Which girls name do you prefer?

Hallatosis.
Isabelle very overused
Maddie McCann
Lottie OK but prefer as nn with Charlotte on bc.

Isabelle or Madeline

Lottie - I really love this! Not keen on the other options.

I think what people forget is this girl won't be growing up amongst Catherine's and Laura's. Her peers will be Alfie, Charlie, Poppy, Daisy etc. whether you like them or not, this generation will be full of cutesy/nicknamey names so it would seem perfectly normal for an adult by then.

Anyone can choose to change their name if they wish, so it's all a bit moot anyway, isn't it?
@Teapleasemilknosugar , you can't until you are 18. I changed mine at 18 and still get things addressed to the old name decades later.

@Pemba I appreciate it is a common convention. What I don't understand is the anthropological behaviour that accompanies it, particularly given that not all names have diminutive forms in the first place. 🤷

Anyone can choose to change their name if they wish, so it's all a bit moot anyway, isn't it?

(And Teddy could still be shortened to Ted).

It baffles me to rule out a name or insist upon a 'proper name' on the birth certificate just because it's a convention, that's what I'm trying to unpick. I'm not picking at you specifically, you're clearly not the only person, just you were the most recent poster that brought it up (as has another poster now too, since). 😊

@Teapleasemilknosugar I thought I said why really. Just that it's an accepted convention. But obviously you don't HAVE to do that, and many people, especially nowadays will put a short form such as Lottie, Teddy, Katie etc down on the birth certificate.

It's the parents' choice, but personally I feel that it's short changing the child in a way, and giving them fewer options. And a lot of these short forms do give a childish vibe imo which may cause the child embarrassment when they're older. For example, I have read on threads here about boys named Teddy who refuse to answer to Teddy and want to use an alternative name when they become teens. I would class Lottie as similarly young sounding, though not so extreme.

But you obviously don't agree and nobody is going to force you. There are not laws about naming children here as there are in some countries (Spain, Iceland maybe others).

Madeleine and Isabelle for me.

I like Lottie but think it needs to be Charlotte on B.C

Eloise and Hallie - too different and Ellie and Hallie too alike
Eloise and Isabel/Isabelle - too french?
Eloise and Lottie - ok
Eloise and Madeleine - best, but a bit too french?

@Pemba yes I'm aware it's a thing as you say. But my question was why?
Why can a diminutive not be a proper name? What makes a name 'proper'? Why does it have to work that way?

Surely, in today's day and age, if a person likes a name they give that child the name.

Isabelle is pretty.

Madeline is a nice name but I just associate it with Madeline McCann

Madeleine

That's just how it works though. It has been traditional for hundreds of years that you give a child a name that has some cultural significance to you (maybe after a family member) and that you like. Could be a biblical name or a saint's name. Say for example Elizabeth and Thomas. Then your children have proper names they can use officially.

But within the family you may call them Tom and Bess, or Lizzy, just because these diminutive forms of their names are more affectionate and less formal. Everyone else understands this, it's a thing. And it also helps to differentiate between family members with the same name eg they might have had old Uncle William, brother Will and baby Billy.

This happens in other countries not just in Europe, eg India.

It also gives people options, eg a Catherine might be Kate to her friends, Cathy to her family, Catherine at work. It's all quite normal.

Out of interest, why wouldn't you put Lottie as a proper name on a birth certificate?

I don't understand why some people would put Charlotte on the birth certificate but never actually use or intend to use that as the child's name! Surely, if you actually like the 'proper name', then any shortened versions wouldn't be used. Unless of course you dislike the 'proper name', in which case why chose it?

I like Hallie, Lottie and Isabelle. Isabelle and Lottie are lovely, but very popular now, especially Isabelle and all the variations. Hallie is unique

Isabel

Love Madeleine. Hallie doesn't sound like a proper name, just a collection of sounds.

Isobel is the nicest. Not keen on Madeleine and Lottie is fine but not as a proper name on a birth certificate.

Hallie and Lottie all the way! You have great taste in names!

How do you pronounce Hallie?

Hall ee? Like an entrance hall?

Hal ee? Rhymes with Pal ?

Eloise is nice but it seems a bit of a mouthful and there's the dreadful Elouise misspelling, which I see as Louse.