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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Evelyn or Avelyn?

64 replies

AngeloMysterioso · 02/06/2019 23:54

DH and I have been discussing names for DC1 this evening. We've already got boys names fixed, using our Father's and Grandfather's names, but we're undecided on girls. I've had one preferred name for ages which DH was happy to go along with but this evening we threw a few others into the mix and two we really like are Evelyn and Avelyn, but we can't decide which we prefer!

We're pronouncing them like Ev from ever and Ave like rave.

Surname is one syllable, consonant initial.

Putting it to the MN jury! Any thoughts?

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Pomegranatemolasses · 05/06/2019 14:26

Aibhlinn is a perfectly common Irish name

Am Irish, living in Ireland and have literally never heard this name before. It's certainly not common!

Untamedtoad · 05/06/2019 14:22

Please don't use Evelyn, it's so dated and harsh sounding! Have no idea how it's become so popular, it's such an odd, overused unattractive sounding name. When I hear it o assume the child has been named after an elderly relative, not because the parents likes the name. I don't see the issue with Avelyn, as an alternative (still think it's not that nice, but a million times better than Evelyn, and won't be this generations "Sarah" like Evelyn no will) doesn't sound try hard at all. What about Amelie?

TatianaLarina · 05/06/2019 14:14

Nice name.

TatianaLarina · 05/06/2019 14:14

I’d use the Irish spelling.

Avelyn looks vaguely illiterate.

Original poster

AngeloMysterioso · 05/06/2019 05:32

The pronunciation is simple, it’s just lin instead of leen.

Like or don’t like it, no need to call it awful.

Evelyn would be pronounced the proper way Ev-lin so there’s no long E sound in there.

OP posts:

Astronica · 05/06/2019 01:11

I like Aibhlinn, but not so keen on either Avelyn or Evelyn. I've always preferred the more streamlined sounds of Eve or Eva over Evelyn.

I know a little girl called Avalinn and another called Aveline, and just feel that Avelyn - even though a legitimate take on Aibhlinn - just ends up looking like a mishmash of this group of names which seems to be mushrooming in various spellings and pronunciations. I don't mind anglicisations of Irish names (eg like Neve or Niamh) but this one just seems to enter the realm of a mishmash of similar names.

Divgirl2 · 05/06/2019 00:27

Out of the two I'd choose Evelyn, but it's very popular (and personally I dislike it - sounds dated to me). Avelyn is awful and I'm still not certain how you're meant to pronounce it. Aibhlinn (aiv-leen) is a lovely name, please don't butcher it.

AmyMaria2 · 04/06/2019 22:27

Evelyn very common now, and I think avelyn is a bit try hard..

MsTSwift · 04/06/2019 22:26

Just be aware that if Evelyn she is likely to be eve which is crazily popular. It’s this generations Sarah. At one point a third of the girls in dds class were called eve it was mentally confusing.

Shadow1234 · 04/06/2019 21:34

Evelyn is lovely

MikeUniformMike · 04/06/2019 21:14

Not Avelyn. I don't like Evelyn much.
Aibhlinn is nice.

Penny4Thoughts · 04/06/2019 20:18

Never heard of Avelyn & it looks like you’re misspelling Evelyn even if not the case so I really wouldn’t - what about Aveline ?

Original poster

AngeloMysterioso · 03/06/2019 11:58

Well yeah, it would be pronounced Ayv-lin. So if you hear the name first the spelling is fairly self explanatory, and if you read it the pronunciation is self explanatory.

OP posts:

EleanorOalike · 03/06/2019 11:51

Avelyn looks like it would be pronounced Ayyyvlyn though. Evelyn is pronounced Ev-Lyn or Eev-Lyn.

Amelia and Emilia sound pretty much identical as the the emphasis is on the second syllable as opposed to the first which is said relatively quickly.

Original poster

AngeloMysterioso · 03/06/2019 11:43

Well I'm not pronouncing it Ay-vellin or anything, it's a bit more straightforward than that.

Is it really so different from spelling Amelia with either an E or an A? It's just Avelyn with an A... hardly complicated

And FWIW it's also the name of a character in a children's book from like 100 years ago and I advanced searched it on here and got a bunch of results (although it never got quite the pasting it's getting on this thread) so it's not a brand new spelling either!

OP posts:

EleanorOalike · 03/06/2019 11:26

I thought Aibhlinn was pronounced Ave-leen too (half Irish, was nearly called a similar name myself, have spent decades working with Irish children).

I’d go with Evelyn or Aibhlinn. Definitely not Avelyn, again based on my experiences of teaching and working with children. You’d struggle to get that seen as a real name and your child will spend her life correcting everyone.

I met a weary 30 something the other day on a CPD course who said in the introduction part, “Hi, my name is Suelyn, basically Sue-Ellen, what can I say my Mum is a dick and thought she was being funny or clever or something when I was born. Please just call me Susie, I hate it but it’s easier all round.”

Don’t be like Suelyn’s Mum!

Original poster

AngeloMysterioso · 03/06/2019 11:15

Isn't it? I know 3 of them... one of whom pronounces it with a short lin instead of a long leen. I thought it was like the vonn/vawn ending of Siobhan, or the various pronunciations of Saoirse, it's sort of up to the people using the name!

OP posts:

Littleheart5 · 03/06/2019 10:49

Also it’s definitely not a commonly used Irish name!

Littleheart5 · 03/06/2019 10:48

Aibhlinn is pronounced Ave-leen though, not Avelyn!

cocomelon23 · 03/06/2019 08:15

Evelyn reminds me of the nasty grandmother in Coronation Street

LegoPiecesEverywhere · 03/06/2019 08:11

Evelyn

BasiliskStare · 03/06/2019 03:35

I did get it but it made me laugh @Katebob22

Though the war of Jenkin's ear?

Jenkin - possibly not in the top 100 boy's names

Ha ha anyway - you have afforded me a chuckle tonight - thank you

Katebob22 · 03/06/2019 02:44

😂😂 @BasiliskStare definitely ears 👂🏻 😂😂

DramaAlpaca · 03/06/2019 02:32

Aibhlinn is a perfectly common Irish name Really? I've never come across it & it's certainly not common. If you were to use it, please keep the gorgeous Irish spelling, it's so much nicer - even if you have to explain it

I should have guessed the Irish connection from the way you were pronouncing Evelyn, as it's the usual way in Ireland as distinct from the Ev-e-lyn or Eve-lyn pronunciations you get in the UK.

Actually, on that note, why not Eibhlinn? Such a beautiful name.

BasiliskStare · 03/06/2019 02:19

@Katebob22 - presume you meant ears there instead of wars - opens up a whole new line of discussion otherwise. I am joking here but just after could not type Avelyn without the computer thinking I meant Evelyn it made me chuckle.

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