My husband had a daughter’s name picked out long before we even met - Erilyn (combination of [name_f]Erin[/name_f] and [name_u]Lynn[/name_u]). I’m fine with this, loved and agreed to it, and am giving the lion’s share of input for our boy names list. However, I more recently realize his first name pick is very similar to my several in my Dad’s family, which I don’t like.
My grandparents had 8 kids, 4 girls - [name_u]Caro[/name_u]-lyn, [name_f]Dora[/name_f]-lyn, [name_f]Lora[/name_f]-lyn, and [name_m]Rob[/name_m]-yn. (Without the hyphens…just making a point.) And my grandfather’s name was [name_u]Lynn[/name_u]. And my dad’s middle name is [name_u]Lynn[/name_u]. There’s several examples of “honor naming” in my dad’s family, but obviously not what we’re going for, this name having been picked before my husband knew any of them. I think he would agree to spelling our name Erilynn to be different from my aunts, but then there’s [name_u]Lynn[/name_u], and the sound is still the same.
I really don’t want everyone thinking we named our daughter after a relative. But I’m not sure how to avoid it. Maybe start off with the nickname “Airy” and forget about it? :-? Thoughts? I know we’re going to use this name anyway (if baby is a girl!), so I’m probably really just over thinking/worrying about it!
All of the -lyn names have been popular for a very long time and continue to see a good amount of use. I know young girls named Arilyn, [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u], and there must be a thousand Kaylins where I live.
My thought is - Erilyn doesn’t copy any one person’s name. If it happens to repeat a popular name suffix in the family, and they catch on about it, so what? No one aunt can say that the name was FOR them. If it were only one person, I’d be hesitant, but “the [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] trend” is going on throughout the family. They might think you were trying to revive a family tradition (likely to score you points) or they might get a kick out of thinking you named after ALL of them (also likely to score you points). Unless these people are just so completely dreadful that you don’t want to have anything to do with them, I think you accidentally hit the naming jackpot. I gave one of my sons double middle names - after a grandfather on each side - and there never was such universal approval for a child’s name. It’s definitely not a bad thing when YOUR pick just so happens to please the extended family.
Wow! There are a lot of -yn names in the family! You could just use Erilyn but here a few other options you have.
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You could use Erilyn as a middle name as it is less obvious. This also means you could wait to decide whether to call her by her middle name. The problem with this is that you seem to use the names you like in Erilyn.
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You could use the simple [name_f]Erin[/name_f]. This is not obviously linked but still includes a name you like. You could use a middle like [name_f]Liliana[/name_f]/[name_f]Lily[/name_f]/[name_f]Lilia[/name_f] to use the lyn part also.
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You could use a name like Eireann, [name_f]Enya[/name_f], [name_f]Lyra[/name_f] or [name_f]Lina[/name_f] that all relate to Erilyn but don’t have the -lyn ending.
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You could use a name with the nickname [name_f]Eri[/name_f] like [name_f]Eleri[/name_f], [name_u]Emery[/name_u] or [name_f]Erica[/name_f].
Personally, I think the accidental honor-naming is great and will make your relatives happy (and you can let your husband know that you love the name for its own sake if you think he’s worried about it!). [name_m]Even[/name_m] if you don’t think so, it isn’t too obviously copying any of their names, and you love it.
My conclusion: definitely go for it! Erilyn is gorgeous!