Girl · English (from Old French) · Christian
Mavis
MavisSay it MAY-vis
- Meaning today
- Song thrush, songbird
- Original meaning
- "the song thrush (Old French mauvis)" Online Etymology Dictionary, s.v. mavis
- Say it
- MAY-vis
- Other spellings
- Maevis
Mavis
Stays on your phone. A family name is never required.
Mavis meaning
Mavis is a Christian girl's name of English origin (from Old French).
The song thrush (Old French mauvis)
Also used to mean: songbird
Mavis is an old English word for the song thrush, the speckled garden bird famous for repeating each phrase of its song. The Online Etymology Dictionary records it around 1400 as mavys, borrowed from Old French mauvis, whose own origin is unknown; Spanish and Italian have related bird names. Poets used mavis for its music, and that gave the name its appeal when it came into use for girls. In India it is a gentle, old-fashioned name found mainly in Mangalorean, Goan and Anglo-Indian Christian families.
Source: Online Etymology Dictionary (etymonline.com), s.v. mavis · entry mavis · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026
References: Online Etymology Dictionary, mavis
Popularity abroad
- #561 United States, girls 2025 (up 5 from 566 in 2024)
US Social Security Administration - #763 England and Wales, girls 2025
Office for National Statistics
Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.
Spellings
Mavis · Maevis