Alliteration name rules? When to draw the line?

Girl Names
1

I find alliteration names to sometimes work well, but sometimes it’s just too much. My last name is 3 syllables, first syllable being “[name]El[/name].” This proves to be quite a problem for me since many girl names I love start with [name]El[/name] (i.e. [name]Eliza[/name], [name]Eloise[/name], [name]Elise[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name]) or even contain “el” somewhere in the name (i.e. [name]Annabel[/name], [name]Stella[/name]). Our last name is kind of strange but it’s similar to Ellicott. I would find a name like [name]Eva[/name] Ellicott or [name]Emma[/name] Ellicott to be okay, but [name]Annabel[/name] Ellicott or [name]Stella[/name] Ellicott to be too close.

My biggest confusion comes with first names that also start with “[name]El[/name],” such as the names above I listed. Obviously, something like [name]Ella[/name] Ellicott would be absurd, but what about longer syllable names paired with it - [name]Elizabeth[/name] Ellicott sounds okay to my ears - I think - but [name]Eliza[/name] or [name]Eloise[/name] I’m not so sure. I think you need that 4th syllable tacked onto the first name ([name]Elizabeth[/name]) to separate the sounds… or could a 3 syllable first name work?

What about [name]Elise[/name] Ellicott? I know it’s only 2 syllables, but [name]Elise[/name] is more UH-leese rather than [name]EL[/name]-eese so I was thinking it doesn’t sound so bad.

Thoughts?

2

I actually like all the combos you said except for [name]Elise[/name].

Fun tidbit. [name]Stan[/name] [name]Lee[/name] the marvel comic guy named a large majority of his characters with alteration because he figured out that the snappy names were easy to remember. I think he’d like your names. :wink:

3

4 is the best: [name]Elizabeth[/name], [name]Eliana[/name], [name]Eliora[/name], [name]Eleanora[/name]. Those all work especially well since none have the most emphasis on the [name]EL[/name] part of the name.

[name]Elise[/name] works okay to my ear. The second-syllable emphasis helps a lot. Same thing makes Esmé work, though Esmé has the advantage for no L sound to make work.

[name]Eloise[/name] and [name]Eliza[/name] don’t work as well, which is not because I don’t like them, because in actuality I prefer [name]Eliza[/name] to [name]Elise[/name] just in terms of comparing the names themselves alone without a surname to match.

The best E names are the ones without an [name]El[/name]- sound but I don’t think [name]Eva[/name] or [name]Emma[/name] are ideal - a longer one would be helpful there, too, in my opinion. [name]Evangeline[/name], [name]Emmeline[/name], [name]Esperanza[/name], [name]Esmeralda[/name]…?

I like FN/LN alliteration but juggling syllables and other sounds can be hard.