Evelyn

For most of the twentieth century, Evelyn belonged to grandmothers in kitchen aprons and English diarists named Waugh. Then, around 2010, American parents rediscovered it wholesale. The name descends from the Norman Aveline, an Old French diminutive glossed in some sources as "wished-for child," which feels about right for a baby. It has now climbed into the American top ten, a vintage revival that never feels costumey. Three syllables with a soft v hinge, a name that looks like pressed flowers and sounds like rain on a tin roof. Cottagey without being precious. A girl named Evelyn tends to grow up writing letters by hand.