Effie

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Girl · Greek, through Scots

Effie

Say it: EF-ee

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Scottish pet form of Euphemia, Greek 'well-spoken'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

A Scottish name popular in America around 1880-1900.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1880s

In the United States

44,082 babies given this name since 1880
At its height in 1886, about 1 in 215 girls
61 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914

Used by

Scottish American

The family of the name

Greek	Euphemia

Famous bearers

Effie Gray, wife of John Ruskin

Names worth a look

MurielGirlProbably from a Celtic name meaning 'sea-bright', from muir 'sea' and geal 'bright'.Middle Ages · peak 1922 · forgotten

FionaGirlPopularized, and probably coined, by James Macpherson in his Ossian poems of the 1760s, from Gaelic fionn 'white, fair'.Revolutions · peak 2017

LornaGirlApparently coined by R. D. Blackmore for Lorna Doone (1869), possibly from the Scottish place name Lorne.Victorian · peak 1942 · forgotten

AnnabelleGirlProbably from medieval Scottish Annabella, a form of Amabel (Latin amabilis 'lovable'); later felt to be Anna plus…Middle Ages · peak 2014

ArabellaGirlA Scottish name of uncertain origin, perhaps a variant of Annabel or from Latin orabilis 'yielding to prayer'.Renaissance · peak 2017

FloraGirlLatin flora, from flos 'flower'; also the name of the Roman goddess of flowers.Rome · peak 1885

EvelynGirlFrom an English surname derived from the Norman given name Aveline, from a Germanic element (avi or avila) of…Revolutions · peak 1907

EvanBoyAn Anglicized form of Welsh Ifan or Ieuan, Welsh forms of John (Hebrew 'God is gracious').Renaissance · peak 2009

Where this comes from

National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.