Eleanor - nicknames?

[SoSoSoSleepy]

We really like Eleanor for DD2. We prefer the full name but are worried it will get shortened to Ellie / Elle / Ella, which we're not keen on. We like Nell and Nora, but DD1 is Nina, so too similar do you think? Any other ideas? Thanks.

My sister is Eleanor and she’s always been Elle.

Lene? I love Nell.

Lena
Lennie

I think Nell is lovely

Nellie
Len
Lennie
Norrie
But she could well choose Elle or Ellie herself.

My friend's DD always goes by Elle.

I prefer Nell, and it's nice with Nina. If you introduce her as Nell you should be able to get it to stick.

Lainie or Lena might work if you don't want another 'N' name.

I have a 12yo Eleanor and she is just Eleanor. No nickname yet, also known as stroppy pants, but I’m sure that’s not what you’re after

I know an Eleanor and she's known as Nora.

I think it will naturally get shortened to Ellie

I know two Eleanors one is Ellie and one is Eleanor.
I have heard of Nora as a nickname but more for Honora than Eleanor.

Just name her Nell or Nora, job done.

A university colleague was known as Els

Similarly a colleague called Madeline was Mads

(And Ab Fab's Patsy being Pats)

Once they get to school their friends will shorten their name regardless of whatever you want her nn to be!

So Eleanor will likely become Ellie or El

The Eleanor in my DC's class gets called Els. Her mum hates it and called her Eleanor!

Eleanor is lovely - so classic and elegant with a great history. I think Eleanor's automatically becoming Ellie/Elle is a bit 10/20 years ago, Nell seems to be the new "go to" now (I think it's a retro nn thing - like Kit for boys is trendy now too, no more Chris!). I think Nell and Nina sound fine together, but equally you could probably push Leni/Lena if you introduced her as that from day 1.

Nell and Nina sound fine to me. Maybe you could have Ellen?

I just don't get this thing for giving children a name then hoping a nn will stick. Just call them the nn you like and be done with it. Nell and Nora are both perfectly acceptable - though I think having two siblings with the same 'postal' name (ie N Secondname) can be a bit annoying.

I just don't get this thing for giving children a name then hoping a nn will stick

I know. It's an MN thing. And it's always really twee nicknames.

Our dog is called Eleanor. Since my toddler could speak, he has called her "Eggy."
Probably not the nickname you were looking for!

@NoYOUbekind

I just don't get this thing for giving children a name then hoping a nn will stick. Just call them the nn you like and be done with it. Nell and Nora are both perfectly acceptable - though I think having two siblings with the same 'postal' name (ie N Secondname) can be a bit annoying.

I don't want to call them the nickname. Like I said - I much prefer the full name and that's what I would use. However, when you're naming a child it is worth thinking about the possible nicknames which are likely to arise and whether or not you actually like them, as that could help you to decide whether to use the name at all.

Lia?

Nina and Nell sound good together, and not too similar. Nell is a great nickname. I think Nina and Nora is too sing-songy.

Eleanor is lovely.

You could just insist on Eleanor. I know a few whose names are not shortened.

I’m Eleanor to most people, although family and childhood friends call me El, and some other friends call me Ellie.

One of my grandmothers was Eleanor. She was known to the family as Helen and to friends as Nell. I didn't even know she was called Eleanor until much later in life.

If you really don’t like Ellie or Ella I’d be wary of using it - unless you are happy to adopt Nell, Lena or Nora from the start.