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[Opinions] Ivy
Let's talk about Ivy!In the most recent Top 10 thread, I saw a lot of posts including Ivy. And in BTN's Favorite Names 2019 (https://www.behindthename.com/bb/baby/5073839) Ivy placed at #4, the highest it has ever placed! (Usually it appears in the lower half of the Top 20, if it makes an appearance at all.) So I only see its popularity on here rising.However, I've never really considered Ivy seriously. Probably because, while I think ivy growing on the side of old stone / brick buildings is gorgeous, it also reminds me of IVs and sterile hospital rooms.In any event... what do you think of Ivy? Do you like or dislike it? What combos would you use?***Please rate my personal name lists:www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/109399
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/91835
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This message was edited 3/4/2020, 6:11 AM

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I like it a lot, it sounds cheerful and bottle green. I'd pair it with an unusual name - Ivy Artemisia and Ivy Cassiopeia come to mind.
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I love Ivy (when I can forget about the IV thing) and I’m mad it’s so high up on the popularity list. Legit mad, ugh!
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The first thing I picture is an IV and a sick bed.The second thing I think of is Ivy LeagueThe third is plant in our garden, loved by the sparrows. Sparrow Ivy as combo..? That said I do like the name! It’s a bit whimsical, but I’d be happily surprised seeing the name Ivy IRL. However not a name I’d use.

This message was edited 3/4/2020, 1:48 AM

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I dislike it, firstly because it starts with "I" and is almost like "I've", which just seems thoroughly self-centred. And secondly, because it's the world's most annoying plant if you're trying to remove it. Yes, it enhances old buildings, but in the domestic context it's a no-no.
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I don't like it much because it sounds weak and clinging IMO. Of course, ivy clings, but I also think there's something inherently weak sounding in the word and name.

This message was edited 3/3/2020, 1:44 PM

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I’ve been in the hospital so many times while pregnant, with kids, and etc, the first thing I think of is IV.
It’s not an ugly or unpleasant sound, but while I first think of IV, after that, I do think of more poison ivy or as an old granny name, sort of.
It is sweet as a middle name, I just don’t like it as a first.
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It's right on par with lots of currently popular names: Ava, Eva, Evie, Isla, Iris. I predict that it will peak in the next few years and might sound dated (along with the other names I listed) in a decade or two. Despite all that, I think it's a nice enough name.
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I dont like it
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I used to really like it, and it was on my favorites for years.Then I moved into a house where there's ivy planted on the other side of our backyard fence, and I have to cut it back every year or it'll take over. And while I was pulling up these endlessly long, tangled vines that stuck to the ground, I found myself thinking of them as "creepy-ass vines." They're ... sort of icky! I started to question how much I liked Ivy as a name. And I got to thinking about the symbolism of names, which I care about.Ivy is perennially green and picturesque on buildings, which is sorta nice. It's vaguely associated with revelry, and that's cool. But it's also one of the more humble plants there is. It doesn't stand up by itself, it creeps along the ground and glues itself to things, it binds things up and strangles them and contributes to decay, and it's kind of a weed (English Ivy is an invasive pest where I live, killing native trees). And it sounds like I.V. That didn't formerly bother me, but once I noticed it, I couldn't stop noticing it, and now it's kind of ruining the name for me. I can't unhear "Ivy catheter, Ivy drugs." I think that's a minor issue, it wouldn't stop me from using the name. But ... the symbolism issue would possibly stop me, and when I add the I.V. association to it, I find the name seems unusable to me.If I encounter it as the name of a little girl, I don't really think bad things about it ... I put it in a category with modern hippy-style plant-y names like Willow and Hazel and Juniper and Briar. Although with Ivy, and none of those others - if instead it had a namey origin like Amy has, and there were no creepy plant called that, and no sound-alike problem - I would very much like the sound of it.I ran a poll a few days ago comparing Ivy with a few other long-I names https://www.behindthename.com/polls/316745 and of those, it's most liked.
I think Ivy will get more popular for a few years.
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I absolutely love it and I have for years. At one time I would have strongly considered using it. Then Beyoncé had her daughter and its popularity exploded. It might have happened anyway once people got tired of Ava and started looking for close alternatives, but still.
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