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?

My two nieces are Charlotte and Emily and neither get shortened, (both in their 20’s).

I personally prefer Charlotte although they are both lovely and timeless.

Much prefer Emily

There’s no such thing as a timeless name. Both are old names, both work today. Some people will like them others won’t. Pick what you like. (I prefer Emily, there are a lot of Charlottes due to the Princess).

We were choosing between these two names as well. We went with Emily in the end as I didn't like the shortenings of Char or Charlie. I do like Lottie, though.

Lovely

They are both classics. Emily was around in my grandma's time so 100 years ago. And wil always bring me straight to the beautiful intro to bagpuss.

Both are pretty solid, consistently used, classics.

I prefer Charlotte personally but don’t like Charl/Charlie/Lottie so would choose Emily because they tend to just be Emily.

We have a Charlotte. A beautiful name! You mention Lottie but you also need to be comfortable with it potentially being Charlie in the future too.

Emily is also nice.

Charlotte is nicer

We have an Emily and everyone comments on it being a nice name. It's a classic name that will never go out of fashion but I feel Charlotte is too. They're both similar I'd say. You could just have the two chosen then see which that baby looks more like once born

My 2 year old DD is an Emily, not a name you can shorten.

Charlotte is also a lovely name.

Neither of those names will ever age. They are absolute classics, beautiful and timeless.

Ems, Emi. I also know of an Emily who is shortened to Mimi.

I like both. I think both have had moments in the not too distant past when they've been really popular, but I still think they're both classics.

I think Emma is beautiful too and more ageless than Emily maybe.

I know an Emily shortened to Milly. It does get shortened. I think all names do!

I like both. Both are timeless and classic. I think they've both had periods where they're more popular. I was at school in the 80s and there were lots of Charlottes and no Emilys. But definitely both timeless and not dated.

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We have an Emily in our family. Known variously as Em, Ems, Emmy, Mily or Lily depending on who she’s speaking to. It can very definitely be shortened

I love both.

I know sisters that are Charlotte, Emily and Josephine. They are now in their 40's but could be any age with those names.

and to answer the OP - when I was at school they were both very old-fashioned.

(We were all called Helen Karen Julie Susan Lisa Donna Linda Claire Amanda Elizabeth Tracey Sharon Paula Gail Catherine Jenny Alison Rachel Gillian Lorraine Deborah Joanne Carol - and Emma rather than Emily)

Charlotte had a bit of a thing around the turn of the century, along with Jessica. I was no longer surprised by it, because Emily had already happened

both are classic but I think Charlotte is more sophisticated. I love Lottie so would definitely choose Charlotte in order to be able use that

I’m an Emily from early 90s and have bizarrely only ever met 3 other Emily’s despite it being very popular (one in my year at secondary, one an infant when I was at a baby club and the other in her 80s) so don’t personally believe it to be dated as say Tracy/Sharron/Kelly are.

Charlotte is a classic name too but if you’re going on the popularity side of things I have definitely see a lot more of those in my life. Both when I was at school and now that my 5y/o and 3y/o are at school/childcare. Including Lottie’s as we have 3 of those in the combined friendship groups of my children.

both lovely names but Charlotte does have more nicknames and more likely to be Charlotte A, B, C when they teach school age - at least in my experience.

And my cat is called Lottie so make that 4 Lottie’s I know of 😂

Both beautiful and equally timeless. I’d think of shortened version preferences for final choice. For me Charlotte edges ahead on full name but Emily being less likely to be shortened and if it is, the options being nicer in my opinion, edges Emily ahead a bit.