Hello ladies, I have posted before about my case of baby name regret. Throughout my pregnancy I had horrible anxiety about choosing a name for my daughter. My husband and I just couldn’t agree. I really wanted to name her [name_f]Abigail[/name_f], but my husband had a negative association with that name and I just knew he wouldn’t be happy if I forced it on him. [name_m]Long[/name_m] story short, after months of back and forth we found a name we both really liked: [name_u]Avery[/name_u]. However, I was hesitant to give our daughter a unisex name and just wasn’t sold. On the day our daughter was born we came across the spelling [name_f]Averie[/name_f]. At the time it seemed like the perfect solution. We could use the name we both liked with a spelling that was exclusively feminine. I was happy with our choice at first, but as time went on I began to doubt it. It is constantly misspelled. I have also come across some really negative opinions from those who claim that the name looks juvenile, misspelled, or uneducated. Obviously, this is not what I want for my little girl. I love her more than anything in the world. I thought I was giving her a name that was different and beautiful, but now I am afraid I may have messed up and it makes me so sad. What do you ladies think? What would you do? I wish I could just feel better and move on but I am just really struggling with this.
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. 
I must admit that I’m not fond of the spelling [name_f]Averie[/name_f], but I (like many others on Nameberry) am not generally a fan of unconventional spellings of common names. It doesn’t really make the name any more unique, given it sounds the same, and names are said out loud a lot more than they’re written out! The simplest thing to do would be to just change the spelling to [name_u]Avery[/name_u]. [name_u]Avery[/name_u] is actually a lot more common for girls than boys right now, so people definitely won’t think it isn’t feminine enough or assume she’s a boy.
Which brings me to my next point. [name_u]Avery[/name_u] is very popular right now- #16 for girls and #187 for boys in the US. [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] is even more popular than that. That’s not a bad thing, most people don’t mind having a common name, but it’s definitely not different or unusual.
If you don’t mind popularity and just want an exclusively feminine name that’s easy to spell, I would suggest [name_f]Ava[/name_f]. [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] and [name_f]Vera[/name_f] (veh-rah or veer-ah) are less common names with similar sounds.
When you aren’t worried about others opinions, are you happy with the name [name_f]Averie[/name_f]? What does your husband think? Personally, I don’t think it is a bad alternate spelling… I reminds me of [name_f]Amalie[/name_f] or [name_f]Marie[/name_f]. I wouldn’t change it, but [name_u]Averil[/name_u] with [name_f]Averie[/name_f] as a nickname might work if you really want to change it. If it make you feel better, there were 51 women named [name_f]Averie[/name_f] on the 1940 census! [name_m]Just[/name_m] tell people it’s a family name 
I am so sorry you are dealing with this, I personally think [name_f]Averie[/name_f] is a beautiful name. Yes, I would assume the spelling was [name_u]Avery[/name_u], although I’d probably ask to be sure. But seeing [name_f]Averie[/name_f] spelled out, I don’t think it’s awful at all. The pronunciation and gender are fairly obvious by looking at the name. But if this is something that you don’t think will pass, and your husband agrees, maybe you could consider changing the spelling to [name_u]Avery[/name_u].
I really wish you all the best and hope you can feel confident in whatever you decide! [name_f]Remember[/name_f] she is your precious baby girl and it is you who her name matters most to. If it’s what you loved and love, keep it!
I’m not too fond of [name_f]Averie[/name_f] too, sorry. It’s not bad, just not my style. If not [name_u]Avery[/name_u] then what about [name_f]Aveline[/name_f]?
Ugh, don’t you just hate when that happens? [name_f]Averie[/name_f] is a lovely name, but it must be annoy to have it misspelled all the time. [name_u]Avery[/name_u] is a nice name too, even if it being unisex isn’t your style.
Suggestions related to [name_f]Averie[/name_f] (somehow):
[name_f]Aveline[/name_f]
[name_f]Avalon[/name_f]
Averlie
Other suggestions: (in case you really want to change it to something else)
[name_f]Ophelia[/name_f]
[name_f]Flora[/name_f]
[name_f]Vera[/name_f]
[name_f]Francesca[/name_f]
[name_f]Cecilia[/name_f]
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f]
[name_f]Zara[/name_f]
[name_f]Eve[/name_f]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]
Luxe
I’m so sorry you’re having concerns about your DD name.
I love both [name_u]Avery[/name_u] and [name_f]Averie[/name_f] and I’m personally of the opinion that if you love it you’ll eventually get past the initial opinions of others. I can understand why some people prefer the original spelling of a name but let’s face it, so many names have been changed over history and from place to place that these feelings are really only subjective. Honestly when I first saw the spelling [name_f]Averie[/name_f] I thought it was really unusual and much more obviously feminine. My name ends in an ‘ie’ (like so many others) and I can honestly say I’ve never once felt it was juvenile.
I think changing the spelling to [name_u]Avery[/name_u] might put your mind at rest if the misspellings and opinions are really, truly bothering you but if you and your husband are happy this is all that really matters. Once she’s grown into her name a lot of these concerns may well no longer be a problem for you.
I’m so sorry you’re having concerns about your DD name.
I love both [name_u]Avery[/name_u] and [name_f]Averie[/name_f] and I’m personally of the opinion that if you love it you’ll eventually get past the initial opinions of others. I can understand why some people prefer the original spelling of a name but let’s face it, so many names have been changed over history and from place to place that these feelings are really only subjective. Honestly when I first saw the spelling [name_f]Averie[/name_f] I thought it was really unusual and much more obviously feminine. My name ends in an ‘ie’ (like so many others) and I can honestly say I’ve never once felt it was juvenile.
I think changing the spelling to [name_u]Avery[/name_u] might put your mind at rest if the misspellings and opinions are really, truly bothering you but if you and your husband are happy this is all that really matters. Once she’s grown into her name a lot of these concerns may well no longer be a problem for you.
I’m not usually a fan of alternative spellings, but I think [name_f]Averie[/name_f] is fairylike, feminine, and very pretty 
Exchanging the y for ie isn’t that big a change.
I immediately thought of [name_u]Averil[/name_u] as an alternative ([name_f]Anne[/name_f] [name_f]Shirley[/name_f] uses it as a name for a character in one of her stories) which has an identical feel to me - diaphanous, fairylike, snowy. [name_f]Aveline[/name_f] and [name_f]Avalon[/name_f] are good suggestions too.
I’d also put forward [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] and [name_f]Evelina[/name_f], as well as Averly, [name_f]Reverie[/name_f], [name_u]Everly[/name_u], and [name_f]Waverley[/name_f] (from which you could get [name_f]Averie[/name_f] as a nickname). [name_f]Beverley[/name_f], [name_f]Severine[/name_f], and [name_f]Guinevere[/name_f] have similar sounds too.
I’m sorry you feel this way. I hope you shared some of these thoughts with your OH and can support each other.
I am very much like you, I’m not fond of unisex names. Maybe that is why I like [name_f]Averie[/name_f] more than [name_u]Avery[/name_u] because it reminds me of other girly names ending in ‘ie’ such as [name_f]Marie[/name_f] and [name_f]Valerie[/name_f]. I don’t have much love for ‘y’ names except [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f] so I may be in the minority here. But I’m sure that once people get to know your daughter, they’ll spell her name right. [name_m]Even[/name_m] the most common name, like my own([name_f]Susanna[/name_f] - [name_f]Suzanna[/name_f] - [name_f]Susannah[/name_f]), get misspelled that should not change how much we love a name. It’s just a spelling. Someone who thinks [name_f]Averie[/name_f] is juvenile will probably think the same thing about [name_u]Avery[/name_u]. We cannot change other peoples thoughts about the name we love, don’t let those thoughts doubt your love. I would not change a thing if I were you. All the best.
I’m usually a stickler for the traditional spellings, but like the last few posters I’m actually quite taken with [name_f]Averie[/name_f]. It reminds me of reverie. And as far as alternate spellings go, it’s a bit like [name_f]Aimee[/name_f] instead of [name_f]Amy[/name_f]. Except easier! “It’s like [name_u]Avery[/name_u] except it ends in ‘ie’” is a lot easier to explain! My name–[name_f]Marisa[/name_f]–is constantly misspelled with additional letters, and I just have to brush it off unless it’s an official document. I say keep it!
I love [name_f]Averie[/name_f], personally. I think it’s so lovely and feminine, it reminds me of [name_f]Amelie[/name_f], which is a beautiful name and definitely not childish. I agree with previous posters that you shouldn’t worry about a “difficult” spelling. My name is [name_f]Megan[/name_f] and I ALWAYS have to spell it out and/or deal with misspellings. I named my daughter [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] and people will spell it “[name_f]Lidia[/name_f]” all the time. If you really love it, keep it. People have entirely different naming styles and you’re always going to get people who hate the name you picked. If people are telling you they hate it call them on their rudeness. When people say it’s juvenile or awful, I would respond, “What a rude thing to say.” If they care about you and your daughter, they’ll stop.
It makes me sad when people say certain spellings look uneducated. I think you can dislike a name without insulting the person who chose it or was named it. I personally think [name_f]Averie[/name_f] is fine. And you have a reason for choosing to spell it that way. I also wouldn’t worry about having people misspell it. It will happen but really isn’t that hard to deal with. This coming from someone named [name_m]Talor[/name_m]. Like [name_u]Taylor[/name_u]. My name is constantly misspelled and it hasn’t killed me. My parents simply liked that spelling. They weren’t trying to be cutesy or unique or anything and they certainly are not uneducated. It is simply the spelling they liked of the name they liked. I am sorry that you have had a hard time with this. But my personal opinion is that [name_f]Averie[/name_f] is just fine.
[name_f]Averie[/name_f] is absolutely beautiful.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] the negative comments get to you? They will probably get to your daughter eventually too if she knows it bothers you. I prefer [name_u]Avery[/name_u] to [name_f]Averie[/name_f] simply because you wouldn’t change the word every to everie or very to verie when writing in English. That’s how I go about my naming lists - original spellings for ease, clarity, and simplicity. I don’t think -ie = feminine either - what about [name_m]Archie[/name_m], [name_m]Gillespie[/name_m], [name_m]Howie[/name_m], [name_u]Reggie[/name_u], [name_u]Wylie[/name_u]? Of course some are nicknames, but girls have -ie nicknames too: [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], [name_f]Addie[/name_f], [name_f]Maddie[/name_f], etc…
So what I’m saying is that I personally would make it [name_u]Avery[/name_u]. I grew up with a female [name_u]Avery[/name_u] and think it’s pretty darn feminine on girls, but also masculine on boys. Perceptions of unisex names are altered when you meet actual humans by the name. -Ie names as given names have stigmas of being juvenile, etc. because they’re very nicknamey (nicknamie?) as evidenced in my examples above.
Like others, I usually dislike alternative spellings, but don’t think [name_f]Averie[/name_f] is bad at all. I don’t think it’s juvenile–plenty of names end in -ie. But I agree that if it will continue to bug you you should just change the spelling. [name_u]Avery[/name_u] is more common on girls, and when written she can use her middle name if she wants to make it obvious for people that she’s a girl.
ETA: thinking about this more, you made a choice that it was in your daughter’s best interest to have a non-unisex name, and that was more important than having a traditional spelling. Most commenters on name boards aren’t thinking about an actual baby when insulting a name, so I would not second-guess yourself and don’t let criticism get to you.
Thank you everyone for your input and advice. I was especially pleased to see so many positive comments about my little girl’s name. When I read back through the posts and saw both spellings close to each other, I can honestly say that I prefer the spelling we chose. Averie is a beautiful name and it really suits my daughter. I do think it is lovely and feminine which is just perfect for her. Thank you again for the support.
I think [name_f]Averie[/name_f] is really pretty and actually prefer it to [name_u]Avery[/name_u]. [name_u]Avery[/name_u] feels more like a last name.
I say ‘haters gonna hate.’ There will alway be people who will be opinionated about names. You picked the name and the spelling because you both loved it. And in today’s day and age people are doing all sorts of things with names. She will not be the only one spelling her name in class. And you never know what spelling people are familiar with. My name is [name_f]Kate[/name_f] (such a common name!) and I often have people asking me if I spell it with a C or a K.
If people question you, just say you preferred the spelling and leave it at that. Your child, your choice.
For what it’s worth, I was so taken with [name_f]Averie[/name_f] when I commented earlier (first time I’d ever seen this pretty spelling) I suggested it to DH tonight for our baby on the way and it has since shot up to #1 on our list. We would have never thought twice about [name_u]Avery[/name_u] had we not seen it spelled [name_f]Averie[/name_f] and now we’re in love.
I’m sorry you’ve gotten some negative comments on the name and were made to question what sounds like the perfect name for your daughter! I hope you can continue to feel better and completely at ease with Averie.
I’m not a fan of [name_f]Averie[/name_f]/[name_u]Avery[/name_u]. I much prefer the classic, feminine [name_f]Abigail[/name_f]. That being said, it’s not a bad name. More importantly, you both love it. If you aren’t sure, then keep looking.