So from what I can tell, ‘smush’ names are really disliked on the Nameberry forums. There are alot of trends that I don’t care for, but I always enjoy when a child is named to honor a family member, trendy or not. In that light, I have to ask if Erilyn is disliked that much too. I love middle names with family connection, and if I end up with two girls, one of them might have the middle name Erilyn. [name]Erin[/name] is my big sister’s middle name and [name]Lynn[/name] is my mother’s middle name. Coincidentally, Erilyn is a character in a favorite book series of mine as well, but I had Erilyn picked well before I read the series.
I love Erilyn, I think it looks pretty, sounds beautiful, and honors two amazing women in my life, but I don’t think it’s an ‘actual name’. Could Berrys forgive my smush if it has ‘meaning’?
I forgive all kinds of things for meaning, and certainly a pretty name in the middle position there’s nothing even to forgive!!! This is a cool story how you came up with the name and then found a character you like.
A little more philosophy of smooshes…I wouldn’t advise Erilyn in first name position, but I also wouldn’t hate it. In general, unless the name seems likely to do the child irrevocable damage, I have a hard time hating any name, it is just not worth the negative energy : D! I’ll advise against lots of names but that’s different from hating.
Erilyn is pretty, including in the first position. In first name position my reservations would be that people would constantly be confusing it constantly with [name]Erin[/name], [name]Carolyn[/name], and [name]Marilyn[/name]. But I don’t think it’s unwearable.
But, that’s not what you’re considering anyway : D.
Good luck!
I don’t like smushed names, but since it has meaning, I think it’s usable, but only in the middle imo. I would give her a more “normal” or “acceptable” first name.
I think in the middle spot almost anything goes. But I do dislike smush names & [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Erin[/name]. So I would doa double middle [name]Erin[/name]-[name]Lynn[/name].
But if you love it, go for it! It has a pretty sound!
In the middle and with meaning? Perfect! My DD has a middle of Kenlin - my parents names together. Only way I could honor both sides with my last baby!!
Sounds like it would be a great middle name!
Middle names can be just about anything. It doesn’t get called at roll for school or pronounced when you meet someone. It works… PERFECT! :).
I’m not usually big on that kind of thing either. But, I feel like it does have it’s place in certain situations. I think yours is perfectly fine. It’s not So out there. It’s still cute and very sweet sound/feeling to it. I don’t think it turns it into something clunky to say. Feels like it would fit wonderfully as a mn.
I don’t know what exactly qualifies as a “smush” name. [name]Don[/name]'t know if the two separate names have to have letters taken out when they are put together. I think my expected daughter’s mn feels like a “smush”-ish name to me. We wanted to use [name]Jane[/name] for my mother and [name]Marie[/name] for his. We debated on how to do it. Berries definitely had opinions, lots of opinions…lol. I ultimately went with what I felt was the best way to do it. I felt better putting it together. I didn’t like the way it sounded separate. I didn’t like that extra beat between [name]Jane[/name] and [name]Marie[/name] that you would get by having them be two separate names or with a hyphen. (Which I would Not do on many levels. I Really dislike hyphenated names for various reasons. I’d much prefer keeping them totally separate or smushing them together to avoid it.)
Our choices were
Janemarie
JaneMarie
[name]Jane[/name] [name]Marie[/name]
[name]Jane[/name]-[name]Marie[/name]
The least liked on here was JaneMarie. Ironically, it was the most liked by both my husband and I. I liked it for no “real” reason. I just thought it was pretty (most others thought it was confusing/fussy/etc…). My husband liked it because he’s a computer programmer and there’s a thing in that world called CamelCase that involves using capital letters in the middle of compound words or phrases. Actually, there’s still an inner-debate about using this form.
I think that smuch names are great if it actually sounds like a name. For example, if we end up having 2 boys, our second son’s middle name will be Khayne (pronounced [name]Kane[/name]), a combo of our father’s names, Khairy, and [name]Wayne[/name]. It was a better option than going with Wairy! I even had looked at our own names for a smush name, but neither Timalyn or Rosothy looked or sounded like real names, so we passed. Erilyn is cute and pretty. I’d even use it as a first name if you wanted.
I really dislike most smoosh names. I know someone who used [name]Maribel[/name] to honor [name]Mary[/name] and [name]Bill[/name]- that I really liked. However, [name]Maribel[/name] is a very well-established name, not a “smoosh” like Marybill would’ve been. Erilyn, to me, comes across as tryndee, clumsy, and awkward. I really don’t care for it, and [name]Erin[/name] [name]Lynn[/name] as a double middle doesn’t sound bad to me at all. You could also use a name containing “lin” as the first with [name]Erin[/name]- [name]Linnea[/name] [name]Erin[/name], [name]Madeleine[/name] [name]Erin[/name], [name]Evelyn[/name] [name]Erin[/name], etc.
That said, I’m very anything goes with middle names, and I love when names are picked for their meaning. So while I personally would just use [name]Erin[/name] [name]Lynn[/name] in the middle, I don’t see much wrong with using Erilyn if you really prefer that. It’s a name you really love, it has a special meaning, and it’s just a middle name, so go for it.
I don’t see the problem with it but a lot of people dislike smushed and compound names for whatever reason. I think it can actualy be very pretty! I love the idea of putting two completely different names together to make a new different beautiful name! If you want to name your daughter Erilyn then I think you should go ahead regardless of negative opinions, it’s very pretty and different 
I like it, it’s pretty. There are a lot of “accepted” smooshed names, that have been used for so long, people see them as good names. Such as Annabeth or [name]Annabelle[/name]. I think a girl would love to have that name, in the first or middle spot. And family significance makes it extra special. My husband’s cousin is named Kendon, a smoosh of his grandfather’s names [name]Kenneth[/name] and [name]Don[/name]. He does just fine.
I actually really like that one. Reminds me of [name]Errol[/name] and [name]Carolyn[/name], both beautiful names.
Smushed names totally depend in my opinion. Sometimes they are great and sometimes they are terrible.
I think a lot of people forget that a lot of very recognized and popular names are technically smushes.
Most names with belle, lyn, beth, lie, and other similar endings are just old timey smushes.
When it has family significance, I’m all for it. I used [name]Emilyn[/name] in a story once, nn [name]Emmy[/name], much before I became a [name]Berry[/name] :), and I think Erilyn has that same appeal. I would assume it has the same pronunciation of Aralyn, which I have seen before on several occasions, although I’m sure you’d want to stick to the Erilyn spelling to honor your sister and mom.
Good luck!
Everything jesba said. I normally don’t like smush names at all because they sound totally made up, but this one seems closer to an actual name than others I’ve heard (and strongly disliked), and it really does have a beautiful sound. Plus the special meaning makes it really special. I say definitely go for it in the middle name position and I might even love it in the first name position.
Good luck! Let us know what you decide. 
I hate smushes, but I have to admit, Erilyn is really pretty to the ear, but it still looks like someone threw up letters. So I wouldn’t use it in the first spot. As a middle name though I think it ticks all the boxes.
Normally, I don’t like smush names at all, but there are going to be exceptions. In the case of Erilyn, it’s not bad, especially given the significance you have behind it. As long as the smush doesn’t sound ridiculous, then I don’t mind it. Personally, I think Erilyn sounds nice, but written out I keep wanting to read it as [name]Evelyn[/name] or something similar… I don’t why.
I don’t. I think Annevieve is a stunning “smooshed” name.
I love how encouraging you all are! I feel so much better about it now! I would consider it as a first name too, but I really like subtle matching, and my other two chosen names have two family related middle names. If I can’t find another middle name to go after Erilyn I would definately consider separating them into [name]Erin[/name] [name]Lynn[/name], I’m not sure why I never thought of that! Thanks for all the responses, I really appreciate them
So with @emelis on this. Though I think I love to make exceptions for short smush names that sound pleasing and like they are actual names. Erilyn fits that description. Though I’d much prefer [name]Erin[/name]-[name]Lynn[/name]. Unless you are only planning on having one child you could always honor each of these amazing women with a different kid. [name]Even[/name] if [name]Erin[/name] turns in [name]Aaron[/name]. (Actually I have a male friend whose about 35 whose name is [name]Erin[/name] - his mother preferred the spelling - at first it made me cringe for him but really I’ve found that 95% of the population doesn’t understand the difference).