Names That Mean Songbird

Mavis, another word for the song thrush, is also a relative of the Welsh word for strawberries, mefus. Mavis has something of a British World War II feel, a friend of Beryl and Doris, but it was quite popular in the U.S. a couple of decades earlier, peaking in the Roaring Twenties. With the renewed interest in names ending in 's' — and in bird names — Mavis could make a return, especially with the new interest in Maeve, and in fact, it reentered the US Top 1000 after a 50-year absence in 2016.

With the booming popularity of Irish Maeve and now the climb of vintage revival Mavis in the charts, more parents are beginning to gravitate towards this aesthetic variation. Maevis was a fast riser in 2022, but was still only given to a little over 50 baby girls.

The chickadee gets its distinctive name from its distinctive call: chick-a-dee-dee-dee!