Elsie?

[MsQueenie22]

I really like Elsie as a nn for Elinor. I met a little girl named Elsie a few years ago and she was gorgeous. Little French girl bobbed hair and dimples in her smile. I think that it sounds so pretty and wistful.

However, I noticed that some people on here have listed it as "common" and "chav" and while I am upset about this, I would hate it if Elsie was universally thought of as down market. (My husband would be ashamed of me if he read this.)

What do we think good ladies?

Thanks everyone. Some lovely and constructive comments here.

Reuset, I think that I am just going to stop looking and posting on Babynames. It's going to drive me to distraction or turn me into Margot Leadbetter!!

My husband is firmly in the "don't care what anyone else thinks" camp and while it requires a certain strength, it is definitely to best way to pick a name and live a life (providing you are a kind person).

I think it's a lovely name and not chavvy at all! Although it's becoming more and more popular, like Ruby and Lily.

I really like it, either as a stand alone name, or nn for Elspeth (which I like even more!)

The thing that puts me off is the line from (I Don't Want to go to) Chelsea which goes "They call her Natasha, but she looks like Elsie". I'm sure you'll be ok though, not many Elvis Costello fans about these days.

It always makes me think of the song from Cabaret,

"I used to have a girlfriend known as Elsie,
with whom I shared four sordid rooms in Chelsea.
She wasn't what you'd call a blushing flower,
as a matter of fact, she rented by the hour"

I love it! :)

I don't think it's chavvy/down market. My Grandma and Great Grandma were called Elsie and I think it definitely fits the 'old lady chic' category... It's sweet but I think if I was going to use it I'd put something longer on the birth certificate (I think Elinor would be fine even if it's not the most obvious shortening) in case she wants less cutesy name later in life.

I like it but it's quite common here (white middle class work in London types rather than chain smokers)

I know an Eleanor (early twenties now) whose parents NN'ed her Elsie as a way of setting her apart from the slew of other Eleanors who came along in her wake in the 90s. I think for her being known as Elsie is/was probably quite cool and unusual.

I also know and Elsie of about 18 month old and with her I find it a much more common/run of the mill name, of which there will be many in the next few years.

I don't think it's a question of being chav or not chav. It's just about getting in first and being a bit brave/ironic/unusual with a name, or being one of the late adopters who jumps on the bandwagon. Eventually the bandwagon gets a bit weighed down.

Commented on this this morning then went to a playgroup and met a toddler Elsie afterwards! She was lovely.

I think it's lovely. Not down market /chavy at all. I don't see it as particularly "hipster" either (and I am usually really put off by even a hint of hipsterishness). It's just a really nice name.

im not keen on the name myself but absolutely would not think of it as 'down market'.

I like it and don't consider it to be or to sound chavvy.

I don't think it is chavvy at all. It's a lovely name. I really like the old style names. Elsie was on my short list for my dd2.

Love Elsie!
'Common' and 'Chav' definitely don't spring to mind, infact the complete opposite!? The only Elsie I know of is my Grandads aunty who is in her early 90's I believe!

When I hear Elsie I picture a girl from a Mabel Lucie Attwell illustration.

This kind of thing.

What about Elise? Or Eliza? I like Elsie, actually; but I do think of it as a 1920s/old lady name/granny chic. We used to drive an elderly lady called Elsie to church on a Sunday in the 1980s :) it is a pretty name though!

I think "sweet little poppet" as I know an adorable 3 year old Elsie.

Go for Elsa! No matter what people say about Frozen, Elsa is less prissy and helpless than Elsie, and it could always be a nickname. Have fun :)

Dd1 used to go to school with an Elsie (full name Elspeth). She wasn't in the least chavvy or common! Sweet I think.