My husband and I nearly got divorced (okay, not literally, but it was a disaster) trying to name our first daughter ([name]Scarlett[/name] [name]Cate[/name]). He likes names of people we might have (or did) graduate from high school with, I tend towards vintage revival “grandma” names. He recently suggested “[name]Elizabeth[/name]” for our second daughter (coming [name]June[/name]) to which I casually replied " what about [name]Eliza[/name], [name]Elouise[/name], or [name]Elise[/name]".
He LOVED [name]Elise[/name] and then I started to poke around name berry and was dismayed when I read their description: “The [name]Elise[/name] form maintains a steady popularity, due to its dash of French flair, but still feels a little dated. It’s going to take a while for any of the lovely names of this group to get far enough away from the 1960s and 70s [name]Lisa[/name]-[name]Elissa[/name]-[name]Alyssa[/name] pandemic to feel truly fresh again.”
The problem is once I read the description for “[name]Elise[/name]”, now it sounds out of style. What do you think? Is it too “[name]Lisa[/name]/[name]Alyssa[/name]”, or is it a classic on its own (think Beethovens “Fur [name]Elise[/name]”)?
[name]Elise[/name] is one of those lovely timeless ones for me. It’s so sweet and pretty, and doesn’t seem to belong to any era in particular. I know two, one is 29 and the other is four. In [name]England[/name] & [name]Wales[/name] it’s ranked at #143, 392 babies were given the name in 2011. It does not seem dated at all to me.
Eh, I wouldn’t consider [name]Elise[/name] dated at all. I only know one, who’s about 20, but [name]Elise[/name] never suffered from the same US popularity peak that the other names mentioned did, and I think it’s the sort of name that sounds cute on a youngster but also ages well. I’d ignore what Nameberry says, especially if you’re not in the US, as even in the UK, where I am, I don’t find [name]Alyssa[/name] dated at all because it never peaked in the 70s over here, so that reference is meaningless to me. If you love the name, and I think more importantly in your situation agree on a name, I’d go for it. Definitely not dated.
I think nameberry comments are too subjective and snobbish. I don’t think [name]Elise[/name] is dated, because it was never so popular to get dated.
[name]Elise[/name] highest peak was in 2011 when [name]Elise[/name] ranked 169. [name]Elise[/name] lowest peak was at 1974 when [name]Elise[/name] ranked 678. [name]Elise[/name] was around 400-500 since 1880, and it more modern than dated…
But it has old victorian/old west charm, everyone will though that this is old lady name.
I once used to loved [name]Elise[/name], and I think it’s still better that many names on nameberry.
I’m in Australia, and my three year old daughter has a friend named [name]Elise[/name]. I think it is a lovely name, and quite timeless. It doesn’t put me in mind of [name]Lisa[/name] etc at all. I also know a 20-something [name]Elise[/name]. Go ahead and use it!
I think [name]Elise[/name] is less dated than [name]Alyssa[/name] and both are less dated than Lisa. But not as cool as [name]Eliza[/name] or as evergreen as [name]Elizabeth[/name].
I don’t really think there’s anything wrong with [name]Elise[/name] despite not really loving it. I vastly prefer it to [name]Elsie[/name] or [name]Elodie[/name] or [name]Eloise[/name]. It’s just a bit too soft for me personally.
The second-syllable emphasis makes it a nice alternative to [name]Marie[/name] or [name]Nicole[/name] as a middle.
I think [name]Elise[/name] is lovely! I don’t think it dated at all, but very classic and I love the Fur [name]Elise[/name] association!
Besides, what does a couple of nameberries opinion matter when your OH loves the name!? His opinion should count more!
I know our chosen girl name is not popular here on NB, but hey-ho its our baby! You can listen to peoples opinion and of course take it on board, listen to their thoughts and concerns, but when it comes to comments like “its dated” you can pick and choose because different people will ahve differnet ideas about whats hot and whats not. And I do think NB tend to have a more nitpicky approach to picking names (names tend to be very over thought and over analysed - which isn’t a bad thing! But it doesn’t mean “you” necessarily share this approach to naming your children)
I agree with this comment. I think Nameberry creators’ descriptions of names are very subjective (and yes oftentimes are snobby). I think whether a name is dated is a matter of opinion not fact. Although nameberry creators are deemed as name experts, their descriptions are still just their opinions.
Here is my opinion - dated names are either names that were uber popular in a particular generation, such as [name]Jennifer[/name] and [name]Melissa[/name] in the 80s, or names that were part of a trend, which normally experience a quick rise in popularity and a quick fall, such as [name]Tiffany[/name] or [name]Brittany[/name]. Aside from those types of names, I really don’t agree with categorizing a name as dated just because it was more popular during a particular time frame and then gradually declined. All names experience natural ups and downs over time. [name]Just[/name] because the name isn’t at it’s peak, that doesn’t automatically mean you can throw it into the dated name camp. Moreover, I don’t understand how a name like [name]Elise[/name], which never even made it into the top 100, can be lumped into the same sentence as the word dated. Moreover, I don’t think it’s right to lump a name like [name]Elise[/name] with the name [name]Lisa[/name], which did in fact experience a swift rise and fall in popularity. [name]Elise[/name] has been in the top 1000 since SSA started keeping track in the 1880s. That to me is a sign of a classic name, not a dated one. [name]Elise[/name] is a well known name that is easily spelled and pronounced. It was never overused, but was always on the radar. I think [name]Elise[/name] is a winner!
PS: I don’t think [name]Alyssa[/name] is dated either! It’s still ranked at #37 on the SSA list. It may not be as fresh as namberry followers would choose for their own kids, but it’s not dated by any means. It may have fallen from it’s peak, but it’s still being used by many parents today.
Actually I would totally disagree with that. It’s a great name and I have heard if a few babies recently with that name (in addition to having an 18mos old I’m in an occupation where I meet babies and children a lot). It’s totally making a comeback -in the USA anyway
[name]Elise[/name] is a beautiful name. I consider it a classic name, more like [name]Alice[/name] than [name]Lisa[/name]/[name]Alyssa[/name]. I don’t think it’s dated at all.
I completely agree with all of this. I think it’s a beautiful name, and like bellababy said, it’s uncommon but people have still heard of it, which I think makes it an excellent choice. It sounds really lovely with your daughter’s name too.
Yep, this is my view, too. I was so put off by the commentary on [name]Nuria[/name] that I won’t even look in the database now.
Honestly though, I personally have always found [name]Elise[/name] dated, but that is probably entirely attributed to the fact that I’m from [name]Canada[/name], grew up in a bilingual area, and [name]Elise[/name] seems more late-80s to me because the Elises I know are my age. [name]Lise[/name] is dated here for sure, but [name]Elise[/name] is still very popular (in Québec: fluctuating between #26 and #35 since 2006-2011) so it isn’t really in Dated [name]Land[/name], but I’m not sure if it was more popular in the 80s than now.
In [name]France[/name], [name]Elise[/name] is still very common as well (#48 for 2010, so about 1400 babies with this name born in 2010). These are the stats from [name]France[/name] in graph form: Prénom : ELISE : fréquence, tendance, top des prénoms en France very helpful! The name plumets from about 1940-1980 and then rockets again with the peak being in 2001. The graph definitely shows “antique revival”, not datedness, in [name]France[/name].
I’ve known many [name]Alyssa[/name]'s.
I’ve only ever known one [name]Elise[/name].
It has a very elegant feel to me because of the soft leading second syllable.
And it reminds me of the Elysian Fields.
