I really like the name [name]Ella[/name], but DH and I both feel like it works better as a nickname, plus it can be kind of polarising so I don’t want my girl to be stuck with it if she doesn’t like it as she gets older. So we decided to look past [name]Ella[/name] for a name, but were hoping to pick a name where it could still be a potential nickname. Our current frontrunner, which we both really like, is [name]Ariel[/name]. Problem is, I kind of feel like [name]Ella[/name] is a bit of a stretch for [name]Ariel[/name] if it’s spelled like that, and I don’t really care much for [name]Arielle[/name] or [name]Ariella[/name] - they look weird with our surname, and I actually like that [name]Ariel[/name] is somewhat unisex. I don’t really like ‘frilly’ spellings, which [name]Arielle[/name] is to me, and I kind of think [name]Ariella[/name] just looks made up. (Yes, I know [name]Ella[/name] is about as feminine a name as you can get, but I guess the shortness and simplicity of it makes it feel less frilly to me.)
I guess I’m picturing someone reading my girl’s school registration forms in a few years time and seeing the first name “[name]Ariel[/name]” with a preferred name of “[name]Ella[/name]” and thinking WTF?
If you knew a little girl called [name]Ariel[/name] who went by [name]Ella[/name] some/all of the time, would you think that was weird? [name]Do[/name] I really have to spell it [name]Arielle[/name]/[name]Ariella[/name] in order to have the nn I want?
I think it’s fine. I see the connection. Regardless of spelling, I think the pronunciation you go with might make more of a difference in how intuitive the nickname is. The [name]Ariel[/name] with whom I went to school said her name “AHR-ee-[name]ELL[/name]” (as opposed to [name]AIR[/name]-ee-yel from the [name]Little[/name] Mermaid). The way she kind of emphasized the end of her name makes [name]Ella[/name] much more natural. But I think even the [name]Little[/name] Mermaid pronunciation yields [name]Ella[/name] just fine. And regarding the spelling…I mean, kids get odder nicknames all the time. My coworker is named [name]Leighanne[/name], but her high school friends all call her [name]Bear[/name]. My mom went to school with a [name]Nancy[/name] who called herself [name]Barbara[/name]. People go by their middle names or initials, etc. So I think nicknames are flexible creatures. Anyone who pauses looking at a school form over [name]Ariel[/name]–>[name]Ella[/name] is also sorting through 15 spellings of Mackayleigh and every iteration of -ayden; if that person pauses to think WTF, I’d probably throw it back at them, haha. In summary, haha, [name]Ella[/name] from [name]Ariel[/name] is ok by me.
Thanks for replying. We actually aren’t sure how we’d pronounce it. I lean towards Ahr-ee-ell (but would be happy with either), while DH likes [name]Air[/name]-ee-uhl (but would also be happy with either.)
I could live with [name]Arielle[/name], I think, especially if we went with the pronunciation that is usually associated with that spelling (would feel bad if she constantly had to correct people, although I have what I think is a fairly classic name that nobody ever gets right on the first go, so maybe there’s no way to win that one lol.)
I agree, it would work just fine! I plan on using the nn [name]Bella[/name] for [name]Isabelle[/name], which isn’t really that different from [name]Ariel[/name] nn [name]Ella[/name]. I don’t think you really need to go for [name]Ariella[/name] or [name]Arielle[/name] to make [name]Ella[/name] more obvious, but I personally would, just because I like that they’re more feminine and frilly. I think [name]Ariella[/name] nn [name]Ella[/name] would be pretty adorable, but if you like [name]Ariel[/name] nn [name]Ella[/name] more, I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use it. I don’t think it’s that hard to get to [name]Ella[/name] from [name]Ariel[/name].
In my opinion [name]Ella[/name] is a perfect nn for [name]Ariel[/name]. [name]Ariel[/name] is the kind of name when you and your child have a certain freedom of choosing a nickname. She might be nicknamed [name]Ari[/name], [name]Ella[/name] or [name]Elle[/name]. I wouldn’t even doubt it.
I definitely think it’s too much of a stretch, they’re both completely different names with no etymology connections, and the sounds aren’t that close. I think it’s way too much to much of a push.
east93, what do you think about [name]Ella[/name] as a nn if I spell it [name]Arielle[/name]? We’d probably be pronouncing the same way in either case.
We may not end up using it after all anyway, as DH has suddenly taken a fancy to [name]Miranda[/name] as either a fn or a mn, and as they’re both [name]Tempest[/name] characters I think [name]Ariel[/name] [name]Miranda[/name] might seem a little much
