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.

[Turnitofflikealightswitch]

Elize pronunciation is the only one I've ever known...surely people who matter to you will learn the correct way to say it. But if it would bother you forever when people get it wrong (and they already are) then I'd change. Try not to worry about MN not being keen on your name choice, you and DH are the only ones that matter here. Good luck

[factis]

Für Elise is actually pronounced Für Eh-lee-seh

No. German pronunciation would be with the hard 'z' sound.

[steppemum]

@factis

Für Elise is actually pronounced Für Eh-lee-seh

No. German pronunciation would be with the hard 'z' sound.

I think the point was also that there is another syllable on the end in German, the last 'e' is pronounced

[Blubells]

No. German pronunciation would be with the hard 'z' sound.


Definitely not! In German Elise is pronounced
Eh lee se with a soft S sound.

A hard Z in German would only be used for words like Zoo or Zebra (pronounced Tso..)

[WyncyG]

Both beautiful names! What's the third?
If it's annoying you because you don't like the 'lease' version, change it while you can! If pronounced differently by everyone, it's a different name to what you chose.
Cecilia is our #1 for DC2 if a girl - Cecilia Elise does flow wonderfully.
Our daughter's middle name is typically (not always) pronounced differently to how we say it, but as it's her middle name I've yet to hear anyone outside the family say it!

[Viviennemary]

From what I remember from school German the s sound would be soft in this case. Agree with Blubells.

[thewhatsit]

Difficult because you don’t want the Für Elise pronunciation though, because that has three syllables (in the same way that Anne is German is more like Anna in the U.K.).

I would have said Eh-lease to be honest because the only Elise I know is Eh-lease and then when you said you knew it from Für Elise I started using the German pronunciation in my head.

Elissia looks pretty awful, sorry.

Cecilia is a beautiful name. There is also Cicely and Cecily too. I live Cicely.

[EurghCobwebs]

I have a similar name and my parents wanted it pronounced with a soft S (it originates from a different country where my family are from) However everyone pronounces it with a Z which is the bain of my entire life.

No matter how many times I correct people they either are ignorant or forgetful and still mispronounce it.

Your daughter will either have to tolerate that the majority of her life or you'll need to change the name to a more phonetic spelling.

[PanicBuyingSprouts]

Not sure how we had 9 months of discussing this and we've still not managed to perfect it

It's fairly normal and I really wouldn't be too hard on yourselves. I went into labour with DD without having a name at all agreed if she was a girl.

If the ease sound doesn't go too well with your family name and Cecillia suits her, can I vote for that name instead?

[EdgeOfTheSky]

Elise is a lovely name, whichever way it is pronounced.

[IslaPineappple]

Elissia. Is that Eh liss e uh?

[OutOfSortsToday]

Elissia. Is that Eh liss e uh?

Yes, that's what we had in mind.

It's fairly normal and I really wouldn't be too hard on yourselves

Thank you

[OutOfSortsToday]

Elissa could be another option?

To me Elissa and Elissia are quite easy to say and spell but maybe that's just because I've been thinking about them/saying them...

[VanillaAndOrange]

I much prefer your pronunciation and have always thought of it as being pronounced that way - I was quite surprised when I met my first "Elise rhyming with fleece." After all, you wouldn't pronounce Louise with a hard S, would you? And people of my generation didn't pronounce Denise with one, either.

If it was me, I'd just stick to my guns, introduce the baby as Elise pronounced your way, maybe not actively correct anyone who got it wrong but jut keep modelling your way. She'll correct them herself when she's a bit bigger - I knew a little Ashton who was adamant he was not "Ashton" but "Ashdon," which I think was probably just a matter of regional accent rather than two different official pronunciations, but he could hear the difference and he was happy to put people right.

[diddl]

It's a beautiful name with either pronunciation imo.

I'd stick with it & correct.

FWIW I would pronounce "Eh leez"

[Lesserspottedmama]

It’s a lovely name, people will quickly learn to pronounce it how you do. Just correct them gently and with authority.

[Ingleduh]

Could you not just alter the spelling so that it matches the pronunciation you prefer?

[Poorbaby]

Please use Elise it's lovely and was our second choice! We actually have the same issue with the name we chose for our newborn, we'd only ever thought of one pronunciation but people have been pronuncing it in two different ways. But I love the name, so we'll just correct people and I don't think it's that big of a deal. Good luck!

[Heyiam]

I knew someone called Elysia (ell Lee see ah / uh Lee see uh) a few years ago, similar vibe to Elissia?

I would also pronounce Elise as el lease as pp have said

[Frederica852]

I would pronounce Elissia with an 'el' not 'eh' sound at the beginning. Like Emilia

[ozzyfroggy]

How about Celia? Love that name 😻

[Skeumorph]

It's a real shame there isn't another option as if your surname begins with S, none of these names are really going to work madly well.

Cecilia would have been the best one!

I've only ever heard E-lease, sorry. I know three! I don't think it will 'stick' - she'll just either constantly correct people in the UK or remain pissed off that people never say her name the way she introduces herself... he whole life long!

Elissia is inoffensive enough but isn't a great choice as you already know. It's got that fluffy silly made-up look to it, and she'll get Alicia, Alyssia... possibly even more annoying a name than Elise for her.

Could you start again?! It's only ten days. Ask on here?

Elin?
Celia?

So many names will have the 'z' 'e' or 'el' hooks that you seem to like and might sound better with your surname?

[Skeumorph]

@OutOfSortsToday

Elissa could be another option?

To me Elissa and Elissia are quite easy to say and spell but maybe that's just because I've been thinking about them/saying them...

They're not hard to say or spell but they're the kind of names which sound 'made-up' enough for people to say 'Oh spell that for me!'

Alysa
Alyssa
Alicia
Elisa

etc.

[Squiblet]

@caringcarer

Surely just change spelling to Elize.

If I saw that written down and had to say it out loud, I'd pronounce it uh-lies, to rhyme with surprise. (perhaps not a nice surprise for OP)

[OutOfSortsToday]

Thanks for the further replies.

A few people have suggested Elize but as some have said, my brain wants to read that as E-lies, possibly because I know an Eliza so it tries to change it to that.

DH thinks we should just crack on with Elise and say it how we want, correct people as we go and not be annoyed. I think I could cope with that if it were an even split of pronunciations, but it's basically been 100% of people saying E-lease.

DH had liked Elara (he likes the El start) but I thought it was a bit meh. We had both liked Gabriella but not keen on Gabby as a shortened version. I could try a new thread for inspiration. I feel like I've thought of every possible name but can't quite nail it...