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Baby names

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Original poster

Charles and Charlotte?

75 replies

peter887 · 03/09/2026 10:18

We have a 1.5 year old boy named Charlie (Charles), and I'm 20 weeks pregnant with a baby girl.

My husband wants to name her Charlotte with the nickname "Lottie." However, I can't get past the idea that Charlotte is the female version of Charles. I keep telling him it would be like naming our kids Henry and Henrietta.

So... Charlie and Lottie...Charles and Charlotte.... is it weird? Do you like those names together?

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jmrpinkie · Today 06:59

Yeah personally I wouldn’t. We have friends Charlie and Charlotte and to most they are known as “the Charlie’s”

Sparklinggreen · Today 06:50

I would find another name.

what about Chloe?

AccidentalPrawnYouFool · Yesterday 22:09

Cantthinkofanewusernameffs · 03/09/2026 10:27

Every Charlotte I know was called Charlie/Charley. They hated Lottie as a nickname.

This is very silly. I have a Charlotte and she is a Lottie. She wouldn’t ever be a Charlie!

LoveRules · Yesterday 21:56

Scarlett instead and have a Lettie?

Snorlaxo · Yesterday 13:34

I agree with you.

A lot of Charlottes end up wanting to be Charlie which would be complicated. You can’t insist on your child’s nickname.

Is a third child a possibility? What variant of Charles would you go for?

Charles and Charlotte would also put me off as people will think of the royals if you’re in the UK.

lilkitten · Yesterday 13:31

I have a Charlotte, but I wouldn't have called her that if I already had a Charles. She goes by Lottie mostly, but she's also been Charley to some chosen people (brother included). Axolotl seems to be the favoured nickname right now, since it has "lot" in it (she's 12).

Galliano · 05/09/2026 08:48

Could use Liselotte

EdinaTheConfessor · 05/09/2026 08:42

She will get called Charlie. I have an Alexander and we used Xander from day 1. We introduced him to nursery as Xander, they still called him Alex. We introduced him at school as Xander, they still called him Alex. We now call him Alex as it’s his preference. Just saying you may well end up with 2 Charlie’s.

Selfseedpoppies · 05/09/2026 08:35

You could (just) get away with it if she was Lottie on birth certificate and always known as such. Charles and Charlotte is way too weird and like others have said, you can't dictate what diminutive they use or others use. My parents never called the very very common shortening of my name. But age 16 I got a Saturday job in a shop and everyone defaulted to that nickname. 30 years later I introduce myself as that.

Nopersbro · 05/09/2026 08:29

Not Charles and Charlotte; it's the same name in addition to sounding alike. If he has his heart set on Lottie and you don't mind it, there are plenty of German names that use it as a diminutive - Annelotte, Evelotte, Lenelotte, Liselotte. You might even manage it with Violet. But personally I'd just keep looking until you found a new, unrelated, distinctive name that you both love.

velomumhackney · 05/09/2026 08:05

i know a frederick and winifred.

who is Charles to your husband? clearly he is naming them in memory of someone, and if that’s right then naming them both C&C makes sense, and i think it’s fine.
if it really is just because he likes the name then maybe find an alternative.

JuliettaCaeser · 05/09/2026 07:56

Every teen Charlotte I know is referred to by mates as “Char”. They dont stay cute toddler Lotties for long whatever dad may wish !

JuliettaCaeser · 05/09/2026 07:54

People will snigger behind your back.

liveforsummer · 05/09/2026 07:20

Cantthinkofanewusernameffs · 03/09/2026 10:27

Every Charlotte I know was called Charlie/Charley. They hated Lottie as a nickname.

Exactly the same here - I know lots of Charlottes and all are or have been known at some stage as Charlie - never Lottie. Lottie could be ok with Charlie’s as a stand alone name though. Just name her Lottie. You really can’t use Charlotte 🙈

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 05/09/2026 05:43

You can’t do Charlotte but could do Lottie on its own or Lotte.

Quokka2 · 04/09/2026 14:58

It's literally the same name!

Calliopespa · 04/09/2026 14:54

No, I don't think you can. It's like Edwin and Edwina, George and Georgina, Nicholas and Nichola.

I also think Lottie isn't enough of a name to just call her that, but even then that doesn't really get around it.

I also think you need to avoid Caroline, which is a variant from the same family of names.

user1492757084 · 04/09/2026 13:45

I know a family that has siblings Henrietta and Harriet. Yes, a bit much.

Charles is lovely.
Charlotte is too but I would choose another..

Isotta
Henrietta
Dorothea
Polly
Scarlett
Cressida
Cassia
Clotilde
Catherine
Claudia
Cassandra
Chantal
Carlotta
Are Charlotte and Charles family names?

AmazonAntiqueStore · 04/09/2026 10:38

I actually went to primary school with a sibling pair called that (though Charlotte was the older sibling IIRC). Didn’t think it was a good idea then and haven’t changed my views. They both ended up going by Charlie.

As others have said, I think you could get away with Lottie as the official name, but really I’d just choose something else.

cantpullthetrigger · 04/09/2026 10:27

You are limiting her choice of what to call herself later in life. I’m a firm believer in kids being able to choose their own nicknames rather than having them predetermined, so effectively you’ve taken ‘Charlie’ completely off the table for her. Not fair at all.

ButtercupYellow26 · 04/09/2026 09:49

Awful. Very unimaginative.
Caroline?

lottiegarbanzo · 04/09/2026 09:35

If you like the Lottie sound, how about Laetitia / Lettie?

lottiegarbanzo · 04/09/2026 09:32

And this notion that parents can dictate the diminutive used by others - also bonkers. Charlie & Charlie ffs 🤦‍♀️

lottiegarbanzo · 04/09/2026 09:29

The female version of Charles is Caroline. (Look up the Carolinian age and the origin of the American Carolinas as an example).

Still, bonkers.

Julynian · 04/09/2026 09:20

I love the name Charlotte but this would be very unfair on your daughter! Use Charlotte as a middle name perhaps but give her an identity of her own, not a clone of her brother.