Mavis
Mavis was the 561st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 537 babies. Its best year was 1927, when it ranked 270th with 603 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 443 places. More babies were named Mavis in the 1920s than in any other decade.
Meaning song thrush (poetic English) · English, French
Say it MAY-vis /ˈmeɪvɪs/
- Rank in 2025
- #561 girls, up 280 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 537girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 1927603 babies
- Total since 1880
- 23,150babies recorded
What does the name Mavis mean?
Mavis is an old poetic word for the song thrush, and Wiktionary says it was coined as a girls' name at the end of the 19th century. The American Heritage Dictionary traces the bird word through Middle English to Old French mauvis, probably from mauve, a seagull. In the US the name was used from the 1890s and peaked in the 1920s.
mauvis (Old French, “song thrush”)mavis (Middle English, “song thrush”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Mavie.
See also: English names, names that mean an animal.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Mavis' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., entry 'mavis' (etymology), HarperCollins / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Mavis popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 135 since 1916.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #561 | 537 |
| 2020 | #841 | 325 |
| 2010 | #6,811 | 19 |
| 2000 | #8,367 | 12 |
| 1990 | #5,730 | 16 |
| 1980 | #3,465 | 24 |
| 1970 | #1,924 | 45 |
| 1960 | #918 | 134 |
| 1950 | #579 | 209 |
| 1940 | #354 | 333 |
| 1930 | #282 | 531 |
| 1920 | #295 | 487 |
| 1910 | #701 | 37 |
| 1900 | #877 | 19 |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Mavis, counting every spelling?
Mavis has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #561 for girls in 2025.
How many kids will share the name Mavis?
537 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Mavis (0.15 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Mavis born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 16 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Mavis.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Mavis?
About 10,200 people born in the US named Mavis are alive today, with a median age of 43; half are between 6 and 76. That makes Mavis mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties. The wide spread shows a name popular in two different eras.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Mavis by state
How common Mavis was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Idaho (4.3×), Oklahoma (2.8×), West Virginia (2.7×), Indiana (2.5×), Missouri (2.5×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New York, Louisiana, Maryland.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Mavis: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Mavis, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Mavis · Sibling names for Mavis
Questions about the name Mavis
What does Mavis mean?
Mavis means “song thrush (poetic English)” (English, French origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Mavis?
Mavis was the 561st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 537 babies. Its best year was 1927, when it ranked 270th with 603 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 443 places. More babies were named Mavis in the 1920s than in any other decade.
Is Mavis a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Mavis in the US.
Where is Mavis most popular?
In 2021–2025, Mavis was most common in Idaho (1.25 per 1,000 girls), followed by Oklahoma and Alaska.