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Baby names

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

Original poster

Baby 10 days old and doubting our name choice

152 replies

OutOfSortsToday · 17/10/2021 16:17

Before she was born we had a shortlist of 3 for a girl, when she arrived DH admitted one of them (my favourite) he just couldn't get on board with as a first name. That has become the middle name (Cecilia)

Of the other two options we were totally undecided but eventually went for Elise, a name we've always really liked.

We've now discovered that lots of people pronounce it Eh - leess (with second part as 'lease' like in leasehold). We had always thought it was Eh- leez, and we much prefer that.

We've found that almost everyone so far has pronounced it Eh - lease with a soft s.

  1. are we wrong to pronounce it eh-leez?

  2. should we change it if we're finding the different pronunciation a bit annoying? Maybe I'm overthinking it?

Please be gentle, I'm feeling pretty rotten physically after the birth and have found picking her name really stressful from the off.

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PanicBuyingSprouts · 17/10/2021 16:43

It's a lovely name. Surely people who matter will pronounce it the way you say it?

Which is fine until they start school abs then you'll have very little choice over how everyone pronounces the name or until the child is old enough to say "actually i much prefer E-lease".

AliasGrape · 17/10/2021 16:42

I’ve taught one, pronounced Eh-lize so I would tend to pronounce it that way. That family were french though. If more people are going to pronounce it with the soft s and that will bother you then I’d change it now.

We gave out dd a name that only really has one pronunciation and my in laws have still managed to find a totally different way of saying it, it does bother me and I’m not sure I could put up with it if everyone did it.

Floralnomad · 17/10/2021 16:42

I agree with pp just spell it with a z and then people can’t get it wrong .

viques · 17/10/2021 16:41

I think both are lovely names but find them a bit of a mouthful together.

Elise Cecelia / Elize Cecelia both tricky.

I always worry with soft c and s names in case the child has a lisp. Irrational , I know.

CommonRoom · 17/10/2021 16:37

I would pronounce it with a Z.

It's a lovely name. Surely people who matter will pronounce it the way you say it?

caringcarer · 17/10/2021 16:35

Surely just change spelling to Elize.

Darkdarknights · 17/10/2021 16:34

The one I know is Eh-lease. It’s a lovely name, much nicer than Cecilia.

MissyB1 · 17/10/2021 16:33

Change it or it will drive you mad. You could change the spelling as pp have suggested, to Elize. However Celia /Cecil/ Cecily are all pretty names and less of a mouthful than Cecilia.

StrongerOrWeaker · 17/10/2021 16:32

I think eh-leeze is the French pronunciation.
I like both names. Sorry-not helpful

bekindbekindbekind · 17/10/2021 16:30

Or do you think you would miss the name Elise if you changed it?

bekindbekindbekind · 17/10/2021 16:30

Oh I would have pronounced it Eh-leez as well! That would bother me too I think. What is the third name? Would you still be happy with Cecilia?

Lammysaurus · 17/10/2021 16:29

I'd pronounce it EE-lease or Eh-lease. Which are the way it is pronounced in an English-speaking country. I would not worry too much about alternative pronunciations unless the baby's father or extended family come from a culture where your chosen name means something different, or is pronounced significantly differently.

ShuddaBeenMe · 17/10/2021 16:28

What was the third name? If you want to change it you can, it's not too late Thanks

NewKidOnTheBlock99 · 17/10/2021 16:28

I would pronounce it as Eh-lease but as someone’s mentioned above I would just change the spelling to Elize

JapanJetplane · 17/10/2021 16:27

I would think it was E-lease but I like E-leez as a pronunciation too. It’s a really pretty name.

You’ll have to correct people to begin with but they will soon get the hang of it.

PanicBuyingSprouts · 17/10/2021 16:27

Forgot to add that I adore Cecillia. How about Cecilly?

Cantstopthewaves · 17/10/2021 16:27

Eh-lease would be how I pronounced it too.
There's a few in DC's primary and I've never heard any pronounced leez.

ShuddaBeenMe · 17/10/2021 16:27

The ones I've taught have all been Ee Lease

IneedSocks · 17/10/2021 16:26

You could just change the spelling to a Z rather than S xxx

PeterPomegranate · 17/10/2021 16:26

Have you registered the birth?

If not then it’s easy enough to change.

Maybe Eloise as suggested above?

Justgettingbye · 17/10/2021 16:25

I know someone called Elise and pronounce it as 'lease' maybe if it was spelt a bit differently with a z or something people may say it how you like

DramaAlpaca · 17/10/2021 16:24

Many congratulations!

You've got two beautiful names there, but I have to admit my default pronunciation of Elise is with the soft s as in the original French.

If it'll annoy you (and it will!) perhaps you need a rethink on her first name.

Eloise is similar and would give you the z sound you like.

OpalOwl · 17/10/2021 16:23

I know two, both pronounced eh-lease.
I'm sure people will soon get used to it and will pronounce it as you wish.

IndecentCakes · 17/10/2021 16:23

It's Elise as in 'A Letter to Elise' by The Cure, but change it now if you want to!

MajorCarolDanvers · 17/10/2021 16:23

It's a nice name. I'd pronounce it eh-lease too I, afraid.