Mavis
Meaning of Mavis
Mavis, born from the medieval French word for a song thrush and carried across centuries like a feather riding high spring winds, arrives on the modern ear with the measured grace of a koto note fading into twilight; she calls to mind an antique, rain-polished lantern in a Kyoto garden, its faint glow beckoning nightingales to sing. In the hush between daylight and lantern-light, the name evokes a dusky bird poised on a plum branch—throat swelling, ready to spill liquid melody—so parents who choose it often sense, even unconsciously, the promise of quiet strength wrapped in music. Literary echoes flutter alongside: Edmund Spenser set a Mavis among his Faerie courtiers, and ever since, the name has drifted through English poetry like incense through tatami rooms, fragrant yet never overwhelming. After its early-twentieth-century zenith, Mavis slipped into the shade, only to rise again in recent years with the steady persistence of bamboo pushing through snow, proving that true elegance, once glimpsed, is seldom forgotten.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as MAY-vis (/ˈmeɪ.vɪs/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Mavis
| Mavis Staples is an American singer and civil rights activist who rose to fame with The Staple Singers and is known for hits like "I'll Take You There." |
| Mavis Lilian Batey was a leading female code-breaker at Bletchley Park during World War II. |
| Mavis Ada Tiller was a New Zealand scientist and women's advocate who served as president of the National Council of Women of New Zealand from 1966 to 1970. |
| Mavis Louisa Freeman, an Australian bacteriologist and biochemist, assisted Macfarlane Burnet in identifying the source of Q fever. |
| Mavis Leno is an American activist and philanthropist married to former Tonight Show host Jay Leno. |
