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.

… I don’t think Nell and Nina are too similar - but Nora or Lena would be

I love Nellie or Nell.

Nice name, but as a 3 syllable name it will likely be shortened by friends, so you will need to decide on a shortened version or it will be decided for you.

One of my now grown-up DC has a three-syllable name and it’s never shortened by anyone. It doesn’t shorten easily anyway, so any shortening would feel very forced.

@daisypond

One of my now grown-up DC has a three-syllable name and it’s never shortened by anyone. It doesn’t shorten easily anyway, so any shortening would feel very forced.

Some people might even make El-e-a-nor a 4 syllable name in an annoying fashion (maybe even with a slightly mean emphasis on the last syllable) and it is very easy to shorten, so it will be, sorry to say, despite your best intentions. Nevertheless it is a nice name.

Haven’t read the whole thread but pick the diminutive from day one and use it and it will stick. My sister gets called Little Nell. I think Nina and Nell/Nelly sound great, Nina and Nora sounds a like bit like an ambulance to me sorry although I love both names individually!

I was nearly called Eleanor and my parents would have called me Nell for short. If you use Nell from the start, and put it down as her "preferred name" on forms for school etc, there's no reason why she wouldn't end up as Nell. Young children don't even know what someone's full name is, they only know them by the name they've always heard them called by!

Having said that, when I worked in schools I knew a few Eleanors who were never shortened. The "preferred name" thing is the key - teachers are supposed to go along with it, and children will follow their lead. I also knew a girl with an indisputably 4-syllable name (I don't want to tell you what it was, as it was very rare, but the same size and shape as Valentina) who was never shortened at school, although she once told me that some of her cousins used a short form she didn't like!

I don't really like Nora and in any case I don't pronounce Eleanor in a way that emphasises the "nor," so I don't see Nora as being a short form of it. Nell is a lot less similar to Nina than Nora is.

I didn’t like Ellie… and of course, my Eleanor has become Ellie. Frankly, Ellie suits her, and Eleanor doesn’t.

I also have an Elizabeth, and was adamant she wouldn’t be Lizzie. Guess what name she goes by?

If you really don’t want a common abbreviation, you probably want to rethink the name, no matter how lovely the full name is.

We have an Eleanor, I loved the NN Ellie, she hates it, insists on her full name and get the the rage when teachers call her Ellie (and they often do).
The person who mentioned Eleanor with 4 syllables, all our European friends do this and pronounce it El-ee-a-nor, it sounds lovely in my French friend's accent, less so in my broad regional English one

My Eleanor is 15 and is normally Eleanor or El(s) in the family. Friends call her Elzo, Elzibubs, Nor Nor, Leno and other unrepeatable nonsense!

I know an Eleanor and she's always been Eleanor! Never an Ellie or Elle!

I love Nell and don't think it's too close to Nora. Elle is pretty too. So is Ella. Ellie is overused now, but still nice. Lena, Lennie, Lanie?

If you're going to use Eleanor then she will almost certainly get Ellie or El at school. It would be unusual to get Nell or Nora at school unless she goes to school with that nickname already given to her.

Personally I think Nell and Nora are a bit close to Nina, although are lovely names. I like Eleanor but I do agree with you about the shortenings and I think it is highly likely it would end up shortened to either Elle or Ellie etc.

I don’t think Nell is too close to Nina, but Nora is for my taste. I’d think about how much dislike Ellie though. Even if you call her Nell from day one, it’s her name and she might decide she wants to be Ellie. Other posters will say that nicknames can be avoided, but that’s only true if the person with the name wants to avoid it too.

Ellie or worse, Elner

I have an Eleanor. I often shortened it to Nellie or Nora, both of which she liked, but everywhere else she was Eleanor. School friends never shortened it at all so she was always Eleanor there too. She hated Ellie, but only 1 person ever tried that, and quickly started calling her Eleanor again when told that she didn't like it.

I have an Eleanor. The only person who calls her Ellie is her dad. Everyone else, including school friends, call her by her full name. She prefers it and corrects people if they call her by a nickname. She’s only 9 though, so we’ll have to see how the teenage years go.

Eleanor is my name. Most people call me it, some call me El or Els. I am Nor to a couple of my old university friends.
I do not and will not answer to Ellie. 😂

I think she will probably end up using Ellie or Ells or something. You can try to force a nickname but who knows if it’ll stick.

The Eleanor I know is called Ells Bells as her nn

It's an absolutely lovely name and really shouldn't be shortened.
It was actually our choice if we had a girl and I wouldn't have liked it to be shortened.
Reading that back, it now it feels a little hypocritical, as we named him William but, from our decision, he's known as Billy.

I made a similar thread about Eliza, I think I’d always be on edge about the prospect of Ellie. Eleanor is lovely, but I don’t really see the point in using a name you love just to have to introduce her from day dot and everywhere as a shortened form you like less to try to make it stick so she doesn’t end up with one you hate. Then as other pps have said, there’s always the possibility she might like Ellie and choose that herself later on. I love both Nell and Norah in their own right, I think Nina and Nell are fine together, not so much Nina and Nora.

Nellie, Lennie.