Eva or Grace?

[Minty82]

Having trawled through the Mumsnet archives, I know the consensus on both of these seems to be that they're a bit boring/too on-trend, but we both love both of them and think we're pretty much settled on one or the other (if it's a girl!).

Very torn between the two though, and just wondered whether one of them is seen as more 'all the other girls in nursery will be called that' than the other?

They are both very popular amoung the many, many babies and preschoolersj is know. She could well be one of several in her school wirh either name. Having said that, i adore Eva. Wanted it for DD, but DH vetoed.

They are both very pretty names, and both far too overused at the moment. Have you considered Mia, Maya, Ava, or Isla? I think these have the same beauty to them, and although popular i haven't come accross as many as I have Eva, Evie, Gracie, Grace, Poppy or Lily.

I love Eva.

Grace is nice too.

Both very, very widely used already, as you know. I would worry that neither really serves a purpose as a name, namely to identify your daughter (without having to add a modifier or surname initial).

I have wanted to call a future little girl Eva forever - it is my grandmother's name - and fully intend to even if there are going to be a million others, as it is very special to me. So I think if you have a real attachment to a name, then use it!

It's very frustrating, as they've been on our mental list for years, but it's only since we started TTC that I've been paying attention to recent stats on names and realising that they've both been having such a moment in the past few years. My husband thinks I'm being ridiculous to pay any attention to what people we don't know are calling their children, as we don't personally know anyone called either of them, but I don't like the idea of looking accidentally in thrall to trends!

I actually prefer Eve, but my husband reckons Eva works better with our surname...

My sister was named after our great-grandmother (my parents knew no-one else called that at the time), and she ended up being one of 7 in her class with the same name, so yes, I'm aware of the irritation of constantly having to be identified by your surname!

Thanks for the suggestions GoldenMama - those are all pretty names, but don't quite do it for me! I actually think of Ava as being more of a current trend than Eva or Grace (even if there are actually fewer of them) just because E and G have always been around, i.e. there are people of every generation from my grandmother's to my own called them, and they just happen to be having a surge in popularity, whereas Ava's been completely dormant since the '20s and is having a resurgence, so seems more tied to now...

Also, in my head, neither of these two fall into what I would think of as the 'cutesie' Lily/Poppy category - they're a little more grown up, and pass my test of 'would it sound daft with Dr in front of it'! Perceptions are funny though...maybe they are in that camp for other people.

Grace

"My husband thinks I'm being ridiculous to pay any attention to what people we don't know are calling their children"

But in order to name someone/something you need to know what names have already been used, that's the whole point of naming i.e. identifying someone or something.

Eva much, much, much more popular here than Grace.

Grace is nicer too IMHO.

tammytoby yes, I think he just reckons we shouldn't be too swayed by trying to avoid the top 100 lists...

Eva and Grace are both pretty names, don't let others tell you not to use the names you love!

If the only purpose of names was to identify someone, then we'd just be given a number as the baby is born and use that. A name can be chosen to sound nice to your ears and something that puts a smile on your face. There may be lots of the name in her class or not, but she'll still be her own person no matter what.

Grace is marginally less boring, I suppose.

Ha, thanks MamaLazarou, don't hold back - the funny thing is Eva felt like quite an adventurous option when we first thought of it and before we tuned into the world of current baby names...I think both sets of grandparents would turn round and go 'Really? Like Eva Braun?!'

I think Grace is a difficult name in that it suggests a certain type of girl and if she's not that girl then it becomes a bit laughable.

Sorry but I would have a rethink. One third of the girls in DDs class have a name that is a variant of Eve. There are legions of Graces. Are you sure this won't bother you? If not go ahead but FWIW 3 of the mothers of the Eves have said if they had known of its popularity they would have picked something else.

I love Grace, even though it's popular, but Eva doesn't really appeal - go for it though!When we were at Primary school we referred to everyone by their name and surname even when there was only one person with that name so it's not the end of the world! Now they're all getting married, I'm finding it impossible to think of them as being called anything else...

They're nice names, both of them, although I truly don't get the Eve/Eva/Evie thing at all.

But... They're this generation's Joanne, Claire and Karen. They sound 'lovely' now, but they will date and sound dull and boring and eye-glazey-over in another 10-20 years.

If you love a very popular name then you should of course use it. But there is something nice about having a fresh-sounding, interesting (read: not yooneeq or whacky) name as an adult, rather than just introducing yourself as yet another Sarah...

For me, it's about naming an adult, a person - rather than just a baby/child. Your name is such a fundamental part of who you are and deserves to be something which carries you well throughout your life - I know a lot of people don't care about popularity and truly don't get why it bothers some people, but this is why, for me at least. :)

Applauds slinkingoutside. There are so many pretty, strong, gorgeous girls names am fascinated why the majority pick the same 10. Why are we (i.e. our generation) all drawn to the same names?

I like Grace better than Eva and I like Eva better than Eve

Really intrigued by this. I totally agree with not wanting to name your child the same as every other baby of their sex born that year (and am slightly irritated that my long-term favourites are suddenly so boring), but the perception of overuse seems to be greater than is actually backed up by the statistics - Eva was number 37 in the most recently available list (2010). It's well below Ava, Isla and Mia, as it happens...though Evie was number 10, so I guess that skews it.

It's not perception - it's reality. One year's statistics don't mean much in isolation - but if an entire generation of girls are called the same names, then the surge in numbers and popularity becomes more apparent.

I mean, it wasn't just girls from 1978, say, that were called the names I listed above, but girls from 1970 through to the early 80s. That's a lot of girls with a small group of oft-repeated names.

Anything that is very popular will inevitably drop out of style and sometimes even become positively eschewed in the hunt for the next big thing. That's fashion...

I know heaps more Grace and Gracies than Evas. I also know loads of Avas. I think the combined popularity of Evie & Ava makes you think Eva is more common than it is.

I prefer Eva. You could always go for something less used like Evangeline or Evelyn, with Eva as a nickname, to give her options later on if Eva turns out to be the new Tracey?!

Minty, you need to add together all the Eves, Evies, Evas, Evelyns and other Eve related names to get a feel for how popular they are. And I agree completely with slinkingoutside - fashionable, top 10 names sound lovely and trendy NOW but will start to sound dated as they fall out of fashion again (which anything that has been mega popular WILL inevitably).

I'd rather have a name that is not 'fashionable' but timeless and classic and that identifies me.

I like both names, but Eva edges it for me. There do seem to be more variations of girls names than boys I.e. Ava, Eve, Eva, Evie etc.. (all pretty) names in usage whereas other than a few, even the most popular boys names seem to be more unique (with maybe 1/2 nns) in that they're not similar to others I.e. Oliver, William, Thomas, James etc..

I prefer longer names that can be shortened but the names I like are also often criticized on here for being terribly boring/widespread but personally I think it's more important to name your child a name you love (whether popular/unusual) than discounting names because there might (not always) be several in a year at school. There are certain names that seem to be universally disliked on here solely due to popularity but often other equally popular names are suggested as strong/classic etc...e.g. I know so many babies/toddlers/teenagers/adults called James/Nicholas/Matthew but they seem to be acceptable on here whereas god forbid you name your child Thomas/Oliver/William as there will be hundreds in your child's class....

I agree with littlepandabear re: if the only purpose of a name was to identify you then surely the best way would be to be given a number at birth...no name will be unique and there is always a chance that there are 2 or more in 1 class.

Just go with the name you love best (within reason!)!