Submitted Name Revision History

The meaning of this name is uncertain at this time. Its best known bearer was American actress Avonia Jones (1839-1867), whose parents may possibly have named her after the village of Avonia (in Pennsylvania, USA), or after the genus of plants of the same name. It is uncertain what the village and the plant genus derived their name from. The village's name may be of the same etymology as the many places named Avon in the United States, while the plant genus' name may be a corruption of Greek ἀνομία (anomia) meaning "lawlessness, wickedness" (that is, if the plant genus is not named after its discoverer, about whom I can't find any information). The term 'avonia' is found several times in Biblical Greek (with the meaning of "lawlessness"), as one will see if one googles the words 'avonia' and 'lawlessness' at the same time. Finally, for the plant genus, an other possibility is that it is derived from Latin avus "grandfather", in which case it would be a reference to the plant's white, old-looking stipular scales.