Avery

The earliest recorded use of Avery as a surname appears in England shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066, with mentions in the Pipe Rolls of Hampshire in 1196.

The most prominent medieval bearer was Avery of Chichester, an English clergyman associated with the cathedral chapter in the late 12th century.

The name was also adopted by Welsh and Cornish families, where it sometimes substituted for native names of similar sound.

Literary and cultural references to Avery include the family name in E. B. White’s beloved children’s novel Charlotte’s Web (1952), where Avery Arable is the older brother of Fern.

The name appears in Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio (1919) and in numerous American novels of the early 20th century, almost always as a male character.

Notable historical bearers include the American educator Avery Brundage (1887-1975), president of the International Olympic Committee from 1952 to 1972.

Geographic spread of Avery as a given name was confined to the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom through most of the 20th century.

The shift from male to female use in American naming began in the early 1990s, accelerating dramatically after the 1995 film The Bridges of Madison County.

In Social Security Administration records, Avery first entered the female top 1000 in 1989, crossed gender thresholds by 1996, and reached No.

14 for girls by 2017. The name remains one of the most successful examples of contemporary gender migration in American naming.

Contemporary bearers include the American jazz pianist Avery Sharpe, born in 1954, the British actress Avery Brooks, and the character Avery Jessup from the television series 30 Rock created by Tina Fey.

The name also belongs to Avery Bradley, the American professional basketball player born in 1990, and to numerous figures in American letters and media whose visibility has reinforced its modern feminine identity.