Unusual nn for Elisabeth?

Cissie

You don't get a choice on the nickname really!

Yes you could call her that from the off and it might stick and it might not, and then when she gets to 12 she might decide she's a LIZ and that's that. So be careful of giving a name where you don't like the most common short forms.

Elis doesn't really work very well from Elisabeth - the intonation is different, but it's not a terrible option.

Can't help thinking that if you're pondering now about how to work in a short form that isn't obvious, it might be better picking another name?

Elis is lovely. It's true it doesn't sound like the beginning of elisabeth but it sounds pretty in its own right.

I also like Lise, Lisa, Lisbeth.

I think I like Elis the best. What about Elisa?

I absolutely love Betty and the B surname wouldn't put me off. I love alliterative names as they're so strong.

I also think that nick names just happen whereas you may be able to control 'shortenings'.

Our DD2 has a nickname and it is completely unrelated to her name .
DS and DD1 do not and their names are shortened by friends but I use their full names.

My nephew has a really strange nickname of 'mars bar' , (just outed self).

Lizzy
Libby
Lisbeth
Elis
Beth

There are so many options and it is a lovely name .

You could go quite old-fashioned and nickname her Queenie

I don't get this. If you like Elis call her Elis.
I understand working through possible nicknames and shortenings incase there are any awful ones. Or giving a full name but use the derivative when small - as PP said Benjy is cute for a child but an adult would probably prefer Ben so Benjamin covers all options.

People on MN confuse nicknames, which do happen organically and are often limited to particular groups (Wiggles to the family, Trousers to your mates) and chosen shortenings. It's very common for people to choose to use Sam on a daily basis to refer to Samuel, though their own infant nickname for him might be Sam-Sam and at school later he might get called Samwich.

I do think the trend on here to find obscure shortenings or variants of common names slightly odd, though. If you're thinking of using Elisabeth, I'd assume you like it and at least one of its many short forms - Liz, Liza, Eliza, Elsie, Betty, Beth, Lizzie. Elis is strange because it's neither a historical nor a natural shortening of Elisabeth - the stress is all wrong and the pronunciation of the 's' is wrong. If you like Ellis, why not call her that (though I think it's a boys' name)?

Elsie?

I know an Elizabeth called Zibby.

Elis Regina's is pronounced like air-lease with emphasis on the E, not like the surname Ellis.

She'll get Liz/Lizzy regardless of what nicknames you try to make stick. It's the go-to, like Maddie for Madeleine and Lily for Lillian.

And I say that as an Elizabeth.

That's another thing that I've observed on this forum. I would have thought of Liz, for example, as a shortening of Elizabeth, and something like, I dunno, Tweet as a nickname. But on MN the two seem to be equated.

Sisi? Libby? Bet/Betty/Betsy/Bess/Beth?

Elspeth

We chose our daughter's name with consideration to all of the possible nicknames (that we could think of!) to make sure that there weren't any truly awful ones that she could get teased about.

We currently call her something completely unrelated to her name.

I can almost guarantee that if you choose Elisabeth in order to shorten it to Elis, you will never ever call her Elis. Sorry.

Call her Lilibet, like the Queen.

A relative of mine was called Zabbie as a nn for Elizabeth.

Aren't you talking about the difference between a nickname and shortening though?

It is very common for people to announce they have named their child Benjamin which they are shortening to Ben. Less common to announce "his nickname is Benjie"

I know an Elizabeth who goes by Eliz, so I think Elis is fine short for Elisabeth.

Others I know go by Buffy, Lissie/Lissa and Liesl.

I find this pre-nicknaming so odd. Is it a British thing?
It's a MN thing and I agree,it's really odd. This is not what a nick name is.

I think it's bizarre that people choose nicknames before a child is even born! My sister is Elizabeth and that's what I call her. A friend of hers calls her Liz but that isn't who she is to me. My mum is also Elizabeth but gets called Elsie.

People are so damn rude on this forum! I really don't know why people are so against the fact that some people like to think about nicknames as part of the naming process! I can see why you'd think about it as Elisabeth is a long name. If you think you'd like to call her Elis then go for it! But be prepared for other nns to emerge and possibly become used more often.

Bitta. The girls in question both have Polish/German/Czech ancestry (2 out of 3 in each case).

Extraordinary thought process!
I don't know whether it's more controlling, more pedantic or more unimaginative to assume you will be able to dictate the shortening that other people will use for your daughter. Nicknames arrive organically, stemming from appearances, coincidences, events that you cannot predict. She might be Toosh or Curly or Sydney or anything, or have five nicknames.
I find this pre-nicknaming so odd. Is it a British thing?