April

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April

Gender: Feminine
Language: English
Etymology:
April is the English name for the fourth month of the year. Possibly it comes from Latin “aperire” meaning “to open.”

History:
April, as had previously happened with June and May, began being used as a first name in the mid-20th century. It was originally given only to girls born actually born in the month of April.

In the late 1930s the name April suddenly entered into a sharp rise in popularity, culminating in the 1970s. Why, just then, April took off as a name, we have been unable to determine.

Pronunciation: ape-rill.

Alternates: Aprille, Apryl.
French: Avril.
Hawaiian: Apelila.
Spanish: Abril.
Welsh: Ebrill.

Popularity:
Percentage from the 1990 U.S. Census:
0.154 % of females named April
0.002 % of females named Apryl
0.001 % of females named Avril

Popularity of April:
Popularity (for newborns):
In the United States...
1880-1938: N/A
1939: 925th most popular.
1940: 671st most popular.
1941: 523rd most popular.
1942: 485th most popular.
1943: 502nd most popular.
1944: 569th most popular.
1945: 456th most popular.
1946: 353rd most popular.
1947: 354th most popular.
1948: 406th most popular.
1949: 365th most popular.
1950: 402nd most popular.
1951: 354th most popular.
1952: 281st most popular.
1953: 290th most popular.
1954: 272nd most popular.
1955: 229th most popular.
1956: 236th most popular.
1957: 233rd most popular.
1958: 224th most popular.
1959: 211th most popular.
1960: 191st most popular.
1961: 201st most popular.
1962: 199th most popular.
1963: 175th most popular.
1964: 152nd most popular.
1965: 136th most popular.
1966: 108th most popular.
1967: 79th most popular.
1968: 96th most popular.
1969: 97th most popular.
1970: 82nd most popular.
1971: 56th most popular.
1972: 47th most popular.
1973: 33rd most popular.
1974: 28th most popular.
1975: 25th most popular.
1976: 30th most popular.
1977: 29th most popular.
1978: 27th most popular.
1979: 23rd most popular. - Peak!
1980: 25th most popular.
1981: 25th most popular.
1982: 32nd most popular.
1983: 39th most popular.
1984: 42nd most popular.
1985: 47th most popular.
1986: 53rd most popular.
1987: 58th most popular.
1988: 65th most popular.
1989: 66th most popular.
1990: 75th most popular.
1991: 94th most popular.
1992: 106th most popular.
1993: 114th most popular.
1994: 134th most popular.
1995: 159th most popular.
1996: 179th most popular.
1997: 193rd most popular.
1998: 170th most popular.
1999: 202nd most popular.
2000: 220th most popular.
2001: 248th most popular.
2002: 258th most popular.
2003: 281st most popular.
2004: 278th most popular.

Selected Sources:
The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Withycombe, 1977, 3rd ed.
A Dictionary of First Names, Hanks and Hodges, 1990
The Penguin Dictionary of First Names, Pickering, 1999

The Social Security Administration Actuarial Note 139 (www.ssa.gov) - For popularity stats 1880-Present
The 1880 U.S. Census- For popularity stats 1850-1880, and other information (it is available on-line at www.familysearch.org)