I was going to suggest this; I’ve also seen it spelled Eveline. Not too many young people have it, either, and the one young person I know likes her name a lot.
Olivia is my middle name…would have been a strange first name back in the 70’s. I was named after my grandfather Oliver. If you actually like the name, don’t stick it in the middle. Sure, I could go by Olivia, but I don’t, since I’ve been called by my first name my entire life. Expect the middle name to never be used except on official forms.
I thought Madeline was too popular a name when my daughter was born, but she does not know a single Madeline in her class now. Sometimes these things vary by neighborhood. On the other hand, there are about 5 Kaylas, which isn’t a name that was even on my radar.
oops - I hadn’t seen your surname when I voted Eden. I like your other selections, except for Olive/Olivia. Do you really want to name your daughter after a food? & I’ve never cared for the name Olivia.
Madeleine Alton or Olivia Alton (even though I don’t like the name) sounds best.
Evelyn is #34 and climbing, FWIW, which makes it pretty common. It’s been a top 100 name since 2002, although I agree that it seems like it ought to be less popular - I haven’t met any little Evelyns either.
My youngest daughter’s name is Madeline Marie (no extra ‘e’, although your choice is the most common spelling, I believe). She has been the only Madeline (of any spelling) in all of her classes thus far (she’s in the 4th grade now), although this year there is a Madison in her class, so I don’t think it’s hugely popular although obviously that’s anecdotal. Olivia was our second choice, interestingly enough.
A couple things to note with the name:
The nickname Maddie is very cute, I think, but it sounds a lot like ‘Daddy’ so I sometimes think one of the kids is calling for me when they are looking for her, and vice versa.
You will get every Madeleine book, doll, tea set, video, etc. from grandparents and other well-wishers. “In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines…” It’s cute the first half dozen times.
People will constantly ask her how to spell it (with all the variations, including mutant ones like “Maedylyn”).
That said, we chose it because it was a very pretty name, with a cute nickname, that will sound better than “Caitlyn” or something when she’s a powerful CEO :-).
That’s annoying considering how easy it is to find out how popular names were when the character would have been born. That sort of thing matters to me too, which is why, for example, my 40-something cop character is named Lori (name #19 in 1965, but not on the top 1000 after 2001), not Ava (#5 in 2009, #649 in 1965).
EVA!!! Definitely. I’m pregnant…but having a boy. Were we to have a girl we were going to name her Eve or Eva. Specifically tho we were going with Evangeline. I’m stoked that we’re having a boy but I SOOO loved my girl name!
I know tons of kids named Olivia and Madeliene or Madison (all being called Maddy). So I’m opposed to those.
To be really annoying you could use the Irish spellings- at least she would stand out.
Aoibh (EEV)
Aoife (EE-fa)
I think Aoife Alton looks quite nice on paper.
We’re having thoughts about trying for irishbaby 2.0.
Boy name is sorted, girl names, we’ve got 2 middle names (Emilia Rose) but no idea of a first name.
irishbaby is Maya- rapidly becoming a common name, unusual when we chose it.
I’m coming to really like “Olive,” but it took me a minute. It goes from a cute little baby name (our little olive) to a quirky but sophisticated teenager. I’m not sure about “Olive Alton,” though. Olivia seems to flow much better. Maybe Olivia on paper and Olive as a nickname?
Eva Alton doesn’t work phonetically. Eden Alton is also not great. The combination of two syllables plus two words starting with vowels sounds too much like a line from a rhyme-y kids book or something.
Madeleine Alton is okay, if a bit plain. Eloise Alton doesn’t have any special magic to it, but there is nothing wrong with it.
So I say go with Olivia. It doesn’t matter too much that it is popular. I’m a “Jennifer” from the 80’s and was always one of four in my classes. You just use a last initial or your last name and it’s fine. And the effect doesn’t really last once you are out of school- in the wider world you interact with a wider age range. She won’t be the only Olivia in her class, but she’ll probably be the only Olivia in her office.
I’m also not a big fan of second guessing nicknames or potential for teasing. My mom named me “Jennifer” so that she could call me “Jenny,” which I immediately decided I hated and refused to answer to. And then someone with my exact name committed an infamous act- suddenly my insanely bland name subject me to a lot of teasing. You just can’t predict this stuff.
