Editor’s note: This post was originally published on June 19, 2008. It was substantially revised and re-posted on April 8, 2013.
He’s a fast-rising name for twenty-first century boys.
Thanks to Nicole for suggesting her son’s name as our Baby Name of the Day: Everett.
Some might dismiss Everett as a surname, yet another last name promoted to the first spot as the trend that launched Tyler and Mason continues.
But the line between surnames and given names isn’t always so clear.
Once upon a time, Everett was a variant of Everard, an English given name with Germanic roots. It appears that Everett and Everitt developed as surnames for those descended from men called Everard, much as Jameson and Johnson refer to patriarchs James and John. Surnames like Eberhardt and Everhart come from the same elements.
Everett has been a surname and a given name for generations. From the 1880s through the 1920s, Everett often appeared in the US Top 100 for boys, making him more of a revival choice than a new discovery. You might think of John Everett Millais, the nineteenth century painter with the complicated personal life. (He married Effie Ruskin, despite her marriage to his good friend.) Or maybe former surgeon general Charles Everett Koop, better known as C. Everett.
While Everard might sound over the top unless you’re playing a medieval knight, Everett manages to sound both noble and comfortable at once. This isn’t about the name’s etymological derivation – it means roughly “strong as the wild boar” – but about what we hear in the name. Ever connotes faithfulness and loyalty. Something about the name conjures up forests of evergreen trees, too, an undeniably attractive image. And there’s a nod towards Everest as well, which makes us think of majestic mountains.
Speaking of mountains, Everett is a place name, worn by at least a dozen sites on the map, including a mountain range in remote Antarctica and more familiar suburbs of both Boston and Seattle.
As a surname, there are plenty of notables:
- Some have been sporty – think Olympic medalist in track and field Danny Everett and former Chicago White Sox outfielder Carl Everett.
- Others boast wild intelligence. Hugh Everett III developed the “many-worlds interpretation” of quantum mechanics in the 1950s. The exact nature of that theory eludes me, but I’m assume Mr. Everett was no slouch.
- Hugh’s son turned out to be quite creative, too – he’s Mark Oliver Everett, or Mr. E of alt rock darling the Eels.
Toss in a few politicians and the handsome English actor Rupert Everett, and it’s a name that defies easy categorization.
There’s also Everett Hills, a minor character from Eugene O’Neill’s “Mourning Becomes Electra.”
Musician Isaac Hanson has a son called Clarke Everett, and author John Irving gave the name to his youngest son.
In the US, it has never been out of the Top 1000. If you’ve never met an Everett – or if you’re lucky enough to discover the name on your family tree – that could make this the perfect choice for parents seeking an on-trend, but slightly different name.
Except for one tiny thing: Everett is on an definite upswing. In 2001, he ranked a chilly #599 – perfect for lovers of obscure gems.
By 2011, he was up to #257. That’s over 1300 newborn baby Everetts in 2011 alone. Plus, that -et ending is in vogue for boys. Think of Garrett, Emmett, Beckett, and Jett.
All of this makes Everett a stylish appellation that would wear well on a boy born in 2013 – but he isn’t necessarily the rarest of the rare anymore.
There’s a boy at my daughter’s daycare with the name Evert. I thought it was super cute and a nice twist on Everett.
I simply love the name! I’ve loved it since I was a teenager. My husband trolled my baby name lists and picked it out as a favorite, too. We have a son named Miles, I think the sib-set sounds very strong and well suited for the family tree. 🙂
Oh I like Miles and Everett together – so dashing!
I love the name Everett!
I love the name Everett!
I love the name, though not it’s rising popularity. The name suits my three year old little monster perfectly and I love all the nicknames we’ve been able to call him over the years: Rett, Ev, Ever, even Evie.
There’s a town near me called Everett, and so I suppose I have more exposure than most. I really like this name, but with the town, it might make it a tough choice.
All of your comments are interesting to me. I’m now 76 years. I was neutral about my given name, “Everett”, until in my teenage years trying to play baseball well enough to be chosen by my peers to be their team mate. They took a vote on my name and decided I could play the game with greater skill if my name changed to “Harry”. Done, and for thirty LONG years. Everyone knew me as “Harry”. As I matured and took on my own personalty I grew to dislike the “sing-songy” full name of “Harry Harriman”. Only when I moved my career from Georgia to California was I able to begin the long but successful transition back to “Everett”, where I am today back in my native New England.
Chloe, great choice! But I’m intrigued – is your Everett canine, feline or something more exotic?
Hi, my Everett is a guinea pig!
I have an Everett, but he is a pet… everyone thinks it’s an unusual choice for man or beast but I hope they will become more familiar and there will be some little human Everetts soon…
Thanks for the reaction, AM. I think you hit the nail on the head with it being a name that is ripe for revival from the family tree. It’s a family name for us (but one we chose to use—-there were a lot of other family names it beat out) and a lot of times, the reaction I get to it is “Oh, that was my grandfather’s name” or “Hey, I have an 80 year old Uncle Everett.”
The syllable thing drives me batty, though. I pronounce the name “Ev-Rhett”, two syllables because that’s how my husband’s midwestern family pronounces it and I like the sound of it. But about 50% of the time, people say “Ev-Er-Rhett”, three syllables, which is pretty clunky to my ears. I don’t know if it’s a regional thing or what.
And thanks Elisabeth . . . he is quite the little charmer if I do say so my self!
Oh no! I think Everett is handsome, unusual, old-fashioned, and has a bit of a Southern flavor. If you saw Nicole’s little Everett, no doubt you’d fall immediately in love with him and his name. 🙂
Interesting reactions – my thought was that Everett would be a crowd pleaser! But I must say that I’m partial to the letter V … and I like Evangeline, Elvira and Evan.
Another, LOL at your pig comment! I’d probably call my pet pig Bacon. 😉
Haha, funny, I’m not a huge fan of Everett either. It just doesn’t sound very right, like too many syllables put together. I do love the name Emmett however.
Ooooh, not a fan of Everett. To me it’s a name one might give a pig. It reminds me of Elvira, of Elvis, but not as pleasant as either of them. I wonder where I got the idea it’s a hick-y name. I honestly can’t recall. I think there are a lot of better traditional names out there than Everett. (To be fair, I don’t like Evan, either. Maybe I just have a problem with names that have an E and a V close to each other.)
Everett makes my teeth ache as a first name. The only references I can find are as surnames. I find the sound rather harsh and while I like Yves on a guy (as well as Rhett), I can’t get into the smush of the two sounds. Weird, no? I wouldn’t blink at Everett in the middle but really find it unappealing up front. Surnames belong in the middle for me. There are very few exceptions.