Baby 10 days old and doubting our name choice

[OutOfSortsToday]

Before she was born we had a shortlist of 3 for a girl, when she arrived DH admitted one of them (my favourite) he just couldn't get on board with as a first name. That has become the middle name (Cecilia)

Of the other two options we were totally undecided but eventually went for Elise, a name we've always really liked.

We've now discovered that lots of people pronounce it Eh - leess (with second part as 'lease' like in leasehold). We had always thought it was Eh- leez, and we much prefer that.

We've found that almost everyone so far has pronounced it Eh - lease with a soft s.

1. are we wrong to pronounce it eh-leez?
   
   
2. should we change it if we're finding the different pronunciation a bit annoying? Maybe I'm overthinking it?
   
   Please be gentle, I'm feeling pretty rotten physically after the birth and have found picking her name really stressful from the off.

[Haffdonga]

My ds has a name that is pronounced differently from how it's written (it's a name from DH's language). This stops being a problem as soon as you start getting out and about and introducing your dc to the world in real life not in writing.
This is baby Blue. Come here Blue. Would auntie Mary like to hold Blue? Blue get that out of your mouth. Etc
The fact that Blue is actually spelt Bleugh will pass 90% by who just know her as her name.

[mogwa]

I've always pronounced it eh-leez with the same ending sound as Louise/Eloise/Denise (the "de-niece" pronunciation is bizarre to me). I'm aware that some people pronounce it eh-lease though but I didn't realise it was so common. Personally I would be hesitant to use a name with more than one pronunciation because your child will end up having to correct the pronunciation all the time. And there's the possibility that they'll just give up and stop correcting people eventually because it's less hassle.

A bit of an aside, but I remember reading that Sadiq Khan's name is actually pronounced by his family/friends more like SAH-dik but people in the white community pronounced it wrong and I guess he couldn't be bothered correcting it all the time.

I think Cecilia, Ilaria and Elodie are lovely.

[Anotheruser36]

I'm having the exact opposite issue lol. I always thought the name was pronounced Eh-leeze, so I assumed it was spelled Elize.

Our daughter is 2 months old and not a single person has pronounced her name right. People always say "el-lizz" or "el-eyes."

I've been in love with that name for 4 years and never thought it was hard to pronounce. I'm half tempted to change it but I feel like my pronunciation just fits.

[goldenrachita]

I'd go with Ilaria. But nothing wrong with sticking with Elise and pronouncing it your way. People adapt to pronunciations quickly. There will always be a hard core of people who are just not natural linguists and will get it wrong, but these kind of people tend to get even simple well known names wrong, so I wouldn't let it bother me. Easily corrected.

[89redballoons]

I would pronounce it as Eh-leez. Like the PJ Harvey song, Perfect Day Elise. (In fact I think she pronounces it with a Z in the song but maybe not!)

If it helps, I have a name that can be pronounced one of three ways and I quite often get the wrong pronunciation when people meet me for the first time. It doesn't bother me in the slightest and never has. I just correct then if I can be bothered and move on.

[Twinsandsome]

Personally I would change it now as people will pronounce it Eh lease. Love Cecilia but be prepared for people to nick name CeCe which I also love xx

[PanicBuyingSprouts]

We've announced it as Elise and explained the pronunciation we prefer and we'll see how it goes...

Glad you've come to a decision and congratulations on your new DD

[Grapewrath]

Worked not worried ffs

[Grapewrath]

I’ve worried with children a long time and Elise has got more and more popular over the past ten years. Every Elise I’ve know has been pronounced El-lease.
Maybe go with the spelling Elyse so it’s more like the champs-elysees which is closer to your pronunciation

[OutOfSortsToday]

Well I'd say it's definitely pronounced either way? The soft s is just far more prevalent than we had anticipated. I had only ever heard the z sound before DD was born!

I don't mind Eloise but I don't love it. As PP said it's weird that

Elise = soft s
Eloise = hard s

With only one letter difference.

We've announced it as Elise and explained the pronunciation we prefer and we'll see how it goes...

[Ellmau]

Elise is definitely pronounced with a soft s.

What about Eloise instead?

[Fabian15]

It's funny, isn't it, that Louise doesn't need to be spelt Louize to get that 'z' sound.
Seems perfectly reasonable that Elise, with it's single 's', would be pronounced Elize.

[CoalCraft]

I only know one Elise but she is eh-lease

If you want to change it, perhaps Louise?

[peaceinourtime]

Elise is nice, you will like with any name always hear people saying it differently.

[WhenWillISleepThroughTheNight]

In France it's eh-leez, and it's a French name.

In Paris last week I met a little girl whose name was Aurianne. Super cute, but irrelevant I know.

Elise is gorgeous too.

[imnotacelebritygetmeoutofhere]

DH had liked Elara (he likes the El start) but I thought it was a bit meh.

I have an Ellora, you might like that? She is named after a beautiful spiritual place in India. Otherwise I'd go for Elise and pronounce it the way you want.

[Skeumorph]

Both Elodie and Ilaria are MUCH better than Elise!

I'm probably biased as the Elises I know are all quite middle aged, it seems a dull name to me.

One thing to think about is nicknames/short forms - think about whether you want yet another Ellie to add to the giant soul-crushing MOUNTAIN of Ellies between the ages of 0-12! Elodie will very very likely end up as Ellie no matter what you try and encourage. It's a nice name, just so overdone!

Ilaria - Illy, Larry (?! - cute!)

I think I'd go for Ilaria for this reason. Plus, it's more interesting. Please not Elaria, it looks incorrect - and will be pronounced differently plus will end up as Ellie.

[OutOfSortsToday]

Thanks for the suggestions, they are lovely.
Elodie and Elaria/Ilaria are both right up my street 😍 and Ilaria means cheerful which is perfect for her, as she's just the most joyful little creature already (at 2 weeks old)

The midwife phoned earlier and said Eh-lease and I didn't immediately burst into tears so that's progress I guess?

Groovergirl how nice that you share a middle name with all your cousins! And such a pretty one too

[groovergirl]

Cecilia was my GM's name, and girl cousins and I all have it as our middle name. I love it. Glad it's back in style.
If Elise isn't quite working, how about:

Anna Cecilia
Ellery Cecilia
Lana Cecilia
Carol Cecilia
Mary Cecilia
Nora Cecilia
Elowyn Cecilia
Clara Cecilia


Lots of names flow well with Cecilia!

[Skyla2005]

How about Eloise pronounced eloweese !

[Notospaday]

I would stick with Elise. It's beautiful and you're pronouncing correctly imo.

It wouldn't work spelt with a 'z'. It would be like Eliza cut short.

100% won't pronounce it wrongly as most people will hear it before seeing it.

[bekindbekindbekind]

Eleonora?

[bekindbekindbekind]

Or Elyssa?

[bekindbekindbekind]

I've always thought that Ilaria is a beautiful name

[PaolaDiLorenzo]

Not sure if anyone has suggested the French name Alize, pronounced Alizay ?
Or would some people think it was a different spelling of Alice ?