Is Evelyn too popular?

[FantasticalCat]

Early on in my pregnancy we both settled on Evelyn for our baby girl, however I’ve spotted a few threads on here suggesting that it (along with Evie/Eva) are very popular at the moment.

I like a few other names…Lyra, Nina, and Robin, but these are all taken by close relatives or friends.

My husband’s suggestion is that we go with Evalina and then we can shorten to Lina/Lena which I really like, but it feels a little bit prissy to me in it’s long version!

What do you think? And any other suggestions in the same ballpark?

Evelyn isn’t very popular here, but Evie is.

What do you like about Evelyn? Aveline is the French form I think, and I think it’s pretty.

Some names that feel similar:

Eleanor
Audrey
Alice
Elise
Sylvie

But I think if you love Evelyn, you should go for it!

It has increased massively in popularity in recent years but still nowhere near as many little Evelyns around as Eva, Ava, Evie, Isla, Ella et

The only thing that would put me off is the 2 different pronunciations but as long as you are prepared to correct anyone who gets it wrong that shouldn't be an issue

I like Lina/Lena as stand alone names, but not a fan of Evalina

Babies called Evelyn in England & Wales since 1996 (darkgreener.com)
Babies called Evie in England & Wales since 1996 (darkgreener.com)
(stats are 3 yrs out of date)

Evelyn isn't too popular but Evie is. The Evies won't necessarily be registered as Evie - they might be Evie, Evelyn, Evangeline, Evelina, Eva ...

Names similar to Evie are popular too - Eva, Ava, Ivy, Edie and so on. Evie is lovely but it seems overused.

I don't like Evelyn and Evelina makes me think of the hospital, but that's me.

It's a lovely name.
It is popular, but names are popular for a reason and it personally doesn't put me off.

Lovely name. I only know 1.

I don't know any little Evelyns and wouldn't think it's popular, no

I never met an Evelyn here in the states. I like Evelyn better than Evelina.

I like Evelyn - I know a teenage Evelyn who uses her full name instead of Eve / Evie and that stands out from the crowd and sounds so classy and fresh.

I have two preschoolers and don’t know know any Evelyn’s.

I like Evelyn and I don’t know a single Evelyn. I’m a teacher and have never taught one either! I don’t like your husband’s versions sorry

Always go for what you love. You'll regret it if you don't. Popularity is only something people on baby name forums get het up about. In real life, hardly anyone cares.

Evelyn is lovely. Evalina is indeed prissy and, at the end of the day, is so close to Evelyn anyway. So just go with Evelyn I say.

Evelyn is lovely and not too popular but I'm put off by the three ways to say otherwise

Evelina is absolutely gorgeous though.

I know one Evelyn who's about 12. Beautiful name, although she's permanently "Evie" which is awful, (and a Pokémon.)

We have an Evangeline, who is Eva to her pre school pals. Never met another Evangeline. Nor another Eva. But tonnes of Ava and Evie, which is odd as Eva is essentially a combination of the two but nowhere near as common. Aria is currently the most common name at our pre school. There's an Addy (Addison, yuck) Ada (full name, not shortened) two Amelias, and two Aria's, in her year. In the whole preschool there are about 8 Aria's. In the two years above, now left for their big schools, were literally 30 Evie's and Ava's.

Frustratingly, my daughter has been Eva, Evangeline for short, for twenty years and was my girls name when DS1 came along 16yrs ago. No one was Eva. (Or Evie or Ava) Took this long to have a DD and fucking typical everyone is called Evie or Ava, which DD permanently gets mistaken for.

Evangeline is much nicer than Evelina. Yes Evelyn is popular and there are just so many Evies along with the billions of Avas and Ivys.

I have only known one adult Evelyn years ago, and she had to constantly correct a lot of people for pronouncing it wrong.

I teach quite a few Evelyns. They all pronounce it ever-lynn though, rather than eve-lynn, which took some getting used to!

Evelyn Home was the agony aunt in Woman many years ago

Evelyn isn’t popular, I know one who is 18, however I know several Evie’s.
Evangeline is an alternative and could give Lina as a nn.

It's not very common no. Certainly no Evelyn's in our kids school and I don't know anyone with an Evelyn. It's a lovely name.

Love the name Evelyn. I have only met one since having kids and she is 11. Evlina makes me think of the hospital.

Gone are the 1980’s days of three Sarah’s in a class (or Mary’s or Margaret’s years before that). So No, Evelyn isn’t too popular - statistically she’ll probably be the only one in her class, as long as you accept there may also be another Eva, Evie or Ava there too so her name isn’t going to stand out as such (but most kids don’t want a name that stands out anyway!).

I do think Evelina is even nicer (and simple, classic Eve even lovelier still!) but it sounds like your instinct is Evelyn, so I think you should stick with it.

Evelyn is better if it is a family name, and used as a second name. (Due to popularity of Evie.)

Oh god don’t do it. It’s insane how popular Eve and its variants are. I mean it’s a nice enough name but so are lots of others.

At one point one third of the girls in dd1s class were called a variant of Eve. Not only boring but very confusing. Definitely one to avoid. When we registered dd for 6th form as she sat form the teacher said “Eve?” Dd said no not me his response “worth a try every other girl this morning has been called that”

Thanks all for your input - I am struggling to find anything else I like!

Avaline is nice but I guess the danger is it gets shortened to Ava.

I like Lena but to me it feels like a nickname for a longer name, which would bug me!

If you love it and nothing else compares then don’t let popularity get in the way.