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Baby names

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

Original poster

Ava or Evie

39 replies

FunnyMummy2214 · 11/01/2022 10:48

Me and my partner have been going back and forth of what we would call a baby girl if ever we have one,

Can you help us decide ?

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Luredbyapomegranate · 11/01/2022 22:33

Ava

It stands out slightly from the Eve/Evie/Eva/Evelyns… only slightly mind you.

Pinkychilla · 11/01/2022 19:43

I love Ava, beautiful name

Chunkymenrock · 11/01/2022 19:39

Evie if I had to, but there are much nicer, less popular names out there!

GemmaRuby · 11/01/2022 19:38

I think Evie sounds like a nickname.
Eve and Eva are both lovely.

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 11/01/2022 19:35

Ava while lovely, is just so trendy now - it will likely date her to a 20/25 year period and Evie as a given name is similar (the popularity of Ava stemmed from a spate of celeb babies (likely named after Ava Gardner) and Evie rose after The Mummy films - both in the late 90's/early 2000's).

Have you considered international Eva or even better classic Eve? You could still use Evie as a nn for either - but I've met Eve's and Eva's of all ages so they feel much more timeless and elegant sounding to me (despite Eva's current popularity in the UK).

RuthW · 11/01/2022 16:45

Ava if you have to. Evie is 'half a name' to me. I like Evangeline though.

ISmellBurnings · 11/01/2022 16:41

Based on popularity neither. There are loads of them at school.

ShowOfHands · 11/01/2022 15:54

I wouldn't spent too much time debating as it's likely that if you do fall pregnant with a girl in the future, your tastes will change.

DS has in his class 2 Evas, 2 Avas, an Evie, and an Evelyn, as well as 2 Olivias and a Livi, an Elsie and an Elise. It's pretty confusing having so many similar names.

FayCarew · 11/01/2022 15:40

@nuggetschicken, the figures are for the whole of England and Wales.
Oliver is the top boy's name but is only the most used in one region.

Also the list treats different spellings as different versions, so Sophia and Sofia may appear as not all that popular, but the names sound the same.

It also doesn't take into account that many babies named Eve, Evangeline or Evelyn might be Evie on a day-to-day basis

nuggetschicken · 11/01/2022 15:10

Bold fail

nuggetschicken · 11/01/2022 15:10

*It's the 4 most popular girl's name in England and Wales

1OLIVIA
2AMELIA
3ISLA
4AVA
5MIA
6IVY
7LILY
8ISABELLA
9ROSIE
10SOPHIA*

I stand corrected then. I didn't look at statistics, I work with babies and we haven't had an Ava in about 5 years. 8ish years ago we had loads. That's all 😅 I still really like it and prefer it to Evie.

Enough4me · 11/01/2022 14:51

Ava can be pronounced two ways.
I assume you mean Ay-va
Not Ahr-va?

One of my work colleagues uses the latter for his daughter, but he is from Iran and I think it's popular there too. I prefer his pronunciation.

FayCarew · 11/01/2022 14:46

@nuggetschicken

Ava. It's not as popular as it used to be. I really like it.
It's the 4 most popular girl's name in England and Wales

1 OLIVIA
2 AMELIA
3 ISLA
4 AVA
5 MIA
6 IVY
7 LILY
8 ISABELLA
9 ROSIE
10 SOPHIA

RedCandyApple · 11/01/2022 14:15

Ava

ellenpartridge · 11/01/2022 13:55

Prefer Ava but both nice.

I know a lot more Evies than Avas. Ada also seems more popular than Ava in my area.

nuggetschicken · 11/01/2022 13:51

Ava. It's not as popular as it used to be. I really like it.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 11/01/2022 13:29

@pollyannaparrott

I like Evie and I think it goes better with your surname.

P.s ignore the comments about them being popular, they are popular because they're lovely! It's utterly stupid to pick a name you like less just because it's 'different'.

Don’t tell OP to ignore posters who’ve taken the time to contribute. How rude.

Popularity is worth mentioning. Unless they work with children many first-time parents have little idea about name popularity.

I do agree with pp who point out that ay and ee- v names are very popular at the moment, making all of them feel more ubiquitous. One of my children’s classes in Infants had:

Eva (evva)
Eva (eeva)
Evie
Evelyn
Aoife
and a boy called Evan. They all sound very similar across a busy classroom.

MaryChristmouse · 11/01/2022 11:57

I think Evie goes better with your surname.

But both names v v popular so she is likely to be one of many Evie/ Avas at school- if that bothers you?

FayCarew · 11/01/2022 11:42

@SouthOfFrance, it isn't unlikely that the class would have several girls called Eve, Evie, Ava, Eva and Ivy. Add to that a Niamh and an Edie and the names get very samey

Local school had four Olivias in a class one year

SouthOfFrance · 11/01/2022 11:25

Half the girls in the class won't be called Ava or Evie, statisticly that would be incredibly rare.

I vote Ava, as it sounds like a name in its own right instead of a shortened name, and it would suit a grown up too.

FayCarew · 11/01/2022 11:22

As you are not pregnant it isn't an issue.

The Evie/Eve/Eva/Ava/Evelyn trend might have passed by then

Wellington17 · 11/01/2022 11:20

I prefer Ava as Evie sounds a bit whiney to me!

I prefer Ada to Ava though.

SallyWD · 11/01/2022 11:17

As long as you don't mind the name being really popular (lots of Avas and Evies at my children's school) them both are nice. I prefer Ava.

Beamur · 11/01/2022 11:15

Personally I prefer Ava. Evie is probably even more frequently used.
But do you know how insanely popular these names are? Literally half the girls in her class will be either one of these or a slight variation of it! My DD has a name which isn't that popular and there was another in her class. It's a bit annoying to always be Child A/surname. DD knows at least 4 Evie's in her year.

Mumsafan · 11/01/2022 11:14

Going purely on an Ava and Evie at my daughter's school - Ava without a doubt!

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