Ethel

[ag123]

Firstly, any general opinions on this name?

Would there be any alternatives i.e. to shorten/nickname?

Also, this will be dc2 to older ds Wilf(red)...would this be too weird to have two such old person names??

I'm usually more drawn to 'prettier' names e.g. Ottilie (DH has vetoed :-( ), Hetty, Phoebe etc but quite like the sound of Ethel! Very much in early stages of deciding though!

I really like it. But I usually like uncommon names. it goes well with wilf too.

Ethel is nice. I also really like Edith.

It's lovely.

Daphne would go nicely with Wilf.

Was going to suggest Edith but beaten to it. Esther?

Not mad on Ethel.

I don't like Ethel but like Edith a lot and you have Edie as a nickname whereas I can't really think of one for Ethel...

Honestly? I think it is horrendous.

Edith, as suggested by a pp, is far nicer.

Love Edith, not keen on Ethel.

Makes me think of Just William's sister, she has a bottled-cherry neck

No no no.

Love Pheobe though.

Love Ethal

It is unusual, but not pretty at all.

But why does a girls name need to be pretty? We don't just want our daughters to be pretty, we want them to be strong and independent too, so maybe Ethel is a good name for the sort of girl one would want a daughter to be!

Phoebe is beautiful. Ethel and Enid....not.

What about Elsie (Sometimes a shortening of Elisabeth)?

Ettie as a nn? Although the Ettie I know is an Esther.

You can take this old lady name thing too far IMHO. Having said that, it'll probably be one of those ones that come back - I think it's terrible but hey ho.

Enid also awful.

Edith nice.

Elspeth nice.

Elsie nice.

Esther nice.

You can take this old lady name thing too far IMHO. Having said that, it'll probably be one of those ones that come back - I think it's terrible but hey ho.

Enid also awful.

Edith nice.

Elspeth nice.

Elsie nice.

Esther nice.

I think Ethel is a horrible name. It sounds chemical (Ethel Alcohol, anybody?!) Also sounds tough as a bit of old leather. Just hideous.

What about Odette? Then you can non Etta if you want

Sorry but I think it's a pretty awful name. It's got such a feeble sound to it.

I know old lady names are ultra trendy but some of them should be left firmly in 1930's.

I don't think Ethel has a nice sound, (ef ful) but that could sound beautiful to another person's ears

Nn Ettie and Etta are lovely though, how about Henrietta, really beautiful underused name

It's unusual, I'd rather see a little Ethel than yet another Lily or Amelia.

Wow thank you for replies!

Hmm, I think your reactions may have put me off it a bit already!! It's like, I really like it but there's something not quite right with it.

Yes, Henrietta had been in our top 3...just not sure I like the long form (sounds a bit too wanky?!). Love Hetty though. DH annoyingly keeps changing his mind about what he does and doesn't like and now says he's not sure about the name altogether though.

Whilst trawling through this forum I have come across another (probably old lady) name that I like though- Iris...haven't come across any Irises in North London that I remember either..!

Iris is lovely