I recently met a baby girl called [name_f]Etta[/name_f] and started crushing on the name straight away. It’s so cute when it’s used in real life, short but sweet and a bit unexpected and I loved it instantly… But there’s a problem. When it’s paired with any other name including surnames, it sounds like she “ate a” [name_f]Rose[/name_f] for example. In [name_f]England[/name_f] when someone says “ate a” it sounds like [name_f]Etta[/name_f] and I just can’t get passed it!! It sounds so beautiful on its own, I just don’t know whether it’s usable or not in real life! What do people think?
Oh, I never thought of that! (I’m in the US, and [name_f]Etta[/name_f] becomes “ed-ah” 
). I think for the reason you mentioned it’s better as a nn. [name_f]Marietta[/name_f], [name_f]Alouetta[/name_f] and [name_f]Violetta[/name_f] are my favorite long forms!
I think it’s adorable, sweet, and spunky! I love that it’s uncommon and the namesake of [name_f]Etta[/name_f] [name_u]James[/name_u]. I like it better than most names it could be short for.
Etta is so sweet and charming! I prefer it to many of the longer -etta names it could be short for (although I do like some of the -et/-ette possibilities). I can’t speak to how well it would work in [name_f]England[/name_f], though, I’m sorry!
I can see it working in the uk. Maybe because i pronounce the A sound of ate?
[name_f]Etta[/name_f] is lovely