Elisabeth or Elizabeth?

When they were asking what my sister was called in the hospital 30 years ago, my Dad felt the need to specify Elizabeth with a Z, so clearly felt that there could have been confusion the other way.

I like both spellings. Elisabeth also gives rise to the possibility of the nickname Elisa (which is also a standalone Italian name).

I love the spelling with 's' -
I've got a (nick)name that can be spelt with either a z or an s and it hasn't bothered me at all that some people use z sometimes - its not like the name is really complicated and she'll have to spell out every letter.

I think if you want to call her "Bess" it would make sense to spell it with an "s".
Elizabeth with a "z" gets shorten to names with the "Z" sounds like "liz" or "liza" (as in liza minelli for example)
maybe that's just me ?

Depends how often you need other people to write name down I suppose which is a bit hard to predict. But by the same token, you can't really predict where your dd will live - whichever spelling / name you choose, she may end up in a country where it's not the norm and she needs to spell it out all the time anyway.

"it's no great hardship to say 'Elisabeth spelt with an S'. "

Maybe not, but I have to do it on an almost daily basis and it's really really irritating.

Just my point of view, but as I said, I have had people unable to contact me because the companies I work for give email addresses name.surname@etc. and obviously my name is spelt (ever so) slightly different.

I think both are lovely, as someone said it's no great hardship to say 'Elisabeth spelt with an S'. There are lots of other names like that eg Clare/Claire, Isabel/Isobel/Isabelle etc.

It doesn't mean she won't get called Liz though, if that's something that bothers you. I had a friend at school called Elisabeth specifically because her mum didn't want her to be called Liz. But guess what her nickname was, and still is!

That's grand, it's what you want that matters. My friend thought the same thing when she was having her DD. She wanted a Rebeckah and not a Rebecca. She went with it and it's not a big deal anymore.
Go with your gut feeling, if you want an Elisabeth have one, it'll at least make her a little more unique! OX
(you reminded me about the name Elsie, if i ever have another DD, love it)

Elisabeth is definitely an acceptable spelling by the way and it's easy enough to say 'Elisabeth spelt with an 's' ' to people if you think they're not sure (say for something where you need to get the spelling correct) and it isn't too traumatic / the end of the world when the odd person spells it with a 'z'.

Excellent name choice. I named my DD Elizabeth Mary! I also prefered the Elisabeth version but we decided that she would end up spending her lifetime correcting people!

I think she'd end up having to correct people ALL the time. Because it's such a well-known first name (been around for centuries) no one would even think about asking how it's spelt (unlike some other more "modern" names).

I have a common name in England but now live abroad where the "default" spelling is slightly different to the English one. It is extremely irritating to have to correct people all the time (and there are confusions with my work email address etc. - when it is spelt right, no one thinks to send me emails to that address IYSWIM).

I now just accept the other version of my name even on some documents (except on the most official ones). I think your DD would end up doing that too.

Definitely Elisabeth.

Not that I'm biased.

certainly acceptable and if you prefer it I wouldn't worry. personally I prefer the z - esp as it shortens more easily to Liz / Lizzie but you're shortening it from the other end, as it were, so that's not very relevant...