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Averill
How to Pronounce Averill
Pronounced AV-uh-ril /ˈæv.ər.ɪl/Medium
Meaning: Averill comes down from the medieval English surname, which itself derives from the old feminine name Everild or Everilda. That name joins the Old English eofor, 'boar,' with hild, 'battle,' giving a fierce older sense of 'boar-battle.' Later revived as a boy's given name, Averill also picks up a soft echo of the month April in modern ears.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Averill reaches modern use through an English surname that grew from Everild, an early medieval name built from eofor, 'boar,' and hild, 'battle.' Saint Everilda, a seventh-century figure in Yorkshire, kept the older name alive, and by the twentieth century Averill was being handed to boys as a refined surname-style first name, its warlike roots softened by time and by its likeness to April.
The name was never widespread, cresting at about fifteen boys a year and turning up steadily from the nineteen-tens into the twenty-tens, with a small high point in the late nineteen-eighties. Its long, thin run marks it as a quietly persistent English name rather than a fashion, and it still reads as scholarly and old-world today.
Variations
Nicknames
Famous Bearers
- ★W. Averell Harriman (1891-1986)American diplomat, governor of New York, and presidential adviser, who used Averell as his given name.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Averill mean?
It comes from an English surname and the old name Everild, from Old English eofor, 'boar,' and hild, 'battle,' hence 'boar-battle.'
How do you pronounce Averill?
It is said AV-uh-ril /ˈæv.ər.ɪl/ - three syllables, stress on the first.
Is Averill a boy or girl name?
Here Averill is used as a boy's name, though the source name Everild was originally feminine.
How popular is Averill?
It was always rare in the United States, reaching only about fifteen boys a year at its best in the late nineteen-eighties.