Names Beginning With E

Names Beginning With E
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We've been looking at names you've all been searching for in our baby names finder, and it's yielded some interesting results. Specifically, we've found out that a lot of you are searching for names beginning with E, representing 7.4 per cent of all searches.

Why, we wonder? We recently learned that Simon Cowell's baby name choice has caused the name Eric to rocket in popularity.

Or perhaps the revival of Victorian names like Elizabeth, Elsie, Eve, Emma and Evelyn is having an effect on parents-to-be and their tastes?

Using the 2012 list of most popular baby names issued by the Office for National Statistics, we've created a list of the most popular names beginning with 'E' for boys and girls - as well as some of the most unusual on record, to give you inspiration for a truly unique 'E' name.

Top 5 for Girls

Emily - female form of Emil, from a Roman family name meaning 'rival'.

Evie - diminutive of Eve, from Hebrew verb 'to breathe', now often used as a standalone name.

Eva - Latinised version of Eve, see above.

Ella - from the Old German name 'Alia', meaning 'other'. First introduced to the UK by the Normans, but regained popularity in the 19th century.

Erin - from the Irish language name for Ireland.

Top 5 for Boys

Ethan - of Biblical origin but only widely popular in the last century, Ethan is Hebrew for a 'solid' or 'enduring'.

Edward - a perennial favourite, from the Old English 'ead' (rich) and 'weard' (guard), Edward has been consistently popular for centuries.

Elliot - originally a surname which was derived from the Biblical figure Elias, whose name meant 'my God is Yahweh' (the Hebrew name of God).

Elijah - another form of writing Elias (see above).

Ellis - again, a variant of the Biblical Elias. In Welsh, however, the name means 'kind'.

And here are five of the least common 'E' names for boys and girls, if you like the idea of joining the 'E' trend but want to ensure your baby has a truly unique name. The ONS recorded five or fewer babies given these names in 2012.

Unusual 'E' names for girls

Excel - either these parents had high hopes for their daughters, or they wanted to pay tribute to their favourite Microsoft Office programme.

Emnet - an Ethiopian name which is very similar to the increasingly-popular boys' name Emmet, so pick this for your daughter and you might be ahead of the trend.

Eartha - simply a feminised version of the world 'Earth', which is nice. On the downside, 99Slideshow-84946%

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