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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Elizabeth being shortened to 'Liz'?

16 replies

HappyAsIAm · 18/04/2011 12:06

I love the name Elizabeth - and I love Eliza even more, but not sure if I could get DH to go for it. So if we end up with Elizabeth, what are the odds of it being shortened to Liz (which I really don't like)? I don't mind Beth or Lizzie, I just really don't like Liz.

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flopsy1974 · 18/04/2011 12:14

I love Elizabeth too, but like you hate Liz. i don't think you can avoid it being shortened, so I would contol the nickname by using it yourself. So if you like Lizzie, then call your daughter that as a nickname.

elliephant · 18/04/2011 12:19

Elizabeth is a beautiful name ( biased) . Never really sure why everyone wants to abbreviate it though .

Absolutely no reaon why she should be called Liz- dislike it as well. DD is called by her full name although occassionally she likes to refer to herself as Betsy .

If you do want to use a nickname, Eliza is lovely. Also know a Lizzi, an Izzy, a Beth, one Betty, one Lily, 2 Elma's ( Elizabeth Mary), Liza, Libby and my lovely Auntie Bessie. And a couple of Liz'z

ragged · 18/04/2011 12:20

Liz is an adult nickname. By the time she's an adult, I humbly submit that you won't care any more what a few friends might call her.

TobyLerone · 18/04/2011 12:22

I think Liz tends to be used for older ladies. Lizzy or Libby would be the more common shortening for Elizabeth for a small child, IMO/E.

Agree that you control the nickname. Later, she will control the nickname.

My son's name is Joseph. We never call him that. He's always Joe, and now he's older (11), school have asked him what he'd like to be called. He likes Joe and now he's referred to as Joe on all school reports, work etc.

BikeRunSki · 18/04/2011 12:25

If you like Eliza, then why not name her Elizabeth nn Eliza? I love Libby too. You can control her nn for now. He school nn could be based on anything anyway. Mine were to do with my hair and my surname.

Bue · 18/04/2011 13:20

I've never heard of a child called Liz, I agree it tends to be a teen / adult nickname.

How about Libby, Lizzie, Bess, Betsy, Eliza, Beth? Liz really isn't an inevitability.

SolarPanel · 18/04/2011 13:27

If you like Beth, I'd call her Beth from the start. I think Lizzie is more likely to get shortened further to Liz.

Perpetuallypregnant · 18/04/2011 14:39

Have you thought about spelling it Elisabeth? Less chance of her getting Liz then maybe?

youngjoly · 18/04/2011 15:29

We loved Elizabeth and considered using that name for our DD but did not for the exact same reasons. I hate the name Liz.

I think you have to remember that once you have named your child, you no longer 'own' that name, it belongs to your child, so if you go for Elizabeth, you must be prepared for them to call themselves Liz. If they choose that name could you live with it? If yes, then go for it, but if you hate it enough, then I would think twice.

I have a name and am known by a nickname that my mother doesn't like. She prefers to call me by my full name, and I refuse to answer to it because its a bloody awful name . Its my name, so she has to accept what I want to be called. Therefore, if you can't live with Liz (as we decided we couldn't) I'd choose something else. Incidentally, we ended up going with Katherine, and my DD has chosen for herself a nickname that we didn't anticipate (we originally gave her a different nickname) but it was one I could live with, and now she is completely known by this nickname and not her full name. Its not my first choice, but its one I knew I could live with! Of course, it may not happen, but you should be prepared to live with it if she does!

Mousesmummy · 18/04/2011 22:08

I absolutely love the nam Elizabeth!!
I have a very good friend who is Liz, but she often will sign cards 'Betty' or 'Lisbet' so think she feels free to go with what she likes that day
As others have said, the parents tend to 'control' nn's so I wouldn't worry too much but at least you are givig her a name with a lot of options fo when she grows up

exoticfruits · 18/04/2011 22:20

I think that it is a lovely name. You lose control anyway as soon as she is old enough. She will choose her own and at least there are lots of options. I like Liz and it is the one I would choose.

mybootsaremuddy · 19/04/2011 16:34

I have an Elizabeth nn Eliza she is 11 and has never been called Liz. One of her friends did try and call her Elle once but dd hated it and quite firmly told her not to, and that she liked Eliza or Elizabeth only!

HappyAsASandboy · 19/04/2011 16:55

I am an Elizabeth My mum hates all nn, but like someone else said, it isn't the mothers name.

I was Elizabeth until I was about 9, then I decided to be Lizzie. I don't know when, but before I was 13, it had shortened to Liz. I stayed as Liz until I happened to change jobs and move house within a short space of time, so I took the opportunity to change back to Elizabeth. I am now called a mixture of all three, depending on when people met me, but strangely, my Mum has stuck with Liz

I like my name. I think it suits all ages, and there are sone lovely nn. I like Beth personally, though I've never used it. There is still time I guess

FrumpyPumpy · 19/04/2011 18:13

Ooh we are thinking of this too. Are there any preferences between Elisabeth and Elizabeth? Personally like Libby as a nn but agree it is down to the child and they could end up with anything (less keen on Liz than other nns too) whether you have considered it or not.

tortilla · 19/04/2011 18:24

No Elizabeth here, but a similar experience of not wanting a particularl nickname. My 6mo DD is Genevieve and the obvious shortening is Gen/Genny/Jen/Jenny but we don't like that. So we told everyone that we were shortening it to Ginny (that was actually the name we liked, and then picked a long name to go with it) and referred to her as Ginny a lot at the start. Everyone refers to her as Ginny now. Except for us who it turns out prefer to use Genevieve or Gin-Gin which just seems to suit her better than Ginny, even though it isn't even a recognised shortened form...!

Anyway, what I'm saying is, you do get to control the nickname at this stage, and people will just go with what you say but then it is sort of set in stone so make sure you pick the nickname you like. But you'll have to accept that when your DD is older that she will have the right to pick whatever she wants. FWIW our DD may well choose Gen or Genny, or even something like Evie, but we hope she'll go with Ginny if that is used enough. Whatever she picks though, I think we will always probably call her Gin-Gin as that has become her default nickname now! So you might have Elizabeth, shortened to Beth which everyone then uses, and then find that you actually prefer to call her Betsy or something!

Original poster

HappyAsIAm · 20/04/2011 14:07

Thanks for all your replies. I still absolutely love Elizabeth, but I am hoping to get DH to agree to Eliza, which I love even more. Fingers crossed!

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