I've got some questions here: please save me from my girl name confusion!

Bexx24 · November 2010

So if baby is a girl (we find out next week! YAY!) we are naming her Evalee. Or Evalie. Or Evalea. We can't pick a spelling. All are pronounced like "emily" only with a V in place of the M (and yes it is a "real" name, I've found it in two different books and on the internet several places. And I know a kid with the name, only she spells it Eveley, so please spare me the silly "omg, that looks so made up" comments)

Our spelling dilema comes from A) We like Evalea spelling best visually, but it will be the hardest to explain the pronounciation I'm concerned that the "ie" ending looks too childish and won't age well. C) The "ee" ending looks super trendy, but family would love it to honor my grandmother who's name is Lee.

What to do, what to do?? Should we just go with the Evalea spelling since we like it best, or force ourselves to like one of the other two?

Second dilema- Now out of nowhere I'm concerned with Evalie and her nn Evie rhyming with "heavily" and "heavy." I don't know why I can't stop thinking of this now, I never made a "heavily" connection with my little friend Eveley. Am I over thinking this? Or do you regularly meet little girls named Evie and think omg, your name rhymes with heavy!

Thanks for your help!!!

JenWen3 · November 2010

I think Evalee sounds made up, sorry. So no matter how you spell it, I would look at it and say, "How do you pronounce that?"

I originally thought if it is Emily with a v, then spell it Evily. But that is ugly.

Eva Lee?

Evaleigh?

I don't know. I'm using Emery for a girl, so I can get on board the "Emily but different" train; I just don't know how to spell it without confusion.

And rhyming with heavy is a non issue unless you plan to call her Evie all the time, and if you do, then just name her Evelyn. And still, I wouldn't have thought of Heavy Evie. No one will say Heavily Evalee, because that doesn't even make sense.

HappyMrsK · November 2010

Evalea

AMB11 · November 2010

Evalee or Evalie. I would only use Evalea if you want your daughter to have to correct people's pronounciation all the time.

I wouldn't worry about the "heavy" association. I wouldn't have thought of it if you didn't point it out.

rsquaredr · November 2010

I like Evalea best, but I like Evalee too because it's honoring someone in your family.

Leggadine08 · November 2010

I like Evalie. Evalea looks like eva-leeya.

I think this name is very pretty.

Also who gives a rats ass if it looks made up? All names at one time or another had to be 'made up' so I dont think it matters. But then again the origin of names isnt my hobby.

I dont think the heavy issue will be a problem, I never would have thought of it.

dragonfly321 · November 2010

JenWen has a good idea with Evaleigh... and it sounds really pretty pronounced the way it looks! Otherwise go with Evalea. You both like it and YOUR decision matters... GL!

SassyRedhead · November 2010

My head hurts.

sunnyday016 · November 2010

None of those I would say like Emily. They all look like Eva-lee.

biblionerd · November 2010

I would pronounce Evalea as eva-leeuh without thinking twice.

guin82 · November 2010

dragonfly321:
JenWen has a good idea with Evaleigh... and it sounds really pretty pronounced the way it looks! Otherwise go with Evalea. You both like it and YOUR decision matters... GL!

This

ara_cale · November 2010

What is wrong with naming her Eva Lee, as in fn and mn? Why do you need to mush the two together? Also, even if you mush it together and make it Evalee or Evalea or Evalie I would not pronounce it like Emily with a v.

MelodyKate · November 2010

I wouldn't have thought about it rhyming with heavily if you hadn't told me. I wouldn't worry about that. I definitely don't like Evalee- it looks...... of low socio-economic status.... to me. (Was that polite?) I agree that Evalea looks pretty on paper, but the pronunciation questions would kill it for me. I would go with Evalie or Evaley. (although having the a in there at all makes me want to say ee-va-lee, like the name ee-vuh with lee at the end.) I suppose I like the way the other girl spells it, Eveley.)

braveangel2 · November 2010

Well, it does look made up. And it's been brought up before, and there's still no general consensus on spelling.

Evelia is the Spanish, which I like...Evelie would fit in well with that line of thinking. Evalea could be take as Ee vuh lee...sounds like Evil Lee. I think the third letter is important...E vs. A. And yes, I do think of the word, heavily, which would suck if your darling daughter became overweight. But these are the things to think about with a name.

Evely would probably be a cross between Emily and Evelyn. Both short E names.

Evelea - would probably get quite a few Ev uh Lee Uh comments, but I do feel it's the best looking, and I have seen the LEA used as LEE sound

Eva Lee - makes the most sense and honors your grandmother, but makes me say the first letter as a long E.

And just because it's in a baby book doesn't make it legit. Also, many websites add content without doing any kind of research or source-citing, so beware of what you read.

https://www.namenerds.com/uucn/advice/namebook.html

And here's your spare...

braveangel2 · November 2010

I know why this name is bugging me...Evillene was the wicked witch character on 1978's The Whiz. I'd PIP, but she's not exactly pretty.

OctoberCAPA · November 2010

I think no matter how you spell it you're going to generate pronunciation confusion. The "lea" ending guarantees people will say "lee-uh." Evily would be the obvious way to get Emily with a "v", but it also obviously looks like Evil-ee. I think it sounds pretty, but it's all really kind of ridiculous. Name her Evelyn and then call her whatever you want.

streamtrax41 · November 2010

I think the name is pretty, I like it. I agree with your concerns about the -ie and -ee endings. But I like that Lee is a family name. So I'm not sure either. I had no problem pronouncing any of them, but I do think people may not know if it's pronounced like Emily or like Eva Lee. Just to maybe make your decision harder (lol) another option would be Evaleigh.

And yes, you are totally over thinking the association with heavily. I wouldn't worry about that. GL!

streamtrax41 · November 2010

feffy11:
You asked us to spare certain comments, but oh well. It's the internet. I will say that name books and the internet are incredibly unreliable sources of name information. (One name book suggested Schmoopie as a legitimate name for a girl). https://www.namenerds.com/uucn/advice/namebook.html Evalie/Evalea/Evalee is a made-up name. The closest names to is are Evelia (French) & Evallia (Spanish).https://www.babynamespedia.com/meaning/Evelia
In regard to your spelling issue, I would spell it the way you want to, since there is no official or standard spelling for this name. With Evalea you will most certainly have to correct people, but it is something to consider whether or not you and your daughter can deal with that. I wouldn't use the EE or IE spellings as they look very juvenile. I like the sound of the name, but would probably use Eva Lee (first name/middle name), but it's up to you.

Beautiful names!

:runs to add them to her list: