The title is pretty self-explanatory. [name_f]My[/name_f] youngest sister is [name_f]Eliana[/name_f] but I’ve called her [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] from the moment she was born, as has most of my family. I love a lot of [name_f]El[/name_f]- names but I worry that people will try to shorten them to [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], which I don’t want. Of course, it’s possible that she would correct them anyways if she doesn’t want to share a name with her Aunt [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] but I’m curious what people think.
For some, I have other nickname options I’d use instead.
I’ve seen these sorts of polls completely flop before so if that happens, I’d still appreciate your thoughts! Here’s the scale: 1 = The thought of [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] as a nickname wouldn’t have even occurred to me at first
10 = You may as well just put [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] on the birth certificate because it’s what everyone will want to call her
ETA: I GOT RID OF THE POLLS BECAUSE THEY WERENT WORKING :/.
As far as [name_f]El[/name_f]- names go, I don’t think these names are as likely to become [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] as, say, [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] or [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]. I think they are short enough that people will default to the full name or established nickname, or maybe use ‘[name_f]El[/name_f]’ for short.
I think for all but [name_f]Nephele[/name_f], people will think of [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] as a nickname but that they could easily be pushed to use another if an alternate nickname was presented or if she expressed a desire to go by her full name.
(This is a random “maybe” thing I’m throwing out there, maybe in the next several years [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] will become more dated as a nickname? Not to an extreme where nobody uses [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] anymore, but maybe it will be more common to branch out nickname-wise.)
It won’t let me vote either. So here are my thoughts:
Eleni 3/10 - I would guess that people would go to [name_f]Leni[/name_f] before [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]. [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] as a nickname for this doesn’t feel very inuitive.
Eliora 9/10 - Almost absolutely. It’s such a gorgeous name and I’m not a huge fan of [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], so I feel your pain. Because the first two syllables sound exactly like [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] it will almost definitely happen. [name_f]Ora[/name_f] is such a refreshing nickname for this!
Elodie 5/10 - It might go either way. But this name is easy to say so imo it doesn’t really need a nickname and many people might just call her by her full name.
Elowen 8/10 - Another stunning name, but very likely to be shortened to [name_f]Ellie[/name_f].
Nephele (omg I ADORE THIS NAME) 1/10 - [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] did not even occur to me. I think people would go for Neph intuitively, just like [name_f]Stephanie[/name_f] becomes [name_u]Steph[/name_u].
Some final thoughts - you can guide people to a certain nickname, especially family and friends when the child is young. If left unchecked, yeah, people might go straight to [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], but you can encourage people to use the nickname you prefer.
When she gets older, you can teach her to say “please don’t call me [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], I go by [name_f]Ora[/name_f]”.
After all, a nickname is a name, and people need to make the effort to get names right. It’s okay to ask that of people.
Eleni: 3/10. [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] certainly works as a nickname for [name_f]Eleni[/name_f], but I’d expect people to gravitate more naturally towards [name_m]Len[/name_m]/Leni unless you explicitly pushed [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]. I think [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] would be quite easy to avoid with this name.
Eliora: 8/10. Since you hear “[name_f]Ellie[/name_f]” when you pronounce [name_f]Eliora[/name_f], it seems like a pretty natural short form. I still think it would be fairly avoidable (unless she decided she wanted to go by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], of course), but I’d expect some people to pick up on [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] (or [name_f]Elle[/name_f]) regardless.
Elodie: 5/10. I can see it being a little easier to avoid [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] in this case since [name_f]Elodie[/name_f] doesn’t directly contain all of the “[name_f]Ellie[/name_f]” sound and is a bit shorter to say. Also, it already sounds a lot like [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], so I think people would be less likely to look to [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] as a nickname.
Elowen: 7/10. [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] does seem like a natural nickname here, but I think [name_f]Elowen[/name_f] is quick and easy enough to say that people might not specifically look for a nickname. I’d put this one in a similar range to [name_f]Eliora[/name_f], with [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] being just slightly less likely here due to not being contained directly within the name.
Nephele: 2/10. [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] basically wouldn’t have occurred to me here unless I was specifically looking for possible creative nicknames. Based on where the emphasis is, I’d expect people to gravitate more towards something like Neffy (although I don’t think it needs a nickname at all!).
Eleni - 1
[name_f]Eliora[/name_f] - 10 (if I met someone with this name, I’d definitely call her [name_f]Ellie[/name_f])
[name_f]Elodie[/name_f] - 2
[name_f]Elowen[/name_f] - 1 (more likely to shorten this to [name_f]Elle[/name_f])
[name_f]Nephele[/name_f] - 9 (it’s literally [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] at the end)
Other suggestions:
[name_f]Elena[/name_f]
[name_f]Eleonora[/name_f]
[name_f]Elaine[/name_f]
[name_f]Eliza[/name_f]
[name_f]Elsie[/name_f]
I can’t vote, but I think they can all be shortened to [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] and likely will be, especially [name_f]Eliora[/name_f].
I think going with something like [name_f]Elena[/name_f] (eh-lay-nuh) or [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] is much better because she has a lot of other nn options and [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] really isn’t that common a nn for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] or [name_f]Elena[/name_f]. She could go by [name_f]Lizzie[/name_f] or [name_u]Laney[/name_u].
I’d also consider a name that is similar to [name_f]El[/name_f]-like names without the [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] potential, like [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f], [name_f]Emilia[/name_f], or [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f].
@elle123, I like [name_f]Elsie[/name_f] a lot but there’s already one in my family so I can’t use it.
@Elizabeth_Rose1, none of those really appeal to me, sorry. I like [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] but don’t see myself using it. The others I either dislike or are way too popular or just unusable (my sister’s name is constantly being mistaken for [name_f]Elaina[/name_f] so using [name_f]Elena[/name_f] would be weird for me). I also do know an [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] nn [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] so I think that if these are likely to be shortened, that is as well.
I’m honestly not fond of the nn [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] at all, so I almost never automatically think, “Oh, right, [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]!” lol. But I figured I’d explain why I gave the vote I did for each:
Eleni - mainly because I have grown so accustomed to thinking of “my” (lol) [name_f]Eleni[/name_f] being “[name_f]Leni[/name_f]”, the [name_f]El[/name_f]- nns don’t even enter my mind anymore. If I didn’t use [name_f]Leni[/name_f], it’d be [name_f]Ella[/name_f]. I guess [name_f]Eleni[/name_f] nn [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] is pretty intuitive, though.
Eliora - I think I gave it a 5, because while the [name_f]Eliora[/name_f] I know goes by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], I would call her [name_f]Ella[/name_f], [name_f]Lola[/name_f], or maybe even [name_f]Ora[/name_f]/Rora/Liora. Plus, if you have an alternate nn, I think you can pretty much eradicate the [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] problem. “Oh, no, sorry, she goes by [name_f]Ora[/name_f].” etc. Although I think those closest to you will automatically know that [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] is your sister and isn’t going to be your daughter’s nn too, and by the time the ones closest to you establish familiarity with [name_f]Eliora[/name_f]/Ora/etc., I think it’ll naturally flow out from there?
Elodie - [name_f]Ella[/name_f] seems so much more intuitive for [name_f]Elodie[/name_f] to me than [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], mainly because it pretty much sounds like “[name_f]Ella[/name_f]-dee”, so [name_f]Ella[/name_f] seems more intuitive than [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]? I can see people going there, but it wouldn’t be my natural choice. I also love [name_f]Lola[/name_f], [name_f]Lottie[/name_f], and Liddy for [name_f]Elodie[/name_f] (funny story, my terror of a car was [name_f]Elodie[/name_f] nn Liddy, lol. Terrible choice, because she was as melodramatic as [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]/Liddy [name_m]Bennet[/name_m] lol).
Elowen - egh, yeah, I feel like [name_f]Elowen[/name_f] nn [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] is pretty natural. I wouldn’t use it, since I don’t like [name_f]Ellie[/name_f], lol, but it may be harder to avoid. I think [name_f]Ella[/name_f], [name_f]Lola[/name_f], and [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] could be nice alternatives?
Nephele - I don’t think anyone really thinks of any of the -elle/-ele names and thinks, “Oh, yeah, she could go by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]!”, but this actually ENDS in the [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] sound, kind of, so for that reason I can see her getting [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] against your wishes, but I think [name_f]Effie[/name_f] is much more intuitive?
Eleni - 3/10 It’s more unusual and I’d want to call her [name_f]Leni[/name_f] or [name_f]Lena[/name_f] first, but I honestly think there’s a chance of [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] with almost any longer [name_f]El[/name_f]- name.
Eliora - 8/10 This is long so people will automatically want to shorten it and it already starts with the [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] sound. It’s also very similar to [name_f]Eliana[/name_f], so if that gets shortened to [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] then this likely will too.
Elodie - 5/10 Although [name_f]Elodie[/name_f] is fairly long, I never instantly think of it as a name needing a nickname. When I do, I always think of [name_f]Edie[/name_f] first. But [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] is more familiar than either of these and therefore more likely.
Elowen - 5/10 Pretty much the same as [name_f]Elodie[/name_f], except it’s [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] instead of [name_f]Edie[/name_f].
Nephele - 1/10 [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] didn’t even occur to me for this one! I think as [name_f]El[/name_f]- isn’t the starting sound it’s less intuitive to call her [name_f]Ellie[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] preferred [name_f]Nephele[/name_f] nn is [name_f]Effie[/name_f].
I don’t necessarily think any of them would become “[name_f]Ellie[/name_f]” but I could see [name_f]El[/name_f]/Elle which might still be a bother, so something to consider.
Eleni - 1/10 This name is distinct, and the fact that it already ends in that ‘ee’ sound makes [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] feel unnecessary.
[name_f]Eliora[/name_f] - 8/10 I mean, [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] is right there in the beginning. Much like with [name_f]Eliana[/name_f], it feels pretty natural.
[name_f]Elodie[/name_f] - 2/10 Kind of there? But it’s kind of cutesy as is and doesn’t really need a nickname.
[name_f]Elowen[/name_f] - 4/10 The potential is there if you should want it, but it doesn’t feel as natural – even less natural if you place the stress on the second syllable.
[name_f]Nephele[/name_f] - 1/10 The emphasis on the Neph syllable of the name as a whole would not allow [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] to occur naturally for me.
Eleni- 6 (this is my fave tho!)
Eliora- 8 (I think you get them to go with, Liora, Lio, etc)
Elodie- 5
Elowen- 5
Nephele- 3
I think it’s possible to either use her full name or a different nick name as long as she is on board. My name is Tamara and I have never been called Tammy as my dad didn’t like that nn and as I grew up neither did I. My sister was called a variation of a nn for hers rarely- mostly she got a family nn unrelated to her real name.