Today’s literary choice is perfectly in step with current trends, but has yet to catch on.
Thanks to Amanda for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Waverly.
Waverly sounds like a surname, but first appears in the historical record as the name of an abbey, constructed in 1128. It lasted into the 1500s, when the combined forces of flooding from the nearby River Wey and Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries forced it into ruin. Waverley Abbey’s name is tricky to trace, too. I’d thought it might relate to the nearby River Wey, but that’s not clear.
A few references link Waverly to aspens, and that tracks with the -ley ending, which usually signified a clearing, meadow, or field. Nearly every reference talks about “quaking aspens,” and our word waver traces back to the Old English wæfre – restless. So Waverly picks up yet another appealing aspect – a nature name vibe.
In 1814, Sir Walter Scott scored a smash hit with his novel Waverley. His hero is called Edward Waverley, a well-born soldier sent to Scotland during the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745. (This makes Waverly one of the first historical novels.) Edward falls in love with Flora, the sister of a Scottish chieftain. This brings us back to the trees: he describes her harp playing as “the soft sigh of the evening breeze in the rustling leaves of an aspen.”
There’s much intrigue, but no happy ending. Despite Flora’s chieftain brother Fergus springing Edward from jail, Edward marries the sensible Rose.
Some link the novel’s name to Waverly Abbey, but that might just be coincidence. Likewise, the 64 baby girls given the name in 2009 according to Nancy are probably not linked to the novel.
What could inspire parents to choose Waverly?
- She’s a popular place name throughout the English-speaking world. She appeared on the New York City street names blog post at Nameberry, but you can find this name on the map from Alabama to Wisconsin;
- Amy Tan’s 1989 Joy Luck Club included a character named Waverly, named for the street where her family lived in San Francisco;
- The Princess Bride was a 1973 novel, a 1987 film, and an undeniable cult classic. Later editions of the novel contain a brief epilogue and hint at a sequel, all about the daughter of Westley and Princess Buttercup. Her name? Waverly;
- If you’ve seen The Disney Channel in recent years, you might’ve caught The Wizards of Waverly Place, a successful comedy about a trio of wizards-in-training who have to keep their powers secret. The show is set in New York City’s Greenwich Village, where there really is a Waverly Place, which was named after the novel – which takes us back to the beginning.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Waverly occasionally surfaced as a boy’s name. But today, she sounds like a likely successor to Delaney – and undeniably feminine. And while her name links to trees, her first syllable might remind parents of the beach. If girls can be called Ocean and Sea, why not Waverly?
My daughter’s name is Waverly. Picked out years before she was born because no other name compared. And with a meaning like “the meadow surrounded by quaking aspen trees” how could you not fall in love with it? Love that it is unusual but easy to spell and sound out. And she has the nickname Wave which suits us as beach lovers. And seeing it has Buttercup and Westley’s daughter makes it extra sweet. I have a hard time understanding the dislike of the name esp. since the connotations of fabics and esp crackers is so very dated. To each her own, I suppose. I certainly have no regrets with the name. The only problem now is finding one I love as much for baby number 2!
Naming your second child when you’ve found the perfect name for #1 is a challenge!
I grew up next to the small town of Waverly, MI and have never heard it as a given name, so I have a difficult time picturing this on a real person. To me, Waverly doesn’t have the same crossover appeal of London or even Aspen as far as place names go.
I went to high school with a female Waverly (I’m guessing she was born around 1982 or 1983). I’ll have to send her this!
There is a town here in Nebraska called Waverley, and the year our one-act play made it to state, Waverley High did the same play we did…and beat us. Needless to say, I have no love for this name (and agree that is very preppy sounding), and would be jeered out of my circle of friends for using the name of our high school rival. That, and my best friend’s daughter is named Aspen, and it would be weird to me knowing that Waverly means ‘”quaking aspens.”
Oh, Lady Gwyn, that’s a horrible AND a fabulous story all at once!
I quite like Waverly. One of the few surname-names on girls I actually really like.
I’m not familiar with the brand[s] or most of the other references listed. I’m definitely not a fan of Waverley on a girl — when I saw the name listed I assumed it was for boys — but then I tend to be old-fashioned and generally think that surnames/place names wear better on men than on women.
The Scott novel sounds interesting, but what I find even more interesting is that wikipedia.org states that it’s often called the first historical novel. I’d be fascinated to find out why, since by the time of its publication the Gothic novel craze had already occurred — Gothic at the time being used as a synonym for Medieval. Actually, _The Mysteries of Udolpho_ (1794) is set in 1584; not really Medieval, but certainly historical. I suppose Gothic novels are being treated as an entirely different genre of literature than that of historical fiction.
A complete side-note, but for some reason this post, and all its comments, only appeared for me early this morning (the 24th).
Charlotte, I saw that note, too and had the same reaction – it didn’t feel right to me, but I know very little about the terms, so I just skipped it.
Anyone take an English lit class recently?
I remember admiring Waverly’s name when I originally read The Joy Luck Club, but that was 18 years ago when I was also crazy about Bailey and Darby. While I’m not familiar with the fabrics or the crackers, the association with a brand name isn’t helping me get rid the perception of fake affluence. It reminds me of the grandiose names given to mobile home parks masquerading as fancy neighborhoods: Waverley Village Estate, Waverly Hills, etc.
grandiose…exactly.
Strongly dislike. I love Sage compared to this one. I’d expect to see it as Waverleigh.
I have loved the name Waverly since seeing The Joy Luck Club. Maybe I over-identify with the character and her relationship with her mother… (That also keeps it from being WASPy for me, but preppy does seem to fit.) Either way, when I noticed it on fabric and crackers, I was disappointed, because I wouldn’t want people to associate my daughter’s name with a brand. Still, I love the sound. And you’re right about the “Delaney” similarities, I’m sure, as I have a little Laney, so maybe it’s no surprise that this name appeals to me.
She was an epic ditz on our homegrown soap opera. So obnoxious, so annoying. Much like the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdmI3pXk9C4
The ‘name’ is dead to me.