ava was at its most popular in 2007, when 18,053 girls were given the name: about 1 in 110 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #4. In 2025, 7,732 girls were named Ava, ranking #11. In all, Social Security counts 344,097 girls named Ava since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 344 boys named Ava.
- Peak year
- 2007
- Rank in 2007
- #4
- Babies in 2007
- 18,053
- Rank in 2025
- #11
- Total since 1880
- 344,097
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #4 in 2015 to #11 in 2025, with 16,416 girls named Ava in 2015 and 7,732 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Ava ranked highest in the 2010s, at #5, with 155,879 girls given the name that decade. It ranked #390 in the 1880s and #8 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 13 in 1880 (#466), 65 in 1900 (#417), 184 in 1920 (#515), 78 in 1940 (#802), 327 in 1960 (#532), 113 in 1980 (#1,183), 1,796 in 2000 (#180) and 13,201 in 2020 (#3).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 18,053, in 2007. Its best rank in any year was #3, first reached in 2016.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Ava, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 13 | #466 |
| 1881 | 18 | #393 |
| 1882 | 21 | #389 |
| 1883 | 29 | #331 |
| 1884 | 32 | #349 |
| 1885 | 18 | #500 |
| 1886 | 27 | #416 |
| 1887 | 36 | #360 |
| 1888 | 41 | #374 |
| 1889 | 44 | #362 |
| 1890 | 49 | #361 |
| 1891 | 41 | #387 |
| 1892 | 54 | #360 |
| 1893 | 46 | #394 |
| 1894 | 58 | #367 |
| 1895 | 54 | #379 |
| 1896 | 38 | #467 |
| 1897 | 42 | #453 |
| 1898 | 53 | #422 |
| 1899 | 44 | #438 |
| 1900 | 65 | #417 |
| 1901 | 46 | #435 |
| 1902 | 40 | #502 |
| 1903 | 55 | #428 |
| 1904 | 50 | #463 |
| 1905 | 53 | #464 |
| 1906 | 62 | #437 |
| 1907 | 55 | #481 |
| 1908 | 58 | #474 |
| 1909 | 49 | #541 |
| 1910 | 79 | #449 |
| 1911 | 86 | #438 |
| 1912 | 98 | #483 |
| 1913 | 112 | #477 |
| 1914 | 156 | #434 |
| 1915 | 171 | #471 |
| 1916 | 186 | #466 |
| 1917 | 180 | #492 |
| 1918 | 174 | #529 |
| 1919 | 159 | #546 |
| 1920 | 184 | #515 |
| 1921 | 177 | #537 |
| 1922 | 160 | #567 |
| 1923 | 173 | #546 |
| 1924 | 157 | #587 |
| 1925 | 164 | #560 |
| 1926 | 164 | #547 |
| 1927 | 141 | #598 |
| 1928 | 135 | #604 |
| 1929 | 135 | #588 |
| 1930 | 142 | #571 |
| 1931 | 136 | #561 |
| 1932 | 145 | #541 |
| 1933 | 119 | #592 |
| 1934 | 129 | #564 |
| 1935 | 109 | #621 |
| 1936 | 113 | #620 |
| 1937 | 114 | #634 |
| 1938 | 83 | #764 |
| 1939 | 90 | #717 |
| 1940 | 78 | #802 |
| 1941 | 89 | #756 |
| 1942 | 132 | #648 |
| 1943 | 109 | #742 |
| 1944 | 91 | #801 |
| 1945 | 80 | #842 |
| 1946 | 131 | #703 |
| 1947 | 199 | #603 |
| 1948 | 197 | #593 |
| 1949 | 240 | #534 |
| 1950 | 299 | #469 |
| 1951 | 384 | #426 |
| 1952 | 388 | #435 |
| 1953 | 462 | #394 |
| 1954 | 540 | #376 |
| 1955 | 508 | #388 |
| 1956 | 509 | #401 |
| 1957 | 432 | #455 |
| 1958 | 378 | #492 |
| 1959 | 337 | #528 |
| 1960 | 327 | #532 |
| 1961 | 262 | #631 |
| 1962 | 263 | #618 |
| 1963 | 273 | #604 |
| 1964 | 268 | #610 |
| 1965 | 227 | #649 |
| 1966 | 199 | #695 |
| 1967 | 176 | #736 |
| 1968 | 177 | #743 |
| 1969 | 170 | #786 |
| 1970 | 177 | #789 |
| 1971 | 161 | #848 |
| 1972 | 153 | #848 |
| 1973 | 108 | #1,066 |
| 1974 | 130 | #950 |
| 1975 | 127 | #973 |
| 1976 | 96 | #1,182 |
| 1977 | 103 | #1,191 |
| 1978 | 132 | #1,031 |
| 1979 | 132 | #1,051 |
| 1980 | 113 | #1,183 |
| 1981 | 123 | #1,122 |
| 1982 | 109 | #1,221 |
| 1983 | 107 | #1,200 |
| 1984 | 146 | #988 |
| 1985 | 134 | #1,081 |
| 1986 | 166 | #950 |
| 1987 | 176 | #931 |
| 1988 | 167 | #986 |
| 1989 | 175 | #986 |
| 1990 | 198 | #950 |
| 1991 | 236 | #847 |
| 1992 | 239 | #835 |
| 1993 | 286 | #734 |
| 1994 | 276 | #751 |
| 1995 | 279 | #734 |
| 1996 | 285 | #740 |
| 1997 | 362 | #618 |
| 1998 | 831 | #350 |
| 1999 | 1,215 | #259 |
| 2000 | 1,796 | #180 |
| 2001 | 2,539 | #132 |
| 2002 | 3,751 | #82 |
| 2003 | 6,280 | #39 |
| 2004 | 8,645 | #25 |
| 2005 | 13,606 | #9 |
| 2006 | 16,941 | #5 |
| 2007 | 18,053 | #4 |
| 2008 | 17,051 | #5 |
| 2009 | 15,877 | #5 |
| 2010 | 15,444 | #5 |
| 2011 | 15,518 | #5 |
| 2012 | 15,549 | #5 |
| 2013 | 15,271 | #5 |
| 2014 | 15,727 | #5 |
| 2015 | 16,416 | #4 |
| 2016 | 16,354 | #3 |
| 2017 | 16,017 | #3 |
| 2018 | 15,034 | #3 |
| 2019 | 14,549 | #3 |
| 2020 | 13,201 | #3 |
| 2021 | 12,873 | #5 |
| 2022 | 11,107 | #7 |
| 2023 | 9,737 | #8 |
| 2024 | 8,700 | #9 |
| 2025 | 7,732 | #11 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.