不管是在电影电视剧,还是在新闻,抑或在日常生活里,Emily 这个名字是如此的常见,以至于NYT 专门写了一篇文章,来讲这件事情
这是Emily 的盛世佳年。
... in the United States, had what might have been its heyday.
90年代美国女生最受欢迎的名字里,Emily 常年排名前五,其他几个比较受欢迎的是Jessica/Ashley/Sarah/Amanda 等。
而从1996年一直到2007年,Emily 都是最受欢迎的名字。
数据来自于美国国家社保局官网(https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/top5names.html)
最近几年被Emma 和 Olivia 替代。2020年的时候Emily 排在18位,2021年的时候跌到了21位,大抵可能是前面的年数里面太受欢迎了,导致家长给孩子取名的时候刻意的回避了。
“I think that’s only because it’s become so popular that people are starting to avoid it,”...
Emily 这个名字最早来自于拉丁文Aemilia,引入英文世界最早是18世纪时候的一位英格兰公主。
The name has been used for centuries. It’s an evolution of the Latin name Aemilia, and the English spelling has been popularized by such historical figures as Princess Amelia in 18th-century England, who was called Emily by contemporaries, and the 19th-century poets Emily Dickinson and Emily Brontë. Emily Post, the 20th century’s arbiter of etiquette, added to its pedigree.
至于为什么从1990s 年代开始Emily 会火起来,其实是一个很自发的过程。 当时的家长觉得类似 Jennifer,Michelle 的人太多了,又觉得 Linda,Susan 显老气。几个常用名排除了以后,不约而同的选择了Emily。
... many people who became expecting parents at the time wanted alternatives to names like Jennifer, Michelle or others that were popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Those people, she added, also avoided names like Linda, Susan and others common when their parents were born. Emily, Ms. Watternberg said, was classic and familiar. “Everyone could spell and pronounce it, but it wasn’t terribly common,” she said.
但在这么多的Emilys 里面如何凸显自己呢?有人开始在结尾改元音,有了类似 Emilie,Emilee 等变体。
As a child, Ms. Long would try out different spellings of her name, like Emilie or Emilee. “I tried to make it a little more funky,” she said.
不管怎样,这是Emily 的黄金时代了。
A Golden Age of Emily