[name_m]Hi[/name_m], we thought we were done with names but husband didn’t feel settled with the name and now we’ve got [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] or [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f].
In Australia, [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] is obviously Lot-tee but [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] we’re not sure would be said properly?
If we go with [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] we’d probably give her a formal name of either [name_f]Loretta[/name_f] or Ottile. [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] is an option but also a bit popular for us.
I feel like both have their own challenges. [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] will be assumed as [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] but I’m not sure [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] would be pronounced right. It depends on which bothers you the least
I do think you would run into a quite a few pronunciation difficulties with [name_f]Lotte[/name_f]. I would go with [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] for that reason.
I prefer [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] over [name_f]Lottie[/name_f], and maybe you could go for [name_f]Loretta[/name_f] or Ottile (or [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f], [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] and [name_f]Violet[/name_f]) and see what nickname suits for your daughter, cause I think both [name_f]Loretta[/name_f] and [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f] can have nicknames [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] and [name_f]Lotte[/name_f].
I prefer [name_f]Lottie[/name_f], it’s cute and vintage and I agree with you that there could be issues with [name_f]Lotte[/name_f]'s pronunciation (though if you really love it you could make it work!) My favorite full name is [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f], by the way, so pretty!
I prefer [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] of the two, though I prefer [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] over both [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] and [name_f]Lotte[/name_f]. [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f] is adorable though!
I like [name_f]Lotte[/name_f], feels more grown up, richer, more luscious, with a bit of foreign flair. The vast majority of people would hear her name rather than read it, so it would turn into a spelling issue in many cases. But if you love the name, I wouldn’t let the potential spelling / pronunciation problems bother you. Family and friends would soon learn and most people likely wouldn’t even know it was [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] rather than [name_f]Lottie[/name_f].
I feel like a this is a case where her nickname could change as she grows. I suspect there are little Olivias and Thomases out there who go by Livvy and [name_m]Tommy[/name_m] now but might transition to [name_f]Liv[/name_f] and [name_m]Tom[/name_m] as teenagers and adults.
[name_m]Little[/name_m] [name_f]Loretta[/name_f] or Ottile ([name_f]Ottilie[/name_f]?) or [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] or [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] could go by [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] while she’s little, and shift to [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] if/when she feels it fits her better.
I agree that [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] might cause pronunciation problems. If you want to use it as full name, though, she can still go by [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] as a nickname (just like an [name_f]Anne[/name_f] can go by [name_f]Annie[/name_f] in day-to-day life) if she doesn’t want to deal with misspellings.*
Good luck (and congratulations!)
*I’m assuming you pronounce Lotte something like Lot-uh. If you pronounce it identically to Lottie, then using two different spellings would probably be a bit confusing.
[name_f]Lotte[/name_f] strikes me as very [name_m]German[/name_m], and is a shortened version of [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f]. (I had a great aunt Tante [name_f]Lotte[/name_f].) Instinctively, I pronounce it very differently than [name_f]Lottie[/name_f], although they could both be diminutive of the same name. [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] is [name_m]Lott[/name_m]-ee while [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] is Lot-teh. In your case, I think [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] works best and is by far the more common spelling of that pronunciation.
I would go with [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] nn [name_f]Lottie[/name_f].
Two reasons:
If you never plan on calling her [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], the popularity shouldn’t really be taken into account, should it?
I think [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] is pretty straight forward, where as [name_f]Lotte[/name_f] invites awkward pauses and confusion and possibly a lifetime of correcting mispronunciations.
[name_f]Lotte[/name_f] is lovely — very smart and chic, unusual but not at all weird, and feels more mature and “complete” than [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] to me. If you want the Germanic/Nordic “LOT-uh” pronunciation, how about using the [name_f]Lotta[/name_f] spelling to make that clearer? It’s equally legitimate.