Is Charlotte more timeless than Emily?

[hcarter8]

Me and dh are trying to choose between Charlotte and Emily, although I prefer Charlotte.
Both are old names but for some reason Emily is starting to feel dated to me in 2024, Although Charlotte is a very popular name, it has never been a number one name like Emily but has always been around so it makes it feel slightly more timeless.

I'm aware Emily is an old name that has been in use from the 1800s (Emily Brontë and Dickinson) but it had a phase of big popularity about 20 years ago according to statistics. Online it says it was number one in the US/UK and Australia in the 90s/00s.

On the nameberry website they've called it number 1 name among Gen Z here nameberry.com/b/girl-baby-name-emily# which means it's bound to date if it's already got the title of the top name for a generation.

Would you class Emily as feeling slightly "dated" now? Is Charlotte more timeless?

I'm trying to be really careful about picking a truly timeless name for my daughter because my mum gave me an 80s name that is now terribly dated and I hate it!

Both classics. Love both.

Both classics but Charlotte and the nickname Lottie as a full name are both extremely popular right now so Emma/Emily is the better option for classic but not completely oversaturated.

Both timeless classics IMO.

I think they are on a par with one another. Both lovely.

I have 3 daughters, Emily, Charlotte and Sophie :)

Both timeless classics. My personal preference is for Emily. I know a few teenage Charlottes that have chosen to go by Charlie, so maybe consider you like that if you go for Charlotte?

Are you going with middle name? What about Charlotte Emily as full name - that way you can use both

I think Charlotte is slightly more classic. Really dislike the nickname ‘Char’ though.

I love them both. I had DSs but both your picks were on my list. They are both just lovely. And yes definitely timeless.

I’d say they’re pretty equal; both lovely, commonly heard names and both Brontës! Why not go with Anne, she’s always the forgotten sister 😆

Both classic, I prefer Charlotte though. And would go for Emma over Emily.

I agree with your reasoning OP.
Both are classics, but Emily did have a peak a few years ago. I think Charlotte is more popular right now, but who knows in another 30years?
There are other names like "Anna" that just never seem to date.

I know Charlotte’s of all generations, but Emily seems to have had a more recent (last 20 years) revival. For a long time in the 70’s and 80’s people would have chosen Emma over Emily.

Both equally classic but I find Emily’s are often called Emily but Charlotte’s are much more often shortened. Obv both are a bit but it’s prob more important to be keen on Charlotte shortenings than the actual name Charlotte.

I think Charlotte is much nicer and also more classic than Emily, just unfortunate if it then gets shortened to Charlie

Both equally classic - not biblical old but definitely timeless.

I work with lots of mums and babies and although there are lots of Emilys in their early teens now (my daughter's age), I see more baby Charlottes/Lotties atm.

I like both. I've got a Charlotte and an Emma.

I honestly don't think you can pit either of these against each other in terms of how timeless they are, as both have clearly stood the test of time. Obviously you prefer Charlotte to Emily, and that's fine, but you can't say you're discounting Emily on grounds of it being less timeless than Charlotte as they're both on a par on those grounds.

To me, timeless means you can't pin to a certain generation. Whether Emily is extremely popular among 'Gen Z' or not, if I saw the name Emily written down I'd genuinely have no idea whether she's 90, 50, 30, 15 or 3. That makes it timeless to me, same as Charlotte. Whether more are in their teens/20s than other ages is irrelevant, there are still lots Emilys of all different ages.

Whereas If I met a Tracy I'd instantly guess she's 40-60ish. Tracy is definitely not timeless!

Sarah and Emma were massively popular in the 70s and 80s, Sophie on the 90s and 00s etc. I'd still have no idea of age if I saw these names written down though as they are timeless. Same could be said for names like Daniel, Thomas, Jack etc for boys. All have had their extremely popular periods but you wouldn't only associate the names with that period of time, unlike names like Jason or Ian which were quite popular during one particular time period, rather than being constantly popular throughout.

I agree with other posters.

Charlotte and Emily (& Emma) are equally pretty, classic, timeless names.

I come across a lot of Emily's in my job of all ages but not do may Charlottes

Both timeless. Prefer Charlotte.

I prefer Charlotte

My youngest GD is a Charlotte (never Charlie or Lottie) and her sister is Emily.

Both lovely, I have a Emilie and Charlotte