How to pronounce Zelie, and usable as nn for Elizabeth?

[name_m]How[/name_m] would you pronounce [name_f]Zelie[/name_f]?

[name_f]Zee[/name_f]-lee

or since it is french (I don’t now any french people!) I imagine it might be:

Zeh-lee (with a lilt at the end).

Also, I think this would work as a nickname for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], even though technically it is not (since my husband likes the classical name of [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], this seems like the quirky cute nickname I have been craving in [name_f]Zelie[/name_f] would be a win win!!)

Cheers!

I think it pr. Zeh- [name_u]Lee[/name_u] . I adore it as a nn for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] so I think its usable :wink:

I would be stuck between pronouncing it “[name_m]Zell[/name_m]-lee” and “zay-lee.” I wouldn’t think of “zee-lee,” and I don’t much care for “zee-lee” anyway. I like it as a nickname for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f].

I’d pronounce it [name_m]Zell[/name_m]-ee, but I could see it being pronounced zee-lee as well. I love it as a nickname for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]!

I would pronounce it [name_m]Zell[/name_m]-ee (rhymes with belly). [name_f]Zee[/name_f]-lee would work too but I prefer the former. I think it sounds like an adorable and more unusual nn for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]!

Zay-lee or [name_m]Zell[/name_m]-lee. [name_f]Zee[/name_f]-lee didn’t come to mind. Definitely like the first pronunciation much better and think it would make an adorable nn.

The [name_m]French[/name_m] Zélie is pronounced ZEHL-ee hence the accent grave.

I’ve always pronounced it ZAY-lee. [name_f]Kinda[/name_f] like [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] with a Z. No idea if that’s correct, but I like it that way. I think it’s a bit of a stretch as a nickname for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f].

[name_m]Zell[/name_m]-ee. And I think it’s an adorable nn for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]!

Thank you so much! That was what I was trying to get across, yes, I read it/have been saying it the last few days as “Zehl-ee” and I actually love the accent indicator:)

Now I am torn, Zehl-ee makes the most amount of sense to me, but maybe it is too “affected” since there are no french areas near where I live, and not many people to pronounce it correctly! I also like the pronunciation “Zay-lee” but the spelling doesn’t seem to support the pronunciation. I couldn’t use “Zelly” since my sis in law is [name_f]Elly[/name_f]

I know one, she says it ZAY-lee.

She’s Irish but I believe it’s a Hebrew name, a [name_m]French[/name_m] form, maybe?

My first thought was [name_m]Zell[/name_m]-Ee. I like it but it seems like a bit of a stretch from [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f].

[name_f]Zelia[/name_f] is apparently pronounced like [name_f]Celia[/name_f] or [name_f]Delia[/name_f], but I always saw it as [name_m]ZEL[/name_m]-ee-a ([name_m]ZEL[/name_m] rhyming with yell). I always saw [name_f]Zelie[/name_f] the same way, but some people say Zeal-ee.

The little girl I know named [name_f]Zelie[/name_f] pronounces it zay-lee.

I would say [name_f]Zee[/name_f]-lee and I love it, especially as a nickname. It sounds really cute! Since the spelling is similar to [name_f]Celie[/name_f], which is pronounced Cee-lee, I imagine it would rhyme with it.

Zélie is actually pronounced ZAY-lee, because the é is an acute accent, not a grave. If you want the accent to indicate the [name_m]ZELL[/name_m]-ee pronunciation, you would need to spell it Zèlie with a grave.

Zeh-lee I use it as a nickname for my daughter [name_f]Hazel[/name_f]. I think it works for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] as well.

[name_m]Zell[/name_m]-ee!
I think it’s okay for the nickname

I say it ZEHY-lee. It’s not a straight AY or a straight EH, but it’s sort of a mix between the two. It’s very hard to write on paper, because if you say “eh” most Americans would say it like Zelly, but if you say it’s ZAY-lee, then most Europeans (especially [name_m]French[/name_m]-speakers) would say that that’s wrong, too (which, technically, it is).

I like Zélie a lot, along with [name_f]Zelia[/name_f], and the name Zélie is rumored to come from, Azélie, which is the [name_m]French[/name_m] form of [name_f]Azalea[/name_f] (from what I know). I wouldn’t really expect Zélie to be a nn for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], but I think you can stretch it. I think, without the accent, you’d get anything from Zelly to Zaylee to Zeeley, but Zélie makes it clearer for me. I like it as a name a lot, and I think [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] nn Zélie would be quite cute. :slight_smile: