Felicity "Flissy" and James are expecting their second child in a few months, a brother or sister for their daughter Tabitha "Tabby". Their surname begins with an E.
Flissy writes:
For girls I really like longer names that can have a nickname (and for some reason feel that nickname should start with the same letter as the real name to avoid confusion). I like Ophelia and Ottilie and love the nickname Effie (not so keen on Euphemia!). I stupidly named my cat Effie and so am worried can't use this - then thought what about Ettilie (Ettie for short). This is how I came across your website as a set of twins in one of your lists is Ettilie & Elodie. Having googled Ettilie I realise it doesn't seem to be a real name - is this a problem? Should I stick with 'real' names? Also, is E E [initials] a good idea or should I go with a name beginning with a consonant? Growing up as a Flissy I really don’t want a daughter to have a popular name.
For boys I prefer more royal, popular (top ten type) names. Charles and Henry were my top but my husband has recently suggested Crawford as it's his old school house. I think I quite like it but it's the complete opposite of being popular and safe and I'm worried it's a bit too out there.
Their list:
Girls:
Ettilie
Ottilie
Ophelia (Opsey)
Euphemia (Effie)
Cosette
Cressida (Cressy)
Cressetta (Etty or Cressy)
Genevieve
Winifred
Wilimena (Minnie)
Gwyneth
Octavia
Beatrix -- Flissy worried it has too much of a Potter connection with Tabitha.
Allegra
Hermione
Aurelia
Boys:
Henry
Charles
Crawford
Ralph
Douglas (Dougie) - James likes this but Flissy is not keen
Rufus
Gilbert (Bertie or Gilby)
Rafferty -- Flissy worries it sounds too Irish -- they have no Irish connections.
Fergus
Arthur
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Firstly, I think you have a fabulous list of names. I really do. They all sound great with Tabitha and would all make a fabulous name for your baby.
Firstly, I don't think E.E. initials should in any way deter you. Alliterative names have long and fashionable use, think Marilyn Monroe, Amy Adams, Emilio Estevez, Brooklyn Beckham, Betty Boop, Peter Parker...
In terms of Beatrix, I don't think many people would even get the Beatrix Potter connection, but for those like me who think of it as an afterthought, it's a charming connection. And Rafferty has taken on the image of a hip surname-firstname. Its being Irish is a secondary appeal.
I'm tempted to say that you don't need any more suggestions -- you already have a great selection to choose from -- but I get the sense that your issue boils down more to a heart vs head situation. I think your heart likes Ettilie, Effie and Crawford, but your head is getting in the way.
Ettilie:
There are a lot of names out there which are 'new' creations as first name (such as Nevaeh or Brayden), and there are also lots of "real" names out there which are so rare, most people would think they were made up. Is it a problem if Ettilie is your own twist on a traditional name? No, I would say. Not at all.
I search though historical records frequently looking for names and the one thing I realised a long time ago was that the idea of a 'proper' spelling of a name is a very modern concept.
In ages passed spelling varied wildly in documents, even when written by the same person. Shakespeare signed his name six times, and spelled it differently each time!
As you say, you found Ettilie in one of the birth announcement posts last October. Twin sister is Elodie so you get the sense that the parents deliberately tweaked the spelling Ottilie to complement her twin so they shared the same initial (Olodie doesn't work quite so well, does it?)
Completely coincidentally, after you emailed me, I found another little Ettilie in the mid-march birth announcements. In this case, older brothers are Beau and Otto, so I would surmise that the parents liked Ottilie but felt it was too close to Otto. A quick change to Ettilie and voila!
So we do know Ettilie is getting some new usage, and, like yourselves, parents seem to be intentionally changing the spelling of Ottilie to Ettilie to suit their needs.
As for Ettilie not being a real name ... well that depends. Most names have evolved over centuries and morphed forms. Add to that the periods when spelling wasn't standardised, and there can be dizzying varieties in the spellings some names have been recorded in over the years.
Ottilie comes from Odila, a feminine form of Odo "wealth, riches" which also became Odilia, Ottoline, Odelia, Odette, Odile, Otylia, Odalys and many more. Ettilie can be seen as just one more branch of this elaborate name-family.
There are a small handful of historical records where 'Ettilie' is used. Most are from 19th century American census records with the bearer hailing from Germany, suggesting it was used as a spelling variant for Ottilie.
If I haven't persuaded you, here are some other ways of getting to Ettie as a nickname:
Elizabeth -- If Betty/Bettie works, so does Ettie in my book.
Elettra -- A pretty Italian form of Electra "bright, beaming."
Eteri -- A Georgian name meaning "air."
Esther -- Both Essie and Ettie work equally well for this gentle biblical antique.
Effie:
On to Effie. My first question would be, is the cat Effie still alive and well and living with you? If not, I'd say go for it. Your family may say "Didn't you have a cat called Effie?" for awhile, but very soon person Effie will dominate over memories of feline Effie.
As for little Effie herself, rather than leave her thinking she was named after your beloved pet, explain to her that you loved her name so much, you originally gave it to a pet, but when she came along, you couldn't bear not to give it to her. A nice name story goes a long way when it comes to having positive feelings about one's own name.
If the cat is still present, the above still stands -- you just have to decide if it will be confusing shouting "Effie" and having both a child and cat respond.
Beyond Euphemia, here are other ways of getting to Effie as a nickname:
Effeny -- An old medieval form of Euphelia is Effeny or Effemy.
Ephelia -- Did you know that Ephelia is an old variant of Ophelia? There was a 17th century poet who used the pen name Ephelia, and currently there is as five star resort in Seychelles named Constance Ephelia. If you like Ophelia and love Effie, then Ephelia "Effie" seems like the perfect option.
Crawford:
Crawford is an unusual name -- and yet it's not. Crawford (the "crow ford") is a village in Lanarkshire which has been a surname since the middle ages. As such it has the advantage of being rather familiar, and falls in alongside all the other surnames that have been used as given names.
It also isn't quite as unusual as you might think. It has ranked six times in the official rankings since 1996. Five babies in 1999, 2000 and 2002, four in 2006, three in 2007 and three in 2009. The official data only shows names with 3 or more births so several more Crawfords are around. In 2001, for example, there was one baby boy named Crawford, but that does not show in the rankings.
Crawford has a distinguished air about it, which can be lightened by a clever nickname. Crawfie itself is rather sweet for a baby, but Ford also works. I would be tempted to play on the 'crow' meaning of the name. Corbie is the Old Scots and English dialect name for crow, Corvo is the Italian and Varis is Finnish which I think work well as nicknames. Then there is raven, which is Raaf in Dutch and similar in other Scandinavian languages, leading me to think Raf or Raffi would work for Crawford.
I think Crawford also lends itself as a very distinguished middle name. Henry Crawford could go by "Hawk" or "Huck" and sounds like a dashing hero out of an Austen novel.
I hope this has helped answer your questions and given you more to work with. Please keep us updated!
