You've come up with some great, great names. These are names that allow a person to grow in life and become whoever they want to be and would look appropriate with credentials like "Ph.D." "J.D." "M.D.", or, dare I say it, "Queen"! So as someone who has named two human beings, read virtually every baby name book (because I am a librarian and I have that power) and spent a fair amount of time of my time in the SCA concerned with onomastics, I will weigh in...

Well, you know how I feel about Elizabeth. It's a great name, lots of nickname potential. Everybody has pretty much heard the name and knows how to spell it. It's a top 20 name, but because of all the nicknames, you don't run into too many people calling themselves the same thing. It gives you a lot of play--match the actual nickname to the kid.

And, let's face it, it's REGAL. No one with the name Elizabeth will ever get made fun of. It's also pretty easy to find personalized "stuff" in stores with both the full name and the commoner nicknames. (That might not seem like a big consideration, but there is a certain stage in many a girl's life when the ability to pick out personalized pencils, key ring tags, etc. is very satisfying. I can never find stuff with "Margaret" on it because it's such an old-lady name...)

I dislike--as a rule--less-standard spellings of names, so my preference would be "Rachel" to "Rachael", but that's your choice and only noted for reference. Rcahel/Rachael is a solid Biblical name, and thanks to Rachael Ray, widely known in contemporary culture. The casual "Rach" usage is rarely used as a written down nickname, so you're pretty safe there. (I think it's grating after a while.)

Charlotte is a great name...but I'm not crazy about the natural nicknames that derive from it (Charlie, Lottie, Char). I also typically associate it with delicate blondes. It is also the name of the Mark and Riki's daughter--if you remember them from the wedding.) Again, much less personalized stuff.

Further, have you found the wonderful baby name wizard? Herewith: http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager Type in the name and see where it stands. Make sure you interpret the number on the right hand axis correctly--whether you're looking at thousands or ten thousands of babies per million babies.

All the name combinations and proposed middle names are great!

Yes, I'm a big fan of FBFW, but Elizabeth is not an inherently teaseable name, like say, "Dick" is. It's also not "weird", though that's less of an issue in today's world than it used to be.

Obviously I'm biased, but I LOVE the name Elizabeth. First, its my name. Second, its Mom's name. Third, its the most bad-assed of Britain's queen's names.

On a much more practical side, there are such an enormous slew of nickname options (and many of them very pleasant and tasteful... Beth, Betsy, Liz, Eliza, Ellie, Lizabeth, Betty, Lizzy, and then you go foreign and you get Elise, Lisa, Lisabet, etc.), which means you can find one that you think suits her, and then when she gets older she and her friends can pick one that -they- think suits her. Otherwise you run the risk of my friend Alys, whose birth name is Sarah and is NOT a Sarah on any planet I know, but with a name like Sarah what was she to do?


But of the two Elizabeth names I -definitely- have to vote for Elizabeth Rose. Its a beautiful name, and there are just far too many Rachels running around this day. She'd end up one of 5 in her preschool class.

*hugs* If you're stuck on the couch, you should call me one of these evenings. :)

It's considerably less common than Elizabeth, which is currently at 10 whereas Rachel (going with the most common spelling) is at 60. But any name in the top hundred is common enough that the kid is just about guaranteed to go to school with someone with the same name at SOME point, perhaps even in the same class.

Hee hee on me...my first reaction was "but I've NEVER met another Eloise" ... then I realized what I was thinking and dope-slapped myself.

Was "Rachael" a typo? In a later comment you wrote "Rachel". I'm more fond of the second spelling, because the first spelling looks like it should be prounced with a hard K like "Michael" not the more familiar soft CH.

I agree --they're all lovely names.
Charlotte was up high on my list, too, I just was afraid of the tongue-twister effect with my last name. Hmm which you would encounter too, wouldn't you. I still ended up with a tongue-twister...Victoria's almost two and is only just able to pronounce her name!

Hmm, opinions. Well, since you ASKED. (Normally I will NOT give opinions on names that people say they like because it's very personal and after all, it's only important that YOU like it.)

Elizabeth is a name that's really easy to make fun of...but I find it doesn't matter WHAT your name is. I was never made fun of because I wasn't a make-funnable kid (I had no problem with confrontation if it was BROUGHT to me, and I was prepared to physically injure people who pushed me too far. Also, I was the strongest kid in school until I was out of elementary school. I love it when male and female strength is equal...)

So, I instantly thought of three names children would be likely to use against an Elizabeth. 'Lizard breath', 'dizzy Lizzy' and anything to do with lesbians. Then I went and checked Baby Names World and looked at the part where people named Elizabeth describe in any way that their names were used for teasing, and those three seemed to be top of the list, but it also seems to be an issue that children will mock an Elizabeth for supposing to be royalty. Also, it's too common for my tastes, ranking at 10 last year.

That said...as commented above, no matter WHAT your name, if you're not the type who is easy to pick on, then kids aren't all that likely to pick on you. If you ARE, they're going to pick on you no matter WHAT your name is. Kids can find a rhyme or nasty pun for ANYTHING. (I don't want to hear about kids being sweet and innocent...they're not. They're mean little bastards as most haven't developed any real empathy yet.)

So, Rachel gives me mental connotations I don't care for, and it was 60th on popularity lists for girls in 2007. I like something below 100 (but ABOVE 1000, or it gets too weird) so that kids don't get stuck with two other children in their class with the same name. I always hated sharing my name with others, all the more so if they were in my own class. So I don't care that much for Rachel, over all.

But Charlotte is sweet. It placed about 102 last year, for girls, which made it 228th overall including the boys' names. The only thing that rhymes with Charlotte is harlot, and kids don't use that word much these days, it's not very common.

If you want to check out popularity rankings, and the compiled survey results of people who HAVE those names on issues like whether it is often misspelled or mispronounced, or if they were teased because of the name, or if they'd recommend parents to give the name to THEIR kids (I find the number is usually 75%, so if it is higher then that name is recommended higher than average by people who have it)...you can go to babynamesworld.com

Type in ANY name, select it when it comes up, then go through the tabs. The survey stuff is under the 'considering this name?' tab.

Oh, btw...an Elizabeth will almost definitely get nicknamed...children aren't going to shout out four syllables across the playground every time...so if you want your girl to be called 'Beth' rather than 'Liz', you'd probably need to get that firmly established before she goes to school.

*goes away*

Edited at 2008-09-15 10:53 am (UTC)

She will have my last name - I changed my name when we married. I've got a whole story about that, but it'll wait until another time. The surname is actually what gave us the biggest problem, because it's just so eastern European (there used to be a "ski" on the end.) A lot of things I really loved just did NOT go with it. If she's going to end up with a bad combination like that, she'll have to marry into it - it won't be MY fault.

I've never been called Kris. I've really never been nicknamed at all except by my family, and they only use 'normal' shortforms of my name when they're feeling cutesy, such as Krissy and Kristy. (I dislike both so I'm glad they use them only rarely.) What I USUALLY get called by my family if not 'Krista' (and I am almost always called Krista and nothing else...unless my middle name, Dawn, is added on) is Kikki. Krista has never broken the top hundred (highest it ever was in the States was 259 for girls, in 1970, so though I have known some in my general age group, I've never shared a class with one. (Though Christa got 251 in 1970 as well, so if you add them together...well, I dunno what that makes...but it still doesn't break a hundred.)

I'm glad my name is spelt with a K. And I like it...except for the tremendously dull meaning. Follower of Christ, how boring...and really not particularly accurate. (Though my last name means 'brilliant'...mentally speaking...so let's just go with that.) I'm comfortable with my name, anyway.

Most kids either have to have real insecurity problems or VERY bad names to grow up hating their name enough to actually change it. That or they're just odd...I knew a woman who changes her name every time she moves or makes a major change in her life...in other words, as often as a few times a year. I still find it hard to believe, but it's true. Last I knew her, her name was Nineve.

I love that name. I like the others but Charlotte Anne jumped out at me. It is not as common. I was a nanny for a short time for two girls one was Abigail Rose (Abi) and the other was Charlotte Anne(Charli). I think that is probably why I was was drawn to Charlotte. I miss them so. They both had the biggest smile and the chubbiest cheeks I'd ever seen.

That's a very nice set of choices. I personally prefer the last two. Nothing specific against Rachael, just doesn't do anything for me either.

I lean a little more towards Elizabeth Rose, but the nick name issue may be one you want to consider.

If you want to feel really good about your short list, and need some amusement while on the couch, check out "baby's named a bad, bad thing" if you haven't seen it before. Most of the folks mentioned on that site obviously did not do the "President First-Name Last-Name" test when coming up with those monstrosities.

On a side note, Mum actually has the quilt together and has begun the quilting. I believe she's aiming to get it done before she goes in for her hip replacement on the 23rd.

I've never been fond of Elizabeth, so I guess that tells you my preference.

I was baptised Jane Elizabeth and often wished it had gone Elizabeth Jane because I like the first name Elizabeth.

I like #1 and #3 - my personal sense is that #2 with Bob's last name is not a great combo....

I think they all sound great!

I definitely like Rachael Elizabeth best, with Elizabeth (Beth? Betsy? Bess? Liz? Betty? Lib? Libby?) Rose second.


Alasdair mac Iain

I like Elizabeth Rose...