Baby Name Nerds Explain The “Quintessential Disliked” Baby Name Of The Moment
A mom asked if Reddit liked her baby's name, and she got a response she was not looking for.
Baby names are tricky because it’s hard to guess what is going to be popular — or overly trendy — in the moment you name your kid. For example, when I named my kid Willa in 2013, I didn’t know a single person with her name. But now that she’s 11, there are three other Willas in her elementary school.
At the same time, you might try for a popular and trendy name and miss the wave, leaving your kid with a name that might feel past its prime or out of style.
One woman on Reddit asked the Name Nerds subReddit what they felt about the baby name she gave her little girl — only to find out, rather harshly, that she has chosen a name that’s not only off-trend (according to Redditors) but an example of a name that’s adamantly disliked by baby name experts.
Here’s what went down. A mom shared, in her first post in the forum, that she named her daughter Everleigh-Ana and wanted feedback on her choice.
“I've always been such a name collector all my life and always dreamt of what I'd name a baby if I were ever lucky enough to become a mom, she writes. “Well, at 43 I miraculously became pregnant (it was never supposed to happen for me) and I finally got my dream come true! So, naturally you can imagine all the names from over the years (and years and years lol) flooding back to me & excitement I felt!”
Now she gets to the good part: the name she picked out of all the names in the world.
“I'd really like to know what people think of her name. Her 1st name is Everleigh-Ana. Her middle name is Grace (after my grandmother). Ana is pronounced Ah-na, not Ann-na. I realize it's sort of a long-ish name and most of the time I call her either Everleigh or by her NN 'Evi' (which is pronounced Eh-Vee, not Eve-vee). When people ask her name, they usually comment on how beautiful it is and you can usually tell when someone genuinely thinks it beautiful or they just think it's pretty and/or are being extra polite. So, I read all of the name posts/questions on here and although I know some are quite harsh, I'm interested (I think lol) in knowing what people honestly think of her name.”
Well, people were not shy about sharing their thoughts, and the baby name nerds responded in force.
“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,” one person shared.
“It blew my mind when I realized Everly is just Beverly without the B,” another person wrote. “I'm not sure if it makes me like it more or less but it does change how I see it.”
“Everleigh gives me teen mom vibes, I’d expect her parents to be very young.”
“I'm surprised she didn't go with Nevaeh,” someone else chimed in.
“Everleigh is the Aidan of girl names,” quipped another name nerd.
“I guess I am just surprised that a name collector who was into names their whole life would choose this particular name,” another person wrote. “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.”
So, what’s the history of Everleigh? According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), the name hopped on to the Top 1000 list of baby girl names in 2013, occupying spot 867. From there, it’s skyrocketed in popularity until it peaked at 94 in the year 2020. In 2024, it’s falling again, back to spot 149. Like a lot of overly trendy names, it’s had a very fast rise and may have a very fast fall.
The alternate spelling of Everly is even more popular, peaking at spot 43 in 2020 and now sitting at spot 69. But like Everleigh, it’s seeing a quick rise and a possible quick fall.
Why is it so disliked by “nerds”? Putting “Leigh” at the end of a girl’s name is the newest thing to do, as is altering popular names in small ways (Beverly to Everly, for example). In other words, it’s one baby name trend on top of a second baby name trend.
Are trends bad? Not necessarily. Just like low-rise jeans and baby doll dresses, they have their time and place. You just have to remember that baby names stick around for life (and I say that as a Sarah born in 1981).
