Ever

Ever is one of those adverbs that turned itself into a name, part of a small recent class with Forever and Always hovering nearby. In Old English, æfre meant at any time, a word that keeps stretching into the distance. Alanis Morissette gave a son the name in 2010; since then it's climbed steadily, now at 1070 and thoroughly unisex. The two syllables are soft and open, a gentle v between vowels, a name that ends on a quiet exhale. There's something romantic in it without being ornate, a promise folded into four letters, unhurried and wide-eyed.