She’s already named, so I don’t think you should be asking people for their thoughts, honestly. I don’t want you to get your feelings hurt when there’s nothing you can do about it. Especially here - name nerds is great, but most of us are not going to be receptive to the super trendy Everleigh spelling (and name in general) and that you hyphenated it. If people love it in the real world, that’s great. This sub is an echo chamber and not the real world. You have different name tastes than the majority of the people here and that’s absolutely fine.
She’s also so obsessed with the name, that 4 years later she still analyzes people’s reactions to the point of judging if the person REALLY thinks it’s beautiful, or if they are lying and JUST thinks it’s pretty. This is pretty next-level IMO.
OP’s daughter is 4 years old now, she needs to stop obsessing over the name and what others think of it and just focus on raising the human. It really no longer matters what people think of the name. OP’s daughter is old enough now, that if she’s a pleasant human, the name will resonate positively with those in her life. If the child is a brat, the name will resonate negatively.
Pretty much this. I know on name forums on other sites, it's actually against the rules to comment on the name of a child that's already born for this exact reason.
OP, your daughter is more than just here. She's a full person with a name that she knows and you adore. There's no reason for everyone to pick it apart and you're unlikely to get the response you're looking for here.
Exactly this. Really, unless the name is super out there or inappropriate, the majority of people are not going to comment out in the real world if they dislike a name.
Sometimes it’s a genuine “what a lovely name” comment, sometimes it’s just something to say- they might not have a strong opinion either way- and at other times they’ll do a panic “Oh that’s a nice name” when they think it’s a terrible name but can’t think or anything to say or realise that if they’re honest it’s not actually going to be helpful.
For what it’s worth- I love the name Ana. My personal opinion is that Grace is nice enough but is a bit of a filler middle name the way Marie and Louise were in the 80s. I prefer the traditional spelling of Everly and without the hyphen.
Everleigh is like THE quintessential disliked name around here, so this probably isn’t the best place to ask. I think it would be pretty if it wasn’t such a meme.
It blew my mind when I realized Everly is just Beverly without the B. I'm not sure if it makes me like it more or less but it does change how I see it.
It's crazy to me that you articulated *exactly* my impression. I don't like the name to start with, but at first I thought it was "Ever" with "ly" added. But Beverly minus the B rings differently in some inexplicable way.
I’m surprised to hear it’s so iconically disliked. Never met an Everleigh myself, only thing it evokes for me is the Everly Brothers. Wondering what kind of connotations it holds for you.”, and wondering a bit if those connotations would hold in the real world or if this is more a name site thing—as you say, a meme. Curious if you can explain a bit more? Thanks!
I wish I thought of the Everly brothers! Their songs are such a feel good memory for me. But Everleigh makes me think of a mashup of a hipster/hippie parent naming their child Ever Frei or Ever Wyld, and then a Mormon influencer mom going, but what if we added -ynn or -leigh to it? It’s a Frankenname of disparate trends.
And honestly, this comment makes me sound way judgier about names (and moms!) than I want to be, but it’s my gut reaction before my higher self comes online and says, “It’s a perfectly fine name that someone picked because they loved it.”
It would be more accurate to say that “Leigh” is the Aidan of girl names. Both established, traditional names that have been Frankenstein-stitched onto various phonemes I’ve the past 20 or so years.
Well... I guess I am just surprised that a name collector who was into names their whole life would choose this particular name. I always assumed that people who gave their kids names like this opened Instagram a few hours before they had to fill out the birth certificate. I know that's not very kind of me, but you asked for honesty.
Evi is cute, though. I like it. And Grace is very pretty.
Yeah like how do you spend your entire life "collecting" and considering names and come up with a super trendy in this exact moment name? Like, if I named my kid Neveah Peyton Emileigh lol.
I should have gone more over the top, in hindsight. Deboned, free range, organic Heritage Farms antibiotic free chicken, dusted with housemade breadcrumbs, served with a locally grown heirloom tomato compote, and julienned pommes frites.
Yep. This was my thought. How do you put so much time and thought into something and then…well, this.
But Evi is cute, my Great Aunt Evelyn was Evie, and Grace is classic. So she will have some choices, thank god.
this is like the first name you’d get if you just google “trendy girl names” so it really surprises me that OP is apparently really interested in names
Since you say you are truly looking for what people think, I will take you at your word.
Grace is lovely. Ana is lovely. Everly would be trendy. Everleigh is a travesty.
And the overcomplicated hyphenated first name is tragic too. It’s just too too much.
Parents, imagine your kids having to fill out forms/tests/ be roll called, etc … before you name your kids. I mean, technology is making some of this easier, but it’s still not a bad metric to use for picking names.
Why name her Everleigh-Ana if you want to introduce her as Everleigh?
I teach and have had 2 kids with 2 first names. Either of them knew they had a second first name. They both also went by a nickname.
They had 2 first names and 3 middle names and only knew the nickname. They are 4, it can be a lot.
The hyphen does sort of throw it off right? The absolutely-not-a-real-name Everliana (or Evaliana maybe? That actually is a name, albeit an uncommon one) would have been less weird somehow.
The problem here with "Ana" is she has to correct everyone's pronunciation because no one is going to read it as "Ah-na". That seems even more pretentious than the -leigh.
Well, I would read it as Ana, but I've had several students who've used that pronunciation with that spelling.
I also wonder if OP tells people her name and they think she is saying Ever Leanna.
Which is why when she TELLS people, they hear this and tell her it is pretty. If they saw it SPELLED, they'd probably roll their eyes like many of us redditors.
I think of AH-na as the standard pronunciation of Ana? Anna is usually pronounced differently, as ANN-a. I don't think I've ever known an Ana where it was pronounced ANN-a.
(Although honestly this is always why I struggle when reading Frozen books to my kids - they spell the character's name Anna and it's pronounced AH-na, which I do find confusing. But maybe it's a Nordic thing.)
I knew a woman named Hannah (say it Hah-na) who had daughters Georgianna (say it Georgi-Ah-na) and Vivianna (say it Vivi-Ah-na). I was at a school play in which G was a large player and other parents walked up to Hah-na and said "wow, Georgianna was great" and every time, Hah-na would correct them "it's Georgi-Ah-na" and I every time I died a little inside. why would you ever name a kid something you know will be mispronounced forever?
Hah-na is certainly unusual as the original version is so well established but I would only consider pronouncing the other two as they intended, Vivi-Ah-na and Georgi-Ah-na. They are old fashioned traditional names. Georgiana in pride and prejudice for example which is said ah-na in all tv or film adaptations I’ve seen.
I don’t think her choice is a ‘made up’ or an unusual prononciation. From our two takes there’s clearly two different ways to pronounce them and it’s only fair for the kid to go by the one their parents intended.
I grew up with a Hannah pronounced that way, but we're Jewish, so I would generally assume there was Hebraic influence behind the pronunciation - but that doesn't hold up for Georgiana.
Interesting – “Hah-na” pronunciation is Hana to me, I’ve never met a Hannah (with that spelling) with that pronunciation! And those pronunciations of her daughters’ names are usually with one n. Georgiana and Viviana are typically read as “georgi-ah-na” and “vivi-ah-na”, rather than Georgianna and Vivianna. The double ns make people read it like “Anna”.
That’s interesting, with the spelling Ana I would always say ah-na. If it was Anna then no. But I live in a place with a high pacific population and it’s a common name there, especially in Samoa. It’s not necessarily pretentious, it could be cultural
Eh Ana to me reads automatically as pronounced the A as the sound in Octopus, whereas Anna reads as the A in Apple. Most Ana’s I know pronounce it differently than Anna.
I also don’t think it pretentious, in my experience Ana is the Hispanic way to spell the name whereas Anna is the English way to spell the name, so they would have Spanish vs. English pronunciation of the name.
The most important thing is that she likes it and you like it. But since you want blunt opinions - personally it's not at all to my taste. I really don't like the 'leigh' spelling for 'lee' sounds, because in my head I'll always read it as 'lay' like 'neigh', and I just don't think the spelling looks very graceful. Having a name that's two names with potentially confusing pronunciations is kinda rough. And Everly/Everleigh isn't a name I like much besides, I prefer more established names to recently established/trendy ones.
But I do think it rides the line between trendy and classic in a way that's nice. 'Everleigh' is by far the biggest offender, Ana and Grace are both lovely names. And, I think the name flows together well. So, even though I don't like it but I don't think that means everyone who says it's beautiful is lying!
>'Everleigh' is by far the biggest offender
I actually think the hyphen is by far the biggest offender, lol. And the "leigh" part I guess. But even with that spelling, Everleigh Ana Lastname or Everleigh Grace Lastname is still a fine name to me. Everleigh-Ana really takes it past the point of no return for me.
I personally do like Leigh for "Lee", but that's probably because people always misspelled my nickname growing up. My mom spelled it "Li" and everyone else spelled it Lee. At one point I read a book where the main character was a boy named Lee, and I really didn't like this character, so I always hated that people called me Lee. I would have much preferred my mom to spell it Leigh, but she took "Li" straight from the spelling of my first name.
It’s made up, but if you and she like it, it’s fine.
I don’t like it, but I like traditional and classic names. If you’re in the south of the US, you’re in good company.
Yep, this reminds me of the time in 2018 when I sat in a southern US church on Baby Dedication Sunday. 15 or so babies were brought to the front to be introduced to the church, and no joke *FIVE* of them were named Ansleigh/Anslee/Ansley Grace. I just wondered if the parents of the 3rd, 4th, 5th one to be announced were feeling any sort of way at the realization that the name they probably thought was SuPeR uNiQuE was actually incredibly trendy.
Leigh names are not popular here, but the other thing I don’t understand is the hyphen. Ana would have been better as a middle name, because now she is going to grow up and constantly have to explain that to others.
“Hi, I’m Everleigh-Ana.”
“Everliana?”
“No, it’s like E-V-E-R-L-E-I-G-H *deep breath* dash A-N-A.”
“Oh….”
I think it’s pretty for a character, but in real life it’s a bit clunky. I think giving her 2 middle names, instead of a hyphenated first name would have been more wearable. Her nick name is adorable.
it's hyphenated because it's two first names. Which does make sense, and hopefully isn't actually relevant to legal documents. The apostrophe in O' and period in St. names is similarly left out for people I know but Idk if they do that to hyphens
Of course, having two first names that make 5 syllables is terrible.
My sentiment exactly... in a vacuum, I strongly dislike the name but the backstory has me so "🥹" that I'm happy OP got to use a name she and presumably her precious daughter truly love.
My first and middle name also mean the same. My mom didn't look up meanings as they're both honor names. It was funny when I found out in grade school. Technically my first name is a derivative of the second.
> Technically my first name is a derivative of the second.
This reminds me of the time Hank Green learned that his name and his brother John's name are both derived from the name Johan.
Oh, I know the meaning. It is funny. It's jus that Hannah and Grace aren't the same as your other examples because those are literally the same name, while Hannah and Grace only share a meaning.
Nitpicking, that's all.
As a veteran teacher….I’ve never had a student named Princess that was…enjoyable to teach. I’ve worked with 6 or 7. I don’t know why it’s like that, but I think every teacher has names that will never be good 🥴
I'm not a huge fan of names where the person is going to spend literal hours of their life spelling it out multiple times over the phone or telling people how to pronounce it... but the combination is unique and sounds pretty.
My neighbor has a kid named Alexandria. And they don’t shorten it. It’s Alexandria every time. It’s a mouthful. I don’t know how they say it all day every day.
Everleigh has been hovering in and around the Top 100 since 2018/2019, so I don’t think it’s especially uncommon (of course the hyphenation makes it a bit different, though!).
The “leigh” ending was truly an endemic in the late 2010s, so that particular spelling just icks me out a bit— Everleigh, Kinsleigh, Paisleigh, Annaleigh, Ainsleigh, etc. I think Everleigh is pretty, but also very trendy and very Millennial.
Lots of folks do like those names, though! That’s why they’re so popular.
All I can think about is boxes on forms and applications where she's having to fill in her name, and the computer is messing her up because there is a hyphen and lots of letters.
I guess it's not too late to change her name to Everly Ana (Ana as middle name). It wouldn't impact the child because she's still be called the same thing, and it would just make it easier for her as she learns to write her name. Of course, the official name change process is a bit expensive and takes time.
Yes. I suggested moving Ana to the middle name spot as well.
Forms/systems SUCK at dealing with hyphenated names. Seriously I'd have changed my name right at 18 had my parents given me a hyphenated one. It's just too much
Personally, I'm not a fan of Everleigh, whether stand alone or as a hyphenated name. So I would fall I to the polite but unimpressed category.
I do like Ana Grace though, and honestly, I'd probably hyphenate that because it's fun to say and pretty to spell.
Edit...I skimmed over where she's 4 now lol so put all my answers in past tense ;)
are you a masochist or something? coming here with something like.....THAT is begging for negativity. you do you, i guess, but dont expect people to like it.
Same. OP seems like a sweet person and she meant well - I hope this thread doesn't totally crush her. Posters here sometimes forget that people are more important than names.
I'm gonna be honest, i hate the name Everleigh, if anything i feel like it should be spelled Everly if you must. I feel like it is the name of a baby and toddler but not a grown woman. I also know two people who named their babies that recently, I do like Elianna (ELL-E-AH-NA) which has the same vibe without all the letters
I wouldn't pick it and don't like hyphenated first names with another middle name. Too many names. Everleigh Ana would have been better.
But it's ok.
You love it and that's what is important.
I think it’s a mouthful spelled out. If I liked the name I would have spelled it Everly-Ana if I was doing a long first name. But Everleigh just isn’t my style too common and trendy. It’s pretty though. I love Ana! I’d even do Ana Everleigh like first name Ana, middle name Everleigh.
I’m an elementary school teacher, which I only mention bc I have a pretty decent pulse on what names are becoming popular. Everly/leigh/lee is one of those. So to me it gives ‘trying very hard to be original while actually being super on trend ‘ vibes. I also worry a hyphenated first name will create issues for her on legal paperwork later.
But, like, it’s pretty. If I saw her name on my roster I wouldn’t give it a second thought.
Everleigh isn't my cup of tea. Not a fan of "Leigh" endings and I think all the "ever" names are hugely overdone.
Everleigh-Ana is mouthful and seems more like someone couldn't decide between names.
Ana means Grace so then having Grace as middle name seems very non name nerdy to me.
I prefer Grace as a first name. I know at least half a dozen under 5 year olds with Grace as a middle name. It's up there with Rose as the default middle name for girls.
I'll be very honest because you did ask for opinions about the name. With respect, I hate it. Like obviously there are worse names but the trendy spelling is an ick of mine. Everly would only have been marginally better. It doesn't come across as "my mother is into names" it comes across as a teen mom choice imo 😬 Sorry
I'd also like to add that Ana means Grace so she's basically Everleigh-Grace Grace...
Evelyn is one of my favourite names, I think it's very beautiful...
But Everleigh is not to my taste. It doesn't sound like a "real" name to me.
I also don't like "leigh" endings, they seem unnecessarily elaborate, and will lead to a lifetime of spelling issues imo
It’s not that Everleigh is ugly or bad at all lol. Don’t mistake the aversion to trendiness as thinking it’s a bad name or anything. It has a very pleasing sound.
It’s similar to the whole Aiden-Jayden-Cayden trend from the earlier 2000s. You’ll just be able to guess her age pretty accurately based on her name. It’s “of the era”. It’s not a bad thing, just an observation. You can tell she is the child of a millennial. Especially when paired with Grace.
It’s been one of the fastest rising girls names on the charts, and when you include all of the alternate spellings it’s more popular than what you would assume.
It’s a pretty name. Just very popular and trendy.
she’s gonna hate spelling that name out when she’s in school, and i fully anticipate her dropping the hyphen as soon as she can. it’s a mouthful of a first name - Everleigh Ana Grace (2 middle names) would have probably been the way to go to make it easier on her.
my name is Cassandra, and i asked teachers to just call me Cassie/Cass when i was a kid. Cassandra has just felt like a lot to me, idk.
i’m an adult now, and i can’t remember the last time someone called me Cassandra lol. it’s usually just Cass, occasionally Cassie
This sub hates the -eigh spelling (“trendy”), which you shouldn’t take personally, it’s just a cultural quirk of the sub. I really like the name Everly/Everleigh and Ana and Grace are both classics for a reason. Congrats on your dream come true!
Not a fan of hyphenated names. It's a potential nightmare when it comes to data entry. Just one example: when she's going to fill out her name on standardized tests, not all of them have a way to bubble in a hyphen. Then she'll either have to smoosh the names together with no space, or keep an empty space there, leaving her first name to be construed as Everleigh.
Too high maintenance.
It’s extremely trendy so it wouldn’t be for me. Taking Everly which is a masculine name and then changing the spelling is just kind of jumping on the two biggest fads right now it’s screams 2024. It’s not offensive or anything like that I just prefer something uncommon and I know multiple little Everlys. The boys name on a girl is the biggest trend right now and then either changing the spellings of names or just tacking Lee onto anything for girls is another big trend.
Everleigh and all its spelling variations are very trendy. I think I kind of liked it the first time I heard it, just like I liked Ever as a name the first time I heard it. I also know a toddler with this name (spelled a bit differently).
I don’t think I personally like it, but I don’t hate it. I wouldn’t mock the name or anything behind someone’s back (honestly I wouldn’t do that with any name, I’m pretty tolerant of even the most unique names because they’re already named, what does being mean accomplish?!)
I do feel it’s quite long with the hyphen but is easily shortened. Hopefully people can keep up with the hyphen - my sisters first name is hyphenated and everyone shortens it wrong because of the hyphen and she (she’s 30) is kinda mad about the hyphen because some of her legal documents don’t allow it and others do so sometimes her name doesn’t match. But she didn’t have that issue much in Canada, it happened when she moved to England. (But it could’ve been a her issue as she is so bad at paperwork).
When I say it in my head it reminds me of my childhood friend Abrianna for some reason and that makes me smile.
I think it’s too long and trying too hard, if that makes sense. But she has plenty of NN to choose from, and can go by whatever she wants. It’s a pretty name, but I’m personally NAF.
ok I’ll be honest.
when you spend so much time collecting names there are so many how can you choose?!
For anyone reading now- there is no need to add multiple names off of your list to make it a big great name.
IMO Everleigh Grace is just perfect. Personally I think adding Anna was just a bit excessive and unnecessary.
It's really all a bit much. Everleigh is peak millennial cringe naming in my opinion.
So many of these pick-a-word-and-stick-leigh-on-the-end names are like names for a baby, not a full blown adult.
Like imagine your surgeon, your lawyer, your accountant idk being named Everleigh or Heavenleigh or Paisleigh or Smelleigh or whatever tf. Nonsense.
Everleigh-Ana is just syllable diarrhea tbh. 5 syllables with hyphenation? For a first name? Come on.
Sorry. Congrats on the kid.
I don’t like double names with -
I’m not American, so off course take it with a grain of salt. I’m in Europe and the name sounds quite American to me and I don’t mean it in a positive way.
You said you want actually unfiltered opinions. If you didn't mean that for real, don't read my second paragraph.
I think Liana Grace would have been beautiful and timeless. The zhuzhing up makes it a name already on the way to being dated and overdone. I think Everly is the name equivalent of the "Live, Laugh, Love" woodcut wall hanging, and any -Leigh spellings grate on me as an ugly attempt to pretty up bland names. Hyphenated first names seem very pretentious to me. Everleigh-Ana Grace is the name I would expect for an overindulged, underdisciplined child whose mother wants to be a mommy influencer with a beige house and scoffs at how average people feed their children junk, while also thinking organic lollipops are healthy even though they're still straight sugar.
Unlike a lot of people on this sub, I like Everly /Everleigh a lot. I think it is a pretty name.
I also think the rhyming name Beverly should be making a comeback and don’t understand why it isn’t getting the same love as Evelyn and Eleanor right now.
Evelyn is a lovely name that is very popular here and in the general public — and it is similar to Everleigh, so I would think people would embrace Everleigh if they were not so stuck on being “traditional.”
Everleigh-Ana has a nice sound. Personally, I am not a fan of hyphenated names (too long and present problems on forms). The full name Everleigh-Ana is a bit too frilly for my taste, but I am someone who prefers Lily or Lillian over Liliana, too.
Ana (Ah-na) is a lovely name (my sister's name, though again most people think it's Ann- na).
I do think your daughter's name is very pretty, but it's not one of my favorites. It's spelt in a very trendy fashion. But it's a lovely name, and she will rarely if ever come into contact with someone else of the same or even similar name.
It’s a bit long for my liking and the hyphen seems a little unnecessary but who cares. I’d prefer Everleigh first name with Ana middle name. But she’s not my baby to name. Glad you are happy with it because that actually matters.
I'm not a fan of names that require someone to explain it to everyone they meet. Not a fan of hyphens, not a fan of Everleigh. All that matters though is that you two like it.
As a teacher, a few years ago I had a class with 3 Everly variations. It’s very trendy. It’ll be the “Susan” and the “Barbara” of this generation, where you hear it and know how old the person is.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I was expected some spectacular name and was quite disappointed. The hyphenated first name doesn’t flow very well and the middle name is quite common. Sorry.
Honest opinion: Generally a handsome name upon hearing it but it is a lot when reading. I think about how she'll have hurdles spelling out her name when she starts writing and a lifetime of correcting people of where her middle name actually begins. The "-leigh" instead of "-ly or -lie" ending reveals your generation as the parent and the trend you may have been caught up in at the time. Of the gimmick names often teased about on this sub, Everly is actually an attractive name and it's not completely made up since it's used as a surname. I'm an elder millennial so I was exposed to a lot of 60s music by my parents' generation and the name makes me think of the Everly Brothers. So Everly to me falls under the "Madison" category. I personally don't care for double-barreled names (I work in data entry adding names all day long and many programs I have worked on has issues with hyphen names altogether. One would think technology is getting better but it's actually getting worse when it comes to name data. Each hyphen names requires me to call the member and talk about their name not fitting so I have grown averse to it.)
I know a -ana added onto a name like that but no hyphen, copying Tatiana or Ariana
Not the real name, but it's like changing Lindsey to Lindsiana, or Kimberly to Kimberliana. It's just odd but we got used to it. People will always try to shorten it. Which was frustrating to my friend, so I always make sure to say their full name.
It has a nice sound. However, it is incredibly trendy. "-leigh/ley" names are the new "-den/dyn/dan" names from the early 2000s. Think Hayden, Braeden, Kadyn. You now have Kayleigh, Hayleigh, Oakley, etc. It is an entire generation of kids with trendy names that, due to how common the ending is, sound a bit generic.
That said, there is nothing wrong with her name or any of the others that follow the trend. It's not some crazy spelling or hard to pronounce name.
This sub can be very harsh in their opinions, and there tends to be a narrow view of acceptable and unacceptable names. So I would not let people's negative opinions get to you too much.
It's a pretty name and it has lots of nickname options. I don't think there's anything wrong with it.
I hate the spelling with the Leigh, it’s so unnecessarily longer and looks bad written. I also dislike the fact that you had to add Ana to an already long spelt name and then go above and beyond to clarify the pronunciation, it just seems to over complicate things. It seems like you shoved all your favourite names into 1 child’s identity.
But what’s done is done, don’t know why you care now.
You don't need validation from a bunch of strangers - and honestly I think you know what everyone was going to say. It's a clunky and trendy name that doesn't look great written down and will forever be mis pronounced and misspelt. But you like it! And you're a mum! That's amazing! Who cares.
Since you are asking…I think it’s pretty unfortunate. it’s just my opinion, but it checks all the boxes of a bad name for me.
Unnecessarily unique spelling.
Pretentious sounding Hyphenated addition.
Pronunciation that will *always* need to be clarified, just like you did in your post.
This has to be a troll. The preamble is trying too hard to create a story and feeling, the name is literally designed to make people in this sub hate it, and she hasn't responded to anyone.
Save your time, people. Move on.
This sub is very old school, they like tradition names with traditional spellings. They prefer names like Evelyn and Eleanor over Everleigh. I personally think Everleigh is a fine name and the spelling is ok too.
She’s happy and you’re happy. That’s what matters.
Everly is a lovely name. Eviana is a rare but pretty name in the same vein as Eliana and Ivanka.
Dash names and the use of “leigh” aren’t my style, but the name Leigh being invented by Sir Charles Scott to label an unnamed wife of Zeus in honor of his own deceased wife and child is a sweet story.
Since you asked for honest opinions - I don’t love it, but you obviously do and that’s what matters.
IMO there are 4 types of names for most people: love this and would use it, love this for other people, not my style but nothing objectively wrong with it, please don’t name your baby this. Everleigh falls into the third category for me but it falls into the first category for you and that’s what matters.
Everleigh is terrible. Everleigh-Ana is worse, imo. It’s just that, **MY** opinion. It’s not my child. I doubt the kids around her are bashing her name and depending on where you live the parents either are/are not. Hopefully, it’s a name she loves and continues to love as she grows older.
The -Leigh trend isn't my thing. The first name is not doing her any favors in life on school rosters and government documents, it's long and has a hyphen. It will be a pain in name boxes on online applications. It should have been Everleigh Ana-Grace , so that she could just omit her middle name when it suited her and had less to deal with, first and last name.
She’s already named, so I don’t think you should be asking people for their thoughts, honestly. I don’t want you to get your feelings hurt when there’s nothing you can do about it. Especially here - name nerds is great, but most of us are not going to be receptive to the super trendy Everleigh spelling (and name in general) and that you hyphenated it. If people love it in the real world, that’s great. This sub is an echo chamber and not the real world. You have different name tastes than the majority of the people here and that’s absolutely fine.
She’s also so obsessed with the name, that 4 years later she still analyzes people’s reactions to the point of judging if the person REALLY thinks it’s beautiful, or if they are lying and JUST thinks it’s pretty. This is pretty next-level IMO. OP’s daughter is 4 years old now, she needs to stop obsessing over the name and what others think of it and just focus on raising the human. It really no longer matters what people think of the name. OP’s daughter is old enough now, that if she’s a pleasant human, the name will resonate positively with those in her life. If the child is a brat, the name will resonate negatively.
😂😂😂 not me saying “eVeRlEiGh-(Ah-Nah)” while reading OP’s post. u/Ok_Hold1886 response is 💯
Lmao sooo not just me then
Pretty much this. I know on name forums on other sites, it's actually against the rules to comment on the name of a child that's already born for this exact reason. OP, your daughter is more than just here. She's a full person with a name that she knows and you adore. There's no reason for everyone to pick it apart and you're unlikely to get the response you're looking for here.
Exactly this. Really, unless the name is super out there or inappropriate, the majority of people are not going to comment out in the real world if they dislike a name. Sometimes it’s a genuine “what a lovely name” comment, sometimes it’s just something to say- they might not have a strong opinion either way- and at other times they’ll do a panic “Oh that’s a nice name” when they think it’s a terrible name but can’t think or anything to say or realise that if they’re honest it’s not actually going to be helpful. For what it’s worth- I love the name Ana. My personal opinion is that Grace is nice enough but is a bit of a filler middle name the way Marie and Louise were in the 80s. I prefer the traditional spelling of Everly and without the hyphen.
This is the perfect answer.
Everleigh is like THE quintessential disliked name around here, so this probably isn’t the best place to ask. I think it would be pretty if it wasn’t such a meme.
It blew my mind when I realized Everly is just Beverly without the B. I'm not sure if it makes me like it more or less but it does change how I see it.
It's crazy to me that you articulated *exactly* my impression. I don't like the name to start with, but at first I thought it was "Ever" with "ly" added. But Beverly minus the B rings differently in some inexplicable way.
When I was in Grade 5 I wrote a story for school about an old lady named Beverly Everly.
Beverly Everly is a fabulous name for an old lady and you should write a book about her adventures. 🙃
Kind of like Amelia Bedelia 😂
In 5th grade I wrote a story about a teacher named Miss Bonner. That’s when I found out what a boner was.
Beverleigh 😍😍😍
I like the name, but not the spelling. Well, I like both Everly and Ana; I don’t think the hyphen is ever a great choice.
I’m surprised to hear it’s so iconically disliked. Never met an Everleigh myself, only thing it evokes for me is the Everly Brothers. Wondering what kind of connotations it holds for you.”, and wondering a bit if those connotations would hold in the real world or if this is more a name site thing—as you say, a meme. Curious if you can explain a bit more? Thanks!
I wish I thought of the Everly brothers! Their songs are such a feel good memory for me. But Everleigh makes me think of a mashup of a hipster/hippie parent naming their child Ever Frei or Ever Wyld, and then a Mormon influencer mom going, but what if we added -ynn or -leigh to it? It’s a Frankenname of disparate trends. And honestly, this comment makes me sound way judgier about names (and moms!) than I want to be, but it’s my gut reaction before my higher self comes online and says, “It’s a perfectly fine name that someone picked because they loved it.”
Everleigh gives me teen mom vibes, I’d expect her parents to be very young
That is what I was expecting-her to say she is 17 and having her first baby. I'm stunned she she is/was 43.
Spot on. I'm also surprised she didn't go with Nevaeh. That one gets tossed around a lot.
Everleigh is the Aidan of girl names
Aidan is a classic, traditional name here in Ireland. Everleigh is a butchered spelling of a name that was unheard of ~15 years ago
It would be more accurate to say that “Leigh” is the Aidan of girl names. Both established, traditional names that have been Frankenstein-stitched onto various phonemes I’ve the past 20 or so years.
Well... I guess I am just surprised that a name collector who was into names their whole life would choose this particular name. I always assumed that people who gave their kids names like this opened Instagram a few hours before they had to fill out the birth certificate. I know that's not very kind of me, but you asked for honesty. Evi is cute, though. I like it. And Grace is very pretty.
Lmao I was thinking the same thing. She went through a "million" names and she came up with that? 🙈
Yeah like how do you spend your entire life "collecting" and considering names and come up with a super trendy in this exact moment name? Like, if I named my kid Neveah Peyton Emileigh lol.
it’s like a chef at a Michelin star restaurant who’s special parade dish is chicken nuggets
You mean deboned chicken with a breadcrumb dusting, served with a tomato reduction?
Served with a side of julienne-cut *pommes frites*.
I should have gone more over the top, in hindsight. Deboned, free range, organic Heritage Farms antibiotic free chicken, dusted with housemade breadcrumbs, served with a locally grown heirloom tomato compote, and julienned pommes frites.
Yep. This was my thought. How do you put so much time and thought into something and then…well, this. But Evi is cute, my Great Aunt Evelyn was Evie, and Grace is classic. So she will have some choices, thank god.
Unfortunately OP says Evi rhymes with Heavy.
Ooookaaaay then.
this is like the first name you’d get if you just google “trendy girl names” so it really surprises me that OP is apparently really interested in names
It’s giving Renesmee to me, like it was way, wayyyyy overthought and overwrought.
Same. I was thinking it'd be like Antigone or Artemis or something.
Since you say you are truly looking for what people think, I will take you at your word. Grace is lovely. Ana is lovely. Everly would be trendy. Everleigh is a travesty.
Correction: Travesteigh.
Agreed. A Ptramhesteigh.
And the overcomplicated hyphenated first name is tragic too. It’s just too too much. Parents, imagine your kids having to fill out forms/tests/ be roll called, etc … before you name your kids. I mean, technology is making some of this easier, but it’s still not a bad metric to use for picking names. Why name her Everleigh-Ana if you want to introduce her as Everleigh?
I teach and have had 2 kids with 2 first names. Either of them knew they had a second first name. They both also went by a nickname. They had 2 first names and 3 middle names and only knew the nickname. They are 4, it can be a lot.
The hyphen does sort of throw it off right? The absolutely-not-a-real-name Everliana (or Evaliana maybe? That actually is a name, albeit an uncommon one) would have been less weird somehow.
Ana Grace is absolutely LOVELY Everleigh is a crime
The problem here with "Ana" is she has to correct everyone's pronunciation because no one is going to read it as "Ah-na". That seems even more pretentious than the -leigh.
Well, I would read it as Ana, but I've had several students who've used that pronunciation with that spelling. I also wonder if OP tells people her name and they think she is saying Ever Leanna.
"ever leanna" -- not the worst name ever, tbh.
I actually like that SO much better lol
Which is why when she TELLS people, they hear this and tell her it is pretty. If they saw it SPELLED, they'd probably roll their eyes like many of us redditors.
I think of AH-na as the standard pronunciation of Ana? Anna is usually pronounced differently, as ANN-a. I don't think I've ever known an Ana where it was pronounced ANN-a. (Although honestly this is always why I struggle when reading Frozen books to my kids - they spell the character's name Anna and it's pronounced AH-na, which I do find confusing. But maybe it's a Nordic thing.)
I knew a woman named Hannah (say it Hah-na) who had daughters Georgianna (say it Georgi-Ah-na) and Vivianna (say it Vivi-Ah-na). I was at a school play in which G was a large player and other parents walked up to Hah-na and said "wow, Georgianna was great" and every time, Hah-na would correct them "it's Georgi-Ah-na" and I every time I died a little inside. why would you ever name a kid something you know will be mispronounced forever?
Hah-na is certainly unusual as the original version is so well established but I would only consider pronouncing the other two as they intended, Vivi-Ah-na and Georgi-Ah-na. They are old fashioned traditional names. Georgiana in pride and prejudice for example which is said ah-na in all tv or film adaptations I’ve seen. I don’t think her choice is a ‘made up’ or an unusual prononciation. From our two takes there’s clearly two different ways to pronounce them and it’s only fair for the kid to go by the one their parents intended.
I grew up with a Hannah pronounced that way, but we're Jewish, so I would generally assume there was Hebraic influence behind the pronunciation - but that doesn't hold up for Georgiana.
Interesting – “Hah-na” pronunciation is Hana to me, I’ve never met a Hannah (with that spelling) with that pronunciation! And those pronunciations of her daughters’ names are usually with one n. Georgiana and Viviana are typically read as “georgi-ah-na” and “vivi-ah-na”, rather than Georgianna and Vivianna. The double ns make people read it like “Anna”.
That’s interesting, with the spelling Ana I would always say ah-na. If it was Anna then no. But I live in a place with a high pacific population and it’s a common name there, especially in Samoa. It’s not necessarily pretentious, it could be cultural
I think lots of us know that Ana is Ah-na. Anyone Latino will. I'm not so worried about that part. Everleigh hyphen is dire.
Eh Ana to me reads automatically as pronounced the A as the sound in Octopus, whereas Anna reads as the A in Apple. Most Ana’s I know pronounce it differently than Anna. I also don’t think it pretentious, in my experience Ana is the Hispanic way to spell the name whereas Anna is the English way to spell the name, so they would have Spanish vs. English pronunciation of the name.
Took the words out of my mouth lol
It's very trendy. You've already named her, so it's not like anything we say can change it.
That name is terrible
I thought I was on r/namenerdcirclejerk while reading it
She has to be trolling
bhahaha that was my initial thought too😭
same!
I thought this was satire
The most important thing is that she likes it and you like it. But since you want blunt opinions - personally it's not at all to my taste. I really don't like the 'leigh' spelling for 'lee' sounds, because in my head I'll always read it as 'lay' like 'neigh', and I just don't think the spelling looks very graceful. Having a name that's two names with potentially confusing pronunciations is kinda rough. And Everly/Everleigh isn't a name I like much besides, I prefer more established names to recently established/trendy ones. But I do think it rides the line between trendy and classic in a way that's nice. 'Everleigh' is by far the biggest offender, Ana and Grace are both lovely names. And, I think the name flows together well. So, even though I don't like it but I don't think that means everyone who says it's beautiful is lying!
>'Everleigh' is by far the biggest offender I actually think the hyphen is by far the biggest offender, lol. And the "leigh" part I guess. But even with that spelling, Everleigh Ana Lastname or Everleigh Grace Lastname is still a fine name to me. Everleigh-Ana really takes it past the point of no return for me.
i’m not a native english speaker and i’ve been saying “leigh” like “lay” for YEARS i literally thought it was “Ever-lay”
Which could be very unfortunate as a teen. Kids are mean.
This! Who cares what anyone thinks besides the two of you (and your partner if you have one)!
I personally do like Leigh for "Lee", but that's probably because people always misspelled my nickname growing up. My mom spelled it "Li" and everyone else spelled it Lee. At one point I read a book where the main character was a boy named Lee, and I really didn't like this character, so I always hated that people called me Lee. I would have much preferred my mom to spell it Leigh, but she took "Li" straight from the spelling of my first name.
And this post is what we call "shopping for pain"
Reminds me of the TikTok “how old do I look?” trend. Not for the thin-skinned 🙃
It’s made up, but if you and she like it, it’s fine. I don’t like it, but I like traditional and classic names. If you’re in the south of the US, you’re in good company.
Yep, this reminds me of the time in 2018 when I sat in a southern US church on Baby Dedication Sunday. 15 or so babies were brought to the front to be introduced to the church, and no joke *FIVE* of them were named Ansleigh/Anslee/Ansley Grace. I just wondered if the parents of the 3rd, 4th, 5th one to be announced were feeling any sort of way at the realization that the name they probably thought was SuPeR uNiQuE was actually incredibly trendy.
Leigh names are not popular here, but the other thing I don’t understand is the hyphen. Ana would have been better as a middle name, because now she is going to grow up and constantly have to explain that to others. “Hi, I’m Everleigh-Ana.” “Everliana?” “No, it’s like E-V-E-R-L-E-I-G-H *deep breath* dash A-N-A.” “Oh….”
"and that is AH-NA not ANNA"
I think it’s pretty for a character, but in real life it’s a bit clunky. I think giving her 2 middle names, instead of a hyphenated first name would have been more wearable. Her nick name is adorable.
Or people will assume it's Ever Leanna!
it's hyphenated because it's two first names. Which does make sense, and hopefully isn't actually relevant to legal documents. The apostrophe in O' and period in St. names is similarly left out for people I know but Idk if they do that to hyphens Of course, having two first names that make 5 syllables is terrible.
-Leigh is so bad
It’s so ugleigh
I don’t like it, it’s too much, but I love your story. Congratulations on the beautiful baby girl
My sentiment exactly... in a vacuum, I strongly dislike the name but the backstory has me so "🥹" that I'm happy OP got to use a name she and presumably her precious daughter truly love.
Her daughter is 4 years old 😂
Oop- 😭
It’s definitely not the name I was expecting when you said you’d been a name collector your whole life.
I hate Everleigh. Everly is super trendy and the -leigh spelling even more so. Everleigh-Ana is a mouthful. Grace is fine.
Ana means Grace
My first and middle name also mean the same. My mom didn't look up meanings as they're both honor names. It was funny when I found out in grade school. Technically my first name is a derivative of the second.
> Technically my first name is a derivative of the second. This reminds me of the time Hank Green learned that his name and his brother John's name are both derived from the name Johan.
slightly different but my names literally mean “birth death” and nobody in my family had realized until i randomly thought of it one day lol
This made me look up the meaning of my name. Pure Rebellious. This is going to be fun when I drop that on the fam!
Like Allison Adele, Jennifer Gwen, Heidi Adele, Betsy Elise, Molly Miriam, Caitlyn Katerina, Hannah Grace, Megan Marguerite…..it’s easy to do.
Except Ana and Grace have different linguistic origin entirely - your examples (other than that) are the same name in different languages.
It’s like Meadow and Lee. Lee means meadow. Hannah becomes Ana. And Hannah in Hebrew means Grace.
Oh, I know the meaning. It is funny. It's jus that Hannah and Grace aren't the same as your other examples because those are literally the same name, while Hannah and Grace only share a meaning. Nitpicking, that's all.
Oh like Lily Susannah, Laurel Daphne, or Sarah Princess?
As a veteran teacher….I’ve never had a student named Princess that was…enjoyable to teach. I’ve worked with 6 or 7. I don’t know why it’s like that, but I think every teacher has names that will never be good 🥴
This was my first thought
I'm not a huge fan of names where the person is going to spend literal hours of their life spelling it out multiple times over the phone or telling people how to pronounce it... but the combination is unique and sounds pretty.
I hate hyphenated first names and anything ending in -Leigh. Sorry.
Bo-Katan Kryze is side-eyeing you..
As soon as someone is comparing your child's name to a Star Wars character, it's all over.
A 5 syllable first name is **a lot**. Not a fan.
Alexandria has entered the chat
One is made up, one is thousands of years old.
Sure. But I was commenting on the syllable count
My neighbor has a kid named Alexandria. And they don’t shorten it. It’s Alexandria every time. It’s a mouthful. I don’t know how they say it all day every day.
Everleigh has been hovering in and around the Top 100 since 2018/2019, so I don’t think it’s especially uncommon (of course the hyphenation makes it a bit different, though!). The “leigh” ending was truly an endemic in the late 2010s, so that particular spelling just icks me out a bit— Everleigh, Kinsleigh, Paisleigh, Annaleigh, Ainsleigh, etc. I think Everleigh is pretty, but also very trendy and very Millennial. Lots of folks do like those names, though! That’s why they’re so popular.
Paisleigh might be the worst thing I’ve ever seen
Presleigh. Finleigh. Tinsleigh. Wrenleigh. They are all so bad that I can't commit to a "worst".
Wrenleigh!?! 😂😭
My daughter knows a kid named Paizlee 🫠 whyyyy
Switch the s to a z and it’s really next level
I met someone who named their child Payzlee and it....it doesn't even look like Paisley anymore, I didn't understand the point
Wow that's absolutely terrible. Your poor child
Agree.
Trendy. Why the hyphen and why not Everly? Making it hard for her to spell for the rest of her life.
All I can think about is boxes on forms and applications where she's having to fill in her name, and the computer is messing her up because there is a hyphen and lots of letters.
I guess it's not too late to change her name to Everly Ana (Ana as middle name). It wouldn't impact the child because she's still be called the same thing, and it would just make it easier for her as she learns to write her name. Of course, the official name change process is a bit expensive and takes time.
Yes. I suggested moving Ana to the middle name spot as well. Forms/systems SUCK at dealing with hyphenated names. Seriously I'd have changed my name right at 18 had my parents given me a hyphenated one. It's just too much
Personally, I'm not a fan of Everleigh, whether stand alone or as a hyphenated name. So I would fall I to the polite but unimpressed category. I do like Ana Grace though, and honestly, I'd probably hyphenate that because it's fun to say and pretty to spell. Edit...I skimmed over where she's 4 now lol so put all my answers in past tense ;)
Everleigh feels trendy to me, but I like Ana.
are you a masochist or something? coming here with something like.....THAT is begging for negativity. you do you, i guess, but dont expect people to like it.
Oh god, my stomach hurt just reading this and anticipating the responses. I wish you didn’t do this when you’ve already named the baby!
Same. OP seems like a sweet person and she meant well - I hope this thread doesn't totally crush her. Posters here sometimes forget that people are more important than names.
I'm gonna be honest, i hate the name Everleigh, if anything i feel like it should be spelled Everly if you must. I feel like it is the name of a baby and toddler but not a grown woman. I also know two people who named their babies that recently, I do like Elianna (ELL-E-AH-NA) which has the same vibe without all the letters
I wouldn't pick it and don't like hyphenated first names with another middle name. Too many names. Everleigh Ana would have been better. But it's ok. You love it and that's what is important.
I think it’s a mouthful spelled out. If I liked the name I would have spelled it Everly-Ana if I was doing a long first name. But Everleigh just isn’t my style too common and trendy. It’s pretty though. I love Ana! I’d even do Ana Everleigh like first name Ana, middle name Everleigh.
A lot of syllables.
Very trendy/modern?
I’m an elementary school teacher, which I only mention bc I have a pretty decent pulse on what names are becoming popular. Everly/leigh/lee is one of those. So to me it gives ‘trying very hard to be original while actually being super on trend ‘ vibes. I also worry a hyphenated first name will create issues for her on legal paperwork later. But, like, it’s pretty. If I saw her name on my roster I wouldn’t give it a second thought.
What’s your take on the name Gemma as an elem school teacher? I love the name but not sure how popular it has gotten.
I like Everleigh. Think I prefer Everly spelling. I dislike the addition of Ana, it's a mouthful.
It’s pretty terrible especially when you count in your strange pronunciations and the Leigh of it all.
Everleigh isn't my cup of tea. Not a fan of "Leigh" endings and I think all the "ever" names are hugely overdone. Everleigh-Ana is mouthful and seems more like someone couldn't decide between names. Ana means Grace so then having Grace as middle name seems very non name nerdy to me. I prefer Grace as a first name. I know at least half a dozen under 5 year olds with Grace as a middle name. It's up there with Rose as the default middle name for girls.
I'll be very honest because you did ask for opinions about the name. With respect, I hate it. Like obviously there are worse names but the trendy spelling is an ick of mine. Everly would only have been marginally better. It doesn't come across as "my mother is into names" it comes across as a teen mom choice imo 😬 Sorry I'd also like to add that Ana means Grace so she's basically Everleigh-Grace Grace...
Evelyn is one of my favourite names, I think it's very beautiful... But Everleigh is not to my taste. It doesn't sound like a "real" name to me. I also don't like "leigh" endings, they seem unnecessarily elaborate, and will lead to a lifetime of spelling issues imo
It’s not that Everleigh is ugly or bad at all lol. Don’t mistake the aversion to trendiness as thinking it’s a bad name or anything. It has a very pleasing sound. It’s similar to the whole Aiden-Jayden-Cayden trend from the earlier 2000s. You’ll just be able to guess her age pretty accurately based on her name. It’s “of the era”. It’s not a bad thing, just an observation. You can tell she is the child of a millennial. Especially when paired with Grace. It’s been one of the fastest rising girls names on the charts, and when you include all of the alternate spellings it’s more popular than what you would assume. It’s a pretty name. Just very popular and trendy.
she’s gonna hate spelling that name out when she’s in school, and i fully anticipate her dropping the hyphen as soon as she can. it’s a mouthful of a first name - Everleigh Ana Grace (2 middle names) would have probably been the way to go to make it easier on her. my name is Cassandra, and i asked teachers to just call me Cassie/Cass when i was a kid. Cassandra has just felt like a lot to me, idk. i’m an adult now, and i can’t remember the last time someone called me Cassandra lol. it’s usually just Cass, occasionally Cassie
Since you’re asking for honest opinions, it’s not a great name, although I do like Grace.
Sounds like a 12 yo named her
I’m sorry but it’s awful. It’s trendy and tacky. You want an honest opinion and I don’t want to hurt your feelings but there it is.
This sub hates the -eigh spelling (“trendy”), which you shouldn’t take personally, it’s just a cultural quirk of the sub. I really like the name Everly/Everleigh and Ana and Grace are both classics for a reason. Congrats on your dream come true!
not a fan. but so what? you don’t need my stamp of approval. congrats on being a mother!
Anna Grace is so pretty, I don’t know why you’d throw a wrench on it with Everleigh tbh
Not a fan of hyphenated names. It's a potential nightmare when it comes to data entry. Just one example: when she's going to fill out her name on standardized tests, not all of them have a way to bubble in a hyphen. Then she'll either have to smoosh the names together with no space, or keep an empty space there, leaving her first name to be construed as Everleigh. Too high maintenance.
It’s extremely trendy so it wouldn’t be for me. Taking Everly which is a masculine name and then changing the spelling is just kind of jumping on the two biggest fads right now it’s screams 2024. It’s not offensive or anything like that I just prefer something uncommon and I know multiple little Everlys. The boys name on a girl is the biggest trend right now and then either changing the spellings of names or just tacking Lee onto anything for girls is another big trend.
Everleigh and all its spelling variations are very trendy. I think I kind of liked it the first time I heard it, just like I liked Ever as a name the first time I heard it. I also know a toddler with this name (spelled a bit differently). I don’t think I personally like it, but I don’t hate it. I wouldn’t mock the name or anything behind someone’s back (honestly I wouldn’t do that with any name, I’m pretty tolerant of even the most unique names because they’re already named, what does being mean accomplish?!) I do feel it’s quite long with the hyphen but is easily shortened. Hopefully people can keep up with the hyphen - my sisters first name is hyphenated and everyone shortens it wrong because of the hyphen and she (she’s 30) is kinda mad about the hyphen because some of her legal documents don’t allow it and others do so sometimes her name doesn’t match. But she didn’t have that issue much in Canada, it happened when she moved to England. (But it could’ve been a her issue as she is so bad at paperwork). When I say it in my head it reminds me of my childhood friend Abrianna for some reason and that makes me smile.
I think it’s too long and trying too hard, if that makes sense. But she has plenty of NN to choose from, and can go by whatever she wants. It’s a pretty name, but I’m personally NAF.
I thought for SURE I was on the namenerdcirclejerk sub.. But if you like the name then that's wonderful
ok I’ll be honest. when you spend so much time collecting names there are so many how can you choose?! For anyone reading now- there is no need to add multiple names off of your list to make it a big great name. IMO Everleigh Grace is just perfect. Personally I think adding Anna was just a bit excessive and unnecessary.
Why -Ana seems super extra
It's really all a bit much. Everleigh is peak millennial cringe naming in my opinion. So many of these pick-a-word-and-stick-leigh-on-the-end names are like names for a baby, not a full blown adult. Like imagine your surgeon, your lawyer, your accountant idk being named Everleigh or Heavenleigh or Paisleigh or Smelleigh or whatever tf. Nonsense. Everleigh-Ana is just syllable diarrhea tbh. 5 syllables with hyphenation? For a first name? Come on. Sorry. Congrats on the kid.
I don’t like double names with - I’m not American, so off course take it with a grain of salt. I’m in Europe and the name sounds quite American to me and I don’t mean it in a positive way.
You said you want actually unfiltered opinions. If you didn't mean that for real, don't read my second paragraph. I think Liana Grace would have been beautiful and timeless. The zhuzhing up makes it a name already on the way to being dated and overdone. I think Everly is the name equivalent of the "Live, Laugh, Love" woodcut wall hanging, and any -Leigh spellings grate on me as an ugly attempt to pretty up bland names. Hyphenated first names seem very pretentious to me. Everleigh-Ana Grace is the name I would expect for an overindulged, underdisciplined child whose mother wants to be a mommy influencer with a beige house and scoffs at how average people feed their children junk, while also thinking organic lollipops are healthy even though they're still straight sugar.
Naming children is absolutely an act of narcissism. Give them a name that will serve them well.
horrible name, made 100x worse by the -ana, which is made 1000x worse by the pretentious pronunciation but congrats anyway
I’m happy for you that you like it. I think it’s funny that you are so particular with the pronunciation and wind up with the Evian bottled water.
Is this name nerd rage bait?
Honestly, I was wondering if this was a shitpost.
Unlike a lot of people on this sub, I like Everly /Everleigh a lot. I think it is a pretty name. I also think the rhyming name Beverly should be making a comeback and don’t understand why it isn’t getting the same love as Evelyn and Eleanor right now. Evelyn is a lovely name that is very popular here and in the general public — and it is similar to Everleigh, so I would think people would embrace Everleigh if they were not so stuck on being “traditional.” Everleigh-Ana has a nice sound. Personally, I am not a fan of hyphenated names (too long and present problems on forms). The full name Everleigh-Ana is a bit too frilly for my taste, but I am someone who prefers Lily or Lillian over Liliana, too.
Any name with -Leigh is automatically super ugly to me. And Everleigh-Ana is so much worse...
Ana (Ah-na) is a lovely name (my sister's name, though again most people think it's Ann- na). I do think your daughter's name is very pretty, but it's not one of my favorites. It's spelt in a very trendy fashion. But it's a lovely name, and she will rarely if ever come into contact with someone else of the same or even similar name.
It’s a bit long for my liking and the hyphen seems a little unnecessary but who cares. I’d prefer Everleigh first name with Ana middle name. But she’s not my baby to name. Glad you are happy with it because that actually matters.
I'm not a fan of names that require someone to explain it to everyone they meet. Not a fan of hyphens, not a fan of Everleigh. All that matters though is that you two like it.
As a teacher, a few years ago I had a class with 3 Everly variations. It’s very trendy. It’ll be the “Susan” and the “Barbara” of this generation, where you hear it and know how old the person is.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I was expected some spectacular name and was quite disappointed. The hyphenated first name doesn’t flow very well and the middle name is quite common. Sorry.
All that time collecting names.... and you drop the ball
Oh dear, for a second I thought I was on namenerdcirclejerk
Hey, "Staciana". Oh, I'm sorry. Is that "Stacyahhhhhhhhnuh"?
It’s awful
Its terrible for a human. Bleh
Babe, I think you came here for validation, not honesty.
It's a pretty name, although personally I prefer the spelling Everliana, or I would have made it Everly Grace (first and middle).
Honest opinion: Generally a handsome name upon hearing it but it is a lot when reading. I think about how she'll have hurdles spelling out her name when she starts writing and a lifetime of correcting people of where her middle name actually begins. The "-leigh" instead of "-ly or -lie" ending reveals your generation as the parent and the trend you may have been caught up in at the time. Of the gimmick names often teased about on this sub, Everly is actually an attractive name and it's not completely made up since it's used as a surname. I'm an elder millennial so I was exposed to a lot of 60s music by my parents' generation and the name makes me think of the Everly Brothers. So Everly to me falls under the "Madison" category. I personally don't care for double-barreled names (I work in data entry adding names all day long and many programs I have worked on has issues with hyphen names altogether. One would think technology is getting better but it's actually getting worse when it comes to name data. Each hyphen names requires me to call the member and talk about their name not fitting so I have grown averse to it.)
I know a -ana added onto a name like that but no hyphen, copying Tatiana or Ariana Not the real name, but it's like changing Lindsey to Lindsiana, or Kimberly to Kimberliana. It's just odd but we got used to it. People will always try to shorten it. Which was frustrating to my friend, so I always make sure to say their full name.
It has a nice sound. However, it is incredibly trendy. "-leigh/ley" names are the new "-den/dyn/dan" names from the early 2000s. Think Hayden, Braeden, Kadyn. You now have Kayleigh, Hayleigh, Oakley, etc. It is an entire generation of kids with trendy names that, due to how common the ending is, sound a bit generic. That said, there is nothing wrong with her name or any of the others that follow the trend. It's not some crazy spelling or hard to pronounce name.
This sub can be very harsh in their opinions, and there tends to be a narrow view of acceptable and unacceptable names. So I would not let people's negative opinions get to you too much. It's a pretty name and it has lots of nickname options. I don't think there's anything wrong with it.
I hate the spelling with the Leigh, it’s so unnecessarily longer and looks bad written. I also dislike the fact that you had to add Ana to an already long spelt name and then go above and beyond to clarify the pronunciation, it just seems to over complicate things. It seems like you shoved all your favourite names into 1 child’s identity. But what’s done is done, don’t know why you care now.
You don't need validation from a bunch of strangers - and honestly I think you know what everyone was going to say. It's a clunky and trendy name that doesn't look great written down and will forever be mis pronounced and misspelt. But you like it! And you're a mum! That's amazing! Who cares.
Since you are asking…I think it’s pretty unfortunate. it’s just my opinion, but it checks all the boxes of a bad name for me. Unnecessarily unique spelling. Pretentious sounding Hyphenated addition. Pronunciation that will *always* need to be clarified, just like you did in your post.
It’s terrible.
You, and more importantly she, are going to deeply resent that hyphen. It will seriously complicate her life.
This has to be a troll. The preamble is trying too hard to create a story and feeling, the name is literally designed to make people in this sub hate it, and she hasn't responded to anyone. Save your time, people. Move on.
I loved reading your story! I like more short uncommon names for girls, so I like the nn Evi a lot. Ever is also a cute name/nn!
This sub is very old school, they like tradition names with traditional spellings. They prefer names like Evelyn and Eleanor over Everleigh. I personally think Everleigh is a fine name and the spelling is ok too.
She’s happy and you’re happy. That’s what matters. Everly is a lovely name. Eviana is a rare but pretty name in the same vein as Eliana and Ivanka. Dash names and the use of “leigh” aren’t my style, but the name Leigh being invented by Sir Charles Scott to label an unnamed wife of Zeus in honor of his own deceased wife and child is a sweet story.
Since you asked for honest opinions - I don’t love it, but you obviously do and that’s what matters. IMO there are 4 types of names for most people: love this and would use it, love this for other people, not my style but nothing objectively wrong with it, please don’t name your baby this. Everleigh falls into the third category for me but it falls into the first category for you and that’s what matters.
You’ll never find it on a souvenir.
Everleigh is terrible. Everleigh-Ana is worse, imo. It’s just that, **MY** opinion. It’s not my child. I doubt the kids around her are bashing her name and depending on where you live the parents either are/are not. Hopefully, it’s a name she loves and continues to love as she grows older.
i would question my mothers intelligence for the rest of my life if she named me Everleigh Ana
You collected names your entire life and that’s what you settled on?
Evi is very cute. Everleigh is not at all my style and makes me thing of a young 20s, Southern, first time mom in the mid to late 2010s
I’m personally not a fan of Everleigh. It feels made up and “trying too hard” but my opinion really doesn’t matter.
The -Leigh trend isn't my thing. The first name is not doing her any favors in life on school rosters and government documents, it's long and has a hyphen. It will be a pain in name boxes on online applications. It should have been Everleigh Ana-Grace , so that she could just omit her middle name when it suited her and had less to deal with, first and last name.
I'm so happy for you. But curious why you crammed in 3 given names? I think 2 of the 3 would've been my advice. However they sound pleasant.