My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Baby names

Ellis-Harper for our girls name?

123 replies

Foxff1 · 27/05/2018 18:27

Me and my DH absolutely love the name Ellis for a girl after both of our favourite authors, Ellis bell (Emily Brontë) and Bret Easton Ellis. We’ve had mixed reviews on this with people absolutely either living or hating it!

I love double barralled names and boy names for girls and I like the sound of Ellis-Harper. What’s everyone’s thoughts?

OP posts:
Report
MrsCD67 · 27/05/2018 18:30

I like how it's meaningful to you but it sounds like a double-barrelled surname...like the name of a law firm or something. Sorry!

Report
PurpleDaisies · 27/05/2018 18:31

Not a fan at all.

Report
Sugarpiehoneyeye · 27/05/2018 18:31

Sounds very harsh.

Report
Sophronia · 27/05/2018 18:32

Agree it sounds like a law firm. Ellis Harper without the hyphen would be better.

Report
OakIsBetterTho · 27/05/2018 18:34

Hyphenated is terrible, I completely ageee that it sounds like a law firm. Harper as a middle name isn't quite so bad but honestly I'd probably go for a slighter softer middle name.

Report
Tawdrylocalbrouhaha · 27/05/2018 18:35

Not great, tbh.

It doesn't really sound like a person's name.

Report
PotteringAlong · 27/05/2018 18:36

Take the hyphen out. Ellis first name, harper middle name.

Report
Popchyk · 27/05/2018 18:39

I don't think it will work because it sounds like a boy's first name and then a surname. So double the confusion really.

The hyphen will cause all sorts of bother because it will seem like the Harper bit is part of the actual surname.

So, rather than calling her Ellis-Harper Smith lots of people will call her Ellis Harper-Smith or will think, oh it's a girl must be Ellie Harper-Smith or Elise Harper-Smith or Alice Harper-Smith. So I really wouldn't be saddling her with that.

You could call her Ellis and then Harper as a middle name as a compromise.

Report
Cariadxx · 27/05/2018 18:39

I always thought Ellis was a boy's name tbh

Report
CorianderSnell · 27/05/2018 18:40

I quite like the names. It does sound if you say it out loud very much like Firstname Surname though.

I know a few double barrelled names I like but they tend to be slightly shorter sounding syllables or fewer syllables.

Incidentally, I used to know a baby (girl) Bronte, which I liked (despite it reminding me quite a bit of Brontosaurus).

Report
MikeUniformMike · 27/05/2018 18:42

A double-barrelled surname as a first name for a girl. I suppose it's yoonique.
Hyphenated first names are generally looked down on in the UK.
People tend to have an opinion about surnames as first names.
Ellis is normally a boy's name.

Report
HowDoIGetOffTheBus · 27/05/2018 18:44

My DS is an Ellis, I'd always thought of it as a boys name though I know a female teenage Ellis now.

Not a fan of the double barrelled name, it's likely to be a recipe for confusion for you and dd.

Report
DrScully · 27/05/2018 18:46

It’s absolutely awful, and (dare I say it) chavvy as fuck.

I don’t understand why, if you love Emily Bronte, you wouldn’t call her Emily? Ellis was a name she had to use because a femal author would never be accepted, hardly feminist to use it!

Report
EmmaC78 · 27/05/2018 18:46

I like both names but not with the hyphen. Just use it is a first name and middle name.

Report
Foxff1 · 27/05/2018 18:47

DH isn’t sure about the Harper part but love a double barrelled name, our first DD name is Kaiyah - Rayne which I know isn’t everybody’s cup of tea but she and we love it!

OP posts:
Report
BonnieF · 27/05/2018 18:47

“We finally completed on our house yesterday.”

“Really? Good for you. Who did your conveyancing?”

“Ellis-Harper on the High St. They’re very good”

“Ok, thanks, I will check them out.”

Report
MrsCD67 · 27/05/2018 18:48

@BonnieF
Perfect summary of this thread

Report
daisypond · 27/05/2018 18:49

Ellis is fine. I rather like it. I only know an adult female Ellis, so it seems fine as a female name to me. I don't like Harper - it's too celeb influenced, for one thing, which would put me off. But maybe it's OK as a middle name. No hyphen - unless for very traditional names like Mary-Jane or Anne-Marie, and they're a bit out of fashion these days too.

Report
Foxff1 · 27/05/2018 18:50

@BonnieF 😂 I see your point

OP posts:
Report
MaybeBabey · 27/05/2018 18:50

I agree, it sounds like a surname.

Or a hyphenated boy's name (Ellis is clearly is a boy's name imo...)

How about Elise Harper surname? Emily Harper surname?

I like the meaning behind it but honestly don't like the name... Using an entirely different first name and putting Ellis-Harper (as a hyphenated middle name) in the middle would be nice imo.

Report
AbeFroman · 27/05/2018 18:53

I would just go with Ellis Harper, without the hyphen.

No need for some of the nastiness on here though. Pretty sure people just come on here to see how big of an arsehole they can be.

Report
Strippervicar · 27/05/2018 18:53

Harper has lost the Harper Lee (maybe never had it in some circles) connection somewhat. I gave a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird" to a new baby as part of her being born present. The parents looked at me as if it were a bomb.

Loads of other Bronte names out there. Think of something cool, but not something that sounds like a dentist practice.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

Swearwolf · 27/05/2018 19:06

I think Ellis is fine (I also know an adult female Ellis, so it's totally a girl's name to me), Harper is fine, and double barrelled is fine if that's what you like. But the two names don't work together, it sounds clunky and doesn't flow.

Report
Foxff1 · 27/05/2018 19:09

@Swearwolf my DH agrees with you there and is not a fan of the harper addition, but so unsure of a name to pair with it :/

OP posts:
Report
MikeUniformMike · 27/05/2018 19:13

How about Harper-Brontë or Ellis-Brontë?

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.