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Baby names

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

Original poster

Lettice/Letitia/Leticia

134 replies

Wlkwith · 08/06/2026 13:46

Do you like Lettice (leh-teese)? DH has raised the concern that people may try to pronounce it like lettuce (which honestly doesn’t bother me much because people mispronounce a lot of simple names). Letitia and Leticia are also options for that reason.

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Hinthebuild · 08/06/2026 19:17

NamingNoNames · 08/06/2026 19:10

Do you say Pat-riss-ee-a or Di-et-eet-ee-an?

Edited
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I think leh-tee-see-ah is the original Spanish pronunciation of Leticia.

momtoboys · 08/06/2026 19:14

No/no/no! You want to move ahead with Lettice even though there is a very good chance people will call her "lettuce"? Kids will be brutal.

JJB3 · 08/06/2026 19:14

To be blunt, I definitely question someone’s level of awareness and education when they seemingly do not understand how to pronounce simple words/names and don’t use basic context clues to help them sort it out. (Why in the world would anyone’s name be pronounced the same as lettuce?!) This obviously only applies to native English speakers.

I once heard someone pronounce a missing child’s name (Liam) as lee-am instead of lee-uhm and internally cringed.

NamingNoNames · 08/06/2026 19:10

BrownRedPink · 08/06/2026 18:54

I thought Leticia was meant to be pronounced as leh-tee-see-ah? Everyone here is saying either leh-tish-ah or leh-tee-sha.

Do you say Pat-riss-ee-a or Di-et-eet-ee-an?

merryhouse · 08/06/2026 19:07

You could go for Latisha

.... or Rapunzel

youalright · 08/06/2026 18:57

Your husband is right and it doesn't bother you because you won't have to live with it

bellocchild · 08/06/2026 18:57

Letitia is very pretty, and she will grow into it....

BrownRedPink · 08/06/2026 18:54

I thought Leticia was meant to be pronounced as leh-tee-see-ah? Everyone here is saying either leh-tish-ah or leh-tee-sha.

Hatty65 · 08/06/2026 18:49

It's a very old English name, at least 15thC - there was a Lettice Knollys who married Elizabeth I favourite Robert Dudley, which infuriated Elizabeth. She was a cousin of hers. Thinking about it, I assume it is actually Norman French in origin and came over with William the Conqueror.

I studied History at university and went on to teach A level Tudors for many years and up til then I'd always pronounced it as lettuce.

It's actually pronounced Le Teece, rather than like the salad ingredient but you will have a lifetime of people mispronouncing it.

OriginalSkang · 08/06/2026 18:48

I think Lettice is one name that has to stay in the past, really. It belongs to a time when lettuce probably wasn't as common. Before supermarkets!

Gowlett · 08/06/2026 18:46

Not Lettice.

CandCand · 08/06/2026 18:43

ThisOneLife · 08/06/2026 15:48

The pronunciation of Lettice (if that name actually exists in French) would be Leh-teece not Leh-teese. Whether it exists or not it’s awful!

Unless you’re pronouncing the S as a Z, I’m not understanding how Leh-teece and Leh-teese would be pronounced differently. I think you’re both trying to convey the same pronunciation but written in different ways. It seems like it’s just semantics.

BertSymptom · 08/06/2026 18:43

BlackLambAndGreyFalcon · 08/06/2026 17:46

Yep Lettice Knollys was my first thought - which isnt a bad association although perhaps one that's not terribly well known these days.

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Exactly! I probably misjudged how many people would’ve heard of Lettice Knollys. And a quick check shows it’s hardly been used at all in recent years.

But it’s still not a made up name or calling your kid after a vegetable so the reaction to OP seems quite strong.

FancyBiscuitsLevel · 08/06/2026 18:29

There’s a Lettice in Agatha Christie’s “murder at the vicarage”. She got called Lettuce or Letty. In another of her books (a murder is announced), she’s got twins called Charlotta and Letisha, known as Lotty and Letty.

I do like the name Lettice. She’ll get called Lettuce, also Letty. Not sure if I’d be brave enough.

SpudGunToo · 08/06/2026 18:16

DappledThings · 08/06/2026 14:02

It's not lettuce. It's Lettice. An old name. Used in The Chronicles of Narnia for a start.

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In which one? I don’t remember that at all.

Are you sure?

SpudGunToo · 08/06/2026 18:12

Lettuce is nice; it’s exotic, like Rothmans or Gary.

AfternoonTeaAddict · 08/06/2026 18:01

Not the one I had in my class. It was Le-teesha.

NamingNoNames · 08/06/2026 17:58

@AfternoonTeaAddict , it rhymes with Patricia not Aleesha.

JacketPotatoFoodOfTheGods · 08/06/2026 17:58

🥬

BlackLambAndGreyFalcon · 08/06/2026 17:46

BertSymptom · 08/06/2026 17:28

I wouldn’t choose it but I am surprised at such a negative reaction to Lettice. It’s always seemed like a very posh name to me and they’re usually quite popular on here.

Fair enough I’m probably more into Tudor history than the average person but I’d have thought more people would be familiar with Lettice and how you pronounce it. It definitely doesn’t sound the same as lettuce in my accent at least. But given this response OP I’d probably go back to the drawing board.

Edited

Yep Lettice Knollys was my first thought - which isnt a bad association although perhaps one that's not terribly well known these days.

AfternoonTeaAddict · 08/06/2026 17:43

I was once a teacher at a school with a Letitia. No-one called her anything other than Letitia and certainly not with sniggers about 'tit'. Le-teesha as a pp said.

Lettice (Let-eece) is an old established name. DH has an aunt Lettice, known as Aunt Letty.

FWIW I find children are often more accepting of names than adults who snigger about this or that. Not always, but often. They accept names that adults find weird. DS1 (aged 16) has a Ptolemy and no-one blinks. DS2 has an Elmo and a Bear and no-one blinks.

oliviaAustin · 08/06/2026 17:33

No I think it’s a ridiculous name tbh

BertSymptom · 08/06/2026 17:28

I wouldn’t choose it but I am surprised at such a negative reaction to Lettice. It’s always seemed like a very posh name to me and they’re usually quite popular on here.

Fair enough I’m probably more into Tudor history than the average person but I’d have thought more people would be familiar with Lettice and how you pronounce it. It definitely doesn’t sound the same as lettuce in my accent at least. But given this response OP I’d probably go back to the drawing board.

LemonFlavour · 08/06/2026 17:26

Posters on MN are often deliberately obtuse. It only takes a quick search to know that Lettice is a very old well-established name that has absolutely nothing to do with a certain vegetable. OP hasn’t created this name.

I do prefer Leticia, though.

Growlybear83 · 08/06/2026 17:07

Calling a child Lettice is just cruel. She will be ridiculed and teased for her entire life.