Hi Swistle! I’m so excited to finally be able to write in with a question of my own!
We’re due in August with a baby girl, our first. My husband and I are on the same page when it comes to name styles, which is amazing and I’m super grateful for it, especially after reading this blog for so many years :)
The trouble I’m having is with our last name, which sounds like “Lee.” So many adorable girl names don’t work with Lee – either they run into the last name and end up sounding like the baby has just a first name (eg Emma Lee = Emily; Cora Lee = Coralie) or there is too much duplication in sounds (eg Emily Lee, Ella Lee, Holly Lee, etc).
The particular name in question at the moment though is “Eva.” It’s one of my husband’s top contenders (and I really like it as well!), and people we’ve mentioned it to have also gotten excited and urged us to use it. But I’m worried about the full name: does “Eva Lee” sound like “evilly”?? I think it totally does, and that it’s problematic to saddle a child with such a negative association.
My husband claims no one would say it in such a run-on fashion to make the association, and I realize we could give her a middle name that we like to use when saying her full name, like “Eva Katherine Lee” or something, but I certainly hardly ever use my full name when introducing myself or filling out paperwork. It also depends on pronunciation (EE-vah vs. EHH-vah) but again, I wouldn’t be able to control how people throughout her life choose to pronounce it every time.
So I’d love to get your opinion & that of your readers: am I being an oversensitive pregnant lady and too hung up on having my baby’s name sound super negative, or is this a combo you’d stay away from as well?
Thanks!
Alice
You know what, I have been so upset for so long about that poll plug-in I was using, the one that lost all the poll results for all the posts—but there comes a time where you just have to go back to what sometimes works and other times leads to crushing despair. Because this question DEMANDS a poll. It DEMANDS it. And so back we go, into the polling fray.
First I will say what I think, which is that it sounds enough like the word evilly that I believe I would be prevented from using it. I would be sorry, I would be sad, but in the end it crosses my own line.
HOWEVER. I do not feel as strictly about nicknames. If you named her, say, Evalina, and called her Eva, it bothers me MUCH MUCH LESS. For one thing, at times when you need to say the first and last names together (doctor’s office, classroom, etc.), it will generally be said with the full first name. For another thing, if the problem turns out to be TOO problematic (it can be difficult to predict ahead of time), the nickname can be dropped as a solution.
Now for the poll. It’s been awhile, so I will remind everyone that the polls NEVER have enough answers to fit everyone’s exact answer. NEVER. If they did, there would be a 1000-option poll with one vote each for the 1000 different options, and that would be of very little help. Instead, we narrow the options to get a more helpful result, and use the comments section for clarifying answers further. Also, I am a bit rusty about polls, so this one may be PARTICULARLY poor with option choices. It may take a bit of warm-up before we are back into this completely.
[yop_poll id=”63″]
Name update:
Apologies for the delayed update! It was a hard choice, because I am still totally in love with the name Eva, but I decided I couldn’t handle a lifetime of second-guessing myself on the “evilly” front… so in August we welcomed miss Juliette Elizabeth:
In trying to decide on my answer to this question, I tried and failed to think of a single time I’ve ever heard the word “evilly” spoken aloud. I knew the word existed and have seen it in print, but in my own limited experience, people find more natural ways to describe something’s having been done “evilly.”
So I think you’re safe!
This is all so true. Other considerations: most people aren’t addressed much by their first and last names together, it doesn’t read as Evilly when you are seeing it in written form, and most people will have a pause in between the names when it’s spoken. I think your big worry is the playground, and most kids aren’t literate enough to really go there. I also think that were your last name not Lee, she could marry into Lee and not sweat it. So, unless it really bothers you on every level that someone could tease her for it, you can use it. It’s a beautiful name, that’s for sure.
You said exactly what I was thinking! I have never heard someone say the word ‘evilly’ :) therefore the association doesn’t bother me at all.
Oh, and I know a Lee family with two little kids whose names both end with an -a sound (somewhat like Noah and Sara). When spoken really fast, the kids’ names do run together and sound a bit like imaginary adverbs, but (1) as someone who knows them personally and not professionally, I almost never hear their full names; and (2) their parents generally take a little breath in between the names to prevent the effect you’re worried about. It works.
I voted that it would be out for me, BUT one of the names you listed as not working with your surname, I thought worked really well and was totally fine–Cora! I love the name Cora, and I have never heard of anyone being named Coralie (although I’m sure they exist), so Cora Lee would not sound strange to my ear at all. I vote for that. ;)
I know a Coralie. It’s pronounced more “Corra lee” not “Core-a lee” (if that makes sense) though.
So I think Cora Lee would be great!
Also, I have a friend whose last name is Lee and I think her girls’ names are lovely, and seem in the same vein as the names you and your husband like. Their names are Marin and Corinne. Both work just fine with Lee.
Eh-va Lee works just fine. Ee-va Lee (and even Eve Lee) does sound like Evilly. What other names than Evalina could nickname to Eva?
And there’s always Ava, as another option. I generally prefer Eva, but Ava is quite lovely too.
Evangeline!
Ok, so it doesn’t seem like this letter writer’s style, but it’s a name I love.
Ava is where I wa going as well!
I pronounce Eva “eevah” and maybe it’s because of the pause before I add in Lee, but it doesn’t sound *exactly* like evilly to my ear, and then like someone else, I possibly don’t use the adverb often enough for it to ring any bells. I guess the answer is to go with something that doesn’t end in an “ah” sound. But I don’t think you necessarily have to give up Eva.
I like the idea of Eva Katherine, whom you could refer to casually as Eva Kate (which I like with both EE-va and Eh-va), so even in a shortened form wouldn’t have that run on problem. My oldest’s middle name is Kathryn and she is almost always “FIRST NAME Kate”– so much so that she was convinced her name was “FIRST-Kate Kathryn LAST :)
I really love “Eva Kate” short for Eva Katherine.
I was going to suggest Eva Kate too, as a double first name type name. I think it is really cute and helps break up the Eva from the “Lee.”
I voted it songs too much like evilly to use. However I agree that Eva as the nickname isn’t as much of a problem. Another simple solution would be to use the name Ava or Eve instead. I don’t hear evilly at all with either Ava Lee or Eve Lee.
I voted I can’t decide because I think that it depends on how you intend to pronounce her name. I disagree that you can’t control how people will pronounce her name. If someone mispronounces my name I correct them, I am not sure why you would assume that your daughter would be fine with letting people say call her by two different pronunciations.
It sounds like “everly” in a new Zealand or south African accent…
I must be dense but I really don’t think it sounds like evilly and even if it did, it’s not a word people use. People say evil, sure, but that doesn’t sound like eva at all. Also, I almost never say my sons’ middle names and when I do, it’s intentional and I say the names with a pause in between. Use them.
This.
I voted as it sounds too much like evilly for me to use, and I meant me, personally. I think it crosses that line (for ME). But if I met a little Eva Lee I wouldn’t feel like her parents made some terrible naming mistake.
Same
Unfortunatley, I heard Evilly when I read the blog title, and thought it was a first-middle suggestion. So definatley my first association. And Lee is certainly going to run into names, but something like Mary Lee turns into Merrily, which is still a nice word. The sadness is that Eva Lee turns into Evilly, which is a pretty negative word. IMO, it isn’t worth risking. I’m so sorry.
It does strike me that longer names (Katherine for example) don’t turn the Lee part into the first name as often as shorter first names do.
And as someone with a many syllable complicated last name who stuck to short simple first names, I am imagining all the wonderful longer first names you could use!
Good luck!
May I wager that any name ending in an -a- would run into the Lee? Savannah Lee would sound like Savannahly. As an Emma, I have found that my first name runs into my last name, and it sounds like a very stupid word. So I introduce myself most often as just “Emma”. I don’t use the last name, simply because people don’t hear 2 separate words. I don’t think its an issue, but perhaps all -a- ending names going into a consonant beginning name can sound a bit runny.
As an aside, I didn’t really think evilly was a word., I had to look it up just be sure it was! And when Eva introduces herself or you introduce her, she will most likely just be Eva unless its a job interview. I was Emma Tatum, and it was heard as “Imitate ’em”. And I used to brag about it all the time. So maybe it could be cutesy and she could find it fun to be Eva Lee evilly devised a plan.
Good luck with your naming!
I have a friend Emma who is a stand-up comic. She has a joke about how her full name sounds like “I’m a woman” when said fast.
THE POLLS ARE BACK! WOOOO!
In my opinion, this is not an advisable combination. But on the other hand, Eva falls into the Helena category, which is to say that the ambiguity in pronunciation would scratch it off the list for me anyway. Certainly other people feel differently. The adverb problem seems strongest with short 1- or 2-syllable names, so I might lean more toward longer, classic 3- or 4-syllable names, if any of those suit your tastes.
I chose a name for my son that requires me to say it with a pause in between. It’s not a big issue, so if you absolutely love the name, go for it! I will say it gets a bit old to pause so as not to have two names run together or collide. (It somehow makes me more aware of the ways our chosen names are imperfect, so imagining myself in your shoes, I’d probably hear “evilly” even more with time every time I said “And this is EH-va [pause] Lee.”)
We have the name Lee in our family and I did notice that many names just don’t work with it. I think choosing a name like Ava or Evangeline might avoid the issue.
I voted that Eva Lee was unusable but for me. I wouldn’t whisper about your name choice behind your back if you picked it. Why not Ava, Ivy, Amy or Isla? Many similar sweet and short names similar to Eva.
April, Ida, Edie, Elena, Vana, Vera, Anais. I could go on.
AHHH THIS IS VERY THRILLING TO BE ABLE TO READ EVERYONE’S OPINIONS! Thank you all for your input!!
It’s funny – some names that “run into” Lee seem acceptable to me whereas some don’t – I think it’s mainly where they combine to make an existing name or word (like Cora Lee – I LOVE LOVE Cora, but I actually EXTRA love it as a nickname for the full [French] name Coralie, so having Cora Lee as the entire name makes me twitchy). Whereas Ava Lee or Sarah Lee sound fine to my ear – although of course the latter would have to be done fully embracing the dessert connection :)
(And I do realize “evilly” is not *technically* a word, but I googled it before spiraling into the current decision wormhole to see if people use it / think it’s a word.. and people definitely both use it and presume it is a word, even though “more evil” would be the more grammatically correct way of going about saying it.)
Squirrel Bait – the majority of other names on our list are of the longer/classic variety, so if my husband / the comment section can’t sway me to Eva that is likely the direction we’ll go :)
JD – LOVE a lot of those. Ooh maybe also Iris?
Thank you everyone for the thoughts & opinions, I am reading them all with rapt interest!
Pick Iris! Just because I love it and my husband keeps vetoing it. IRIS! Iris Lee!
Iris! Yes! I love it! Iris Lee sounds pleasingly like the name of a smart and funny folk singer.
Yes, Eva Lee does sound similar to Evilly, but I didn’t notice it straight up and if I met a little Eva Lee wouldn’t even give it a second thought. The poll suggests otherwise though so that has now given me pause. Enough not to use it? No!
There is also Ava, which I slightly prefer, to help with this “problem”. Ava Lee. I really like the look of the three letter names together too!
With the longer names, such as Evelyn or Evangeline, the nickname Evie may come more naturally to a lot of people. Evie Lee definitely enhances the Evilly sound.
Cora and Iris are both lovely names and sound fine with your surname. I think Katherine Eva would be nice too. Love the sound of Katie Lee! What about Sophie Lee?
Eva Lee is quite sweet to my ear and I don’t think the word ‘Evilly’ is used enough, generally, for people to make a connection. I also think your Husband has a point about the ‘run-on’. There is a pause between the two names, it’s not said like the name Everly for example.
Your friends have even urged you to use it, so it can’t be that much of a problem!
If you really love it, just go for it!
All the best!
I do hear evilly but I don’t think that makes it unusable. My initials are EVL :)
You could also use Geneva with Eva as a nickname.
I voted yes, it’s too close to use (and “evilly” is in fact a word — I just looked it up in my dictionary. It’s an adverb, not a comparative form). I know a Lee whose initials are KEL, so his family nickname is Kel (like Kelly without the y), which I love. So I’m pulling for you to use the name Katherine Eva, with Kel as a nickname. :)
Evangeline nn Eva. Evangeline Lee
Like others have said, my first thought is to use Ava instead. Or go with Evelyn, Evangeline, etc., and use Evvie as a nickname.
A name I never got to use was Ivaleen nn Iva. So I want to suggest Iva. I love this name and love how it sounds like Ava and Eva but is less popular. So when I see your last name is lee, I can’t help but love
Iva Lee.
My first name is Leigh, and while I sometimes pun on it like Blitheleigh there’s always a pause before so it won’t be an issue. I like the name.
I have to make a concerted effort to leave a pause to avoid Eva Lee running into a single mess.. I am not sure it sounds like Evilly but I do not find it pleasant to say.
Sorry!! There are definitely favorites we have had to eliminate because of our last name and how they ran together.
My daughter’s middle name is Lee and we had to let go of several names because of the way they ran together, like Violet Lee (violently) and Constance Lee (constantly). Our final list was Matilda, Clementine, Georgiana, and Beatrice, and we chose Beatrice.
I voted that I can’t decide because I pronounce Eva the same as Ava, which I think works fine. However, if you pronounce it EE-va, then I think it is problematic, but not completely unusable.
I like the suggestions of using a longer name with Eva as nn. Evelyn Lee. Evangeline Lee. Genavieve Lee. They all sound great.
If you open to Ava instead of Eva, I think that would solve your problem. Ava Lee is quite lovely.
If there are names you like that don’t end in an -uh or similar sound, those are probably safest. What about…
Abigail, Sophie. Sadie, Audrey, Lucy, Alexa, Maya (too much like Miley?), Piper, Naomi, Julia(nna), Jade, Ivy, Eden, Eleanor, Esther, Edith, Enid, Edna, Vivian
Obviously some of those suggestions end in vowels, but they seem to work.
I’m of both the “evilly” is not that common an adverb, and the “names get said differently anyway” camps. Emma Lee is a problem, because Emily is not unexpected in that context. But “evilly” is unexpected in most concepts, and the last name Lee is a fairly popular one. Also, I would put the emphasis on the “e” if I was using the word, and on the surname if I was saying the name. I think it just sounds different.
I know a boy called Le0 Lee, and on the face of it, I thought, no way, why would you do that? But I’ve heard his full name lots of times, and it’s never ever sounded leoly to me, or lily, or weird at all. It’s just a name. It works just fine.
I wouldn’t name your child Eva Lee because YOU hear it. Forget about everyone else’s opinion for a second and think about if you’ll finch every time someone says your daughter’s name quickly and you hear them call your daughter something with a negative meaning.
That being said, I’m an Elizabeth Lee (middle, not last), and my parents called me Ellie around the house because of the El+Lee combo (I know Ellie isn’t a traditional nickname for Elizabeth, but in this case it works). It might bother me to have Elle Lee as a full name, but I love having a longer name that can be shortened and combined to make a fun nickname. Basically, I think it would be better if your daughter had a longer name that could be used at awards ceremonies/doctors appointments/other occasions when the full name is read aloud, and then she can go by Eva in informal situations.
I have to say, I LOVE the name Eve and wanted to use it for both my daughters, but I didn’t because our last name starts with an L. I thought on the very off-chance she’s in a class with another Eve and she’s called Eve L., I would hate to have that be a subject of teasing. So, I have been in a similar situation and decided it was enough of a turn off not to use it.