Ellis-Harper for our girls name?

[Foxff1]

Me and my DH absolutely love the name Ellis for a girl after both of our favourite authors, Ellis bell (Emily Brontë) and Bret Easton Ellis. We’ve had mixed reviews on this with people absolutely either living or hating it!

I love double barralled names and boy names for girls and I like the sound of Ellis-Harper. What’s everyone’s thoughts?

I like boh Ellis and Harper. I slightly prefer Ellis as Harper is a bit 'of the moment'.

However, I don't think they flow very well together. Your other DD's name sounds much nicer - less clunky. Ellis Harper sounds like someone's full name.

I'd pair it with something shorter, preferably one syllable. I quite like Rae and know a beautiful little one - but is Ellis-Rae a bit of a tongue twister or is that just me?

I'd avoid Mae/May/Mai as that's a bit overdone.

Ellis-Rose maybe?

Ellice makes me think of lice. Rae was nice the first time I saw it, short for Rachel, but it sounds like Ray, which is a man's name.

Ellis is nice, a know a female one and it is a family name, originally from a family surname but held by two women as a first name. So good.

I really dislike hyphen names, so not fair to comment on the rest. I think they just come across as unnecesarily fussy and silly.

But if you have to hyphen, I really wouldn't have Harper. It just does not fit at all. Half the world will hear 'Elisarper' - it's just not a nice sound. There's a reason most hyphen names have a short, vowel-sound ending for the second element - they're the only ones that don't end up just making an odd word out of both names, iyswim. So it's all Mae and Rae and Rose. Not something like Harper.

Ellis-Mae or Ellis-Rae is better.

I really like Elise Harper, suggested above.

Wasn’t elise harper a character on ER?

Oh just checked, character called harper played by someon named elise.

These medical shows!

Slightly offensive to Emily Bronte to be honest. Ellis was a male name that she was forced to adopt in order to get published!

My daughter is Ellis we love it still

I thought greys too. Elise is nice, Emily is lovely. Emily Harper? I agree with pp re barrelling though. It works best when the second name is one syllable Like laura Jane, Emily Jane, Ellie mae etc etc etc

Double barrelling is really popular just now so you may regret it in years to come. Your surname isn’t long is it?

Ellis-Emilia
Ellis-Anya
Ellis-Anna
Ellis-Avery
Ellis-Aurora
Ellis-Ivy

Ellis-Primrose
Ellis-Blythe
Ellis-Rue
Ellis-Pearl
Ellis-Joy
Ellis-Paige
Ellis-Grace

Agree it sounds like a law firm. If set on Ellis then i think something more name like than surname like needs to be paired with it. Doesnt have to be overly girly if that's what you want but it does currently sound like two surnames

I'm now keen on double barrelled names but I love the name Ellis for a girl or boy. I used to work with a female Ellis.

We are expecting our second boy this year and Ellis is one of the top 2 names for us. I love it for either gender and think it is lovely in its own.

Harper is a beautiful name in my view. I would stick to that.

Ellis is lovely, what about pairing it with something a bit longer and more traditional for the middle name?

Ellis Alexandra
Ellis Penelope
Ellis Emmeline

Or something short:

Ellis Kate
Ellis Grace
Ellis Rosa

Both types sound really feminine but still super cool.

@AbeFroman If people post for opinions on a name then I think they want honest opinions otherwise what's the point?

Ellis sounds very masculine to me and I am so tired of the idea that the only strong names a girl can be given are male ones. It is misogynistic.

Harper is dreadful.

@semperldem I disagree. I think of strong female names as those used by strong females over time - eg Emmeline, Joan, Cleopatra, Elizabeth, Victoria, Margaret... all feminine as well as strong. I don’t think of ‘masculine’ names at all.

Sounds like a Grey’s Anatomy fanfic name - Ellis Grey / Harper Avery.

And the latter character (not in the show) was a rapist!

@LucyJ61 we think only the same lines in that case.

Neither of us ever likely to have daughters named James/Elliot/Bryn/Elis/Dylan/Blake/Parker etc

Harper sounds too much like trying to copy the Beckhams. Ellis sounds like a surname or a boy's first name, and when they are doubled together they sound like a surname. No offence intended of course, just my opinion.

Ellis on its own is lovely. I agree that Ellis-Harper as a first name just sounds too surname-y or legal firm-y.

We had grand plans to call our future DD Harper, after Harper Lee, but then the Beckhams got in. She'd have been Harper Hunt, which is an awesome name!

Someone mentioned Eska up thread. Elsker means love in Norwegian and I have a secret desire to name a future daughter Elska. I think it's so beautiful.

It sounds like an agricultural college (or a law firm as already stated).

Ellis on its own is quite nice. I know a boy Ellis, but it always strikes me as a more feminine name.

Not keen on Harper at all - it is very current.

Agree with comments previously that double barrelled names, especially of a yoonique type tend to be judged in a certain light.

Agree also I would not name a newborn baby after the work of Brett Easton Ellis, no matter what its literary merit.