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.

[AliasGrape]

I’ve taught one, pronounced Eh-lize so I would tend to pronounce it that way. That family were french though. If more people are going to pronounce it with the soft s and that will bother you then I’d change it now.

We gave out dd a name that only really has one pronunciation and my in laws have still managed to find a totally different way of saying it, it does bother me and I’m not sure I could put up with it if everyone did it.

[PanicBuyingSprouts]

It's a lovely name. Surely people who matter will pronounce it the way you say it?

Which is fine until they start school abs then you'll have very little choice over how everyone pronounces the name or until the child is old enough to say "actually i much prefer E-lease".

[lescompagnonsdeloue]

That's how it is said in France, with a Z. I don't know. If it bothers you, change the spelling, not the name.

[toastofthetown]

I’d pronounce it with soft s sound too. If you don’t like that pronunciation then I would probably change it. Most people will pronounce it with the s sound and while you can correct people and most will change their pronunciation, it will probably get annoying. She might decide later that she can’t be bothered to correct people and adopt the softer pronunciation.

[ShuddaBeenMe]

The issue with Elize is that you'll have people saying E lies

[MsSquiz]

I would say if you wanted the "z" sound, it would be "Elize" rather than Elise

[Kitkat151]

There’s 2 in my grandaughters class....both pronounced elease.... I also know a 45 year old Elise who also pronounces her name the same

[factis]

I would pronounce it with the 'z' sound, as in France.

Spelling it with a 'z' would look very odd though, to me anyway.

[Kitkat151]

Ps ... they both get called Elsie a lot....people get mixed up🙄

[thislifetoo]

My sister is Elise and we've always pronounced is Eh-leeze version, there's not many people I've come across that pronounce it the other way, but she may have a different view of that!

[Tobchette]

I know a French Elise pronounced El-eez

[Lilyargin]

The French pronunciation is with a z sound, not an s sound @DramaAlpaca.

[tiredanddangerous]

Change it to Eliza?

[TheCheeseBadge]

If you like the "Z" sound, could change it to Eliza? Still very pretty and most people would pronounce it correctly?

[user1495885821]

How about Cecile? Similar to Cecilia but has the same "flow" as Elise/Elize.

[Seraphina1993]

My name is Elise

You'll find she'll get called Elsie a lot by strangers/teachers/receptionists by mistakenly reading it fast

When people pronounce it your way Eh-leez it drives me mad because it's incorrect to me.

It's pronounced like Eh-lease

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

I’d always thought it was pronounced Ehleeze.
Probably influenced by the v popular piano piece Fur Elise, but I think in that case it’s Ehleeza, I.e. the German pronunciation.

[Goldbar]

I would pronounce it Eh-leez.

[HerRoyalWitchyness]

I'd say eh-lease too. Maybe Eloise as suggested or just change the spelling to Elize?

[Kite22]

Yes, everyone I've ever come across with that name is "Eh-lease"

Yes, if you don't like that, then change it.

[CatWarbler]

I'd pronounce it the same as you, with the z sound.
Same as Louise. It's what the E on the end, as far as I'm concerned.
Such a pretty name!

[CatWarbler]

What the E on the end is for, I mean

[gamerchick]

If you want a z in it then you'll have to spell it with a z in it.

It doesn't matter what you call them, they all end up with nicknames anyroad.

[Yespresh]

How about Eloise? Then hopefully it’ll be pronounced how you want it.

[Cruiser123]

Funny to run across this thread. 😂 We're expecting a girl in February. We originally chose "Elise" as a name. I'm from Germany and it sounds beautiful pronounced the German way. We however didn't like how people in the UK pronounced it so we're going with "Rose" now.