Ottilie

[Snowbell99]

What are your thoughts on Ottilie?

I think it's kind of cute and not so popular.

It's not at all like Sophie! Sophie has been commonly used in the UK since the 18th century. It's now well-known to the point of dull and considered a British classic in it's own right. The differences between the original pronunciation and the British pronunciation are also tiny.

Ottilie went from basically unheard of in the UK a few years ago, to suddenly extremely trendy. Therefore it will date very badly and seem very naff in a few years. Yes, all names date. But names that go from 0 to painfully trendy overnight date badly. It's why we don't cringe when we hear Elizabeths and Annas, but a Donna or a Jayden seem far less nice or classy a few years later.

The pronunciation is not just slightly different, like with Sophie, either. It's very different and embarrassingly wrong. It's not even the right amount of syllables, and every syllable except the first 'Ot' sound is wrong. It's not a change that's emerged slowly over time due to changes in language. It's literally people who don't know much about jow names are pronounced in different places made an attempt to say it based on it's spelling and got it very wrong. It's a mistake, whereas Sophie isn't.

But like I said, you clearly like the name to the point of not wanting to hear other people's opinions so to be honest I think you should use it. I once posted a thread on here about a name (under a different username) and people didn't like it and were mostly negative, like on this thread. My reaction to their comments (defensive like you are being) made me realise it was the right name to ise for my next baby because I loved it so much I didn't cwre what any of these people thought and I disagreed with them anyway.

So go for it.

I like it but I know one who's mum pronounces it Otley. Considering she's not my kid, it irritates me a truly disproportionate amount.

I don't like it personally, for all the reasons already discussed. It is too fussy and frilly for my taste.

You clearly love it, though, in which case you should use it!

Love your posts @Snowbell99 you've got some really interesting thoughts and insights!
I love Ottilie, one of my favourite names and perfect is has meaning for you too. I have never met an Ottilie in real life despite being around young kids every day. Like you say it's still outside the top 100 chart- with less than 400 babies called Ottilie in 2020 so it's all relative. 4,300 babies were called Oliver in 2020.

This is a very sensible post @Rosieposie101

"Otterly" will become a name like Dawn - apparently massively cool one minute, but very naff later on. But parents should basically give their child a name that they love (within reason, obviously).

@Rosieposie101

It's not at all like Sophie! Sophie has been commonly used in the UK since the 18th century. It's now well-known to the point of dull and considered a British classic in it's own right. The differences between the original pronunciation and the British pronunciation are also tiny.

Ottilie went from basically unheard of in the UK a few years ago, to suddenly extremely trendy. Therefore it will date very badly and seem very naff in a few years. Yes, all names date. But names that go from 0 to painfully trendy overnight date badly. It's why we don't cringe when we hear Elizabeths and Annas, but a Donna or a Jayden seem far less nice or classy a few years later.

The pronunciation is not just slightly different, like with Sophie, either. It's very different and embarrassingly wrong. It's not even the right amount of syllables, and every syllable except the first 'Ot' sound is wrong. It's not a change that's emerged slowly over time due to changes in language. It's literally people who don't know much about jow names are pronounced in different places made an attempt to say it based on it's spelling and got it very wrong. It's a mistake, whereas Sophie isn't.

But like I said, you clearly like the name to the point of not wanting to hear other people's opinions so to be honest I think you should use it. I once posted a thread on here about a name (under a different username) and people didn't like it and were mostly negative, like on this thread. My reaction to their comments (defensive like you are being) made me realise it was the right name to ise for my next baby because I loved it so much I didn't cwre what any of these people thought and I disagreed with them anyway.

So go for it.

I'm sorry, but it's not that I don't respect people's opinion, it's that you don't want to understand the difference between a modern and newly invented name and a classic (even if it was previously an underused classic).

Jayden was most likely invented by putting a J in front of Aidan and then changing the spelling (yes there is a Biblical Jadon but the pronunciation is different (for most people) and even though some people might have used this as an inspiration it is not likely and it uses the trendy spelling). They are just not the same kind of name. Ottilie is retro, old fashioned and Jayden (at least spelled and pronounced like this) was completely new and modern at the time.

I don't care about Ottilie dating it is just the fact that you don't see the difference between Ottilie and truly modern names like Khaleesi or Royaltee. It is genuinely odd to me.

It will date but it won't date very badly even though you keep insisting on it. It will date like Ava which also came out of nowhere but was used in the 1800s before (just like Ottilie was).

Sophie sounds very different in French actually (unless the change their pronunciation to the English one for making it easier), I know several. The emphasis is not on the first syllable, the O is not nearly as prominent. It sounds even more different in German where the S is pronounced like a Z and it sounds like zo-FEE.

Another example is Ava. It is an old name but had a similar rise to Ottilie, after hardly being used for decades and having been used in the 1800s and early 1900s but not heavily.

It is AY-va in English but AH-va in German. Eva is EE-va in English but EH-fa in German (sounds quite different because the V is also an F sound). Rachel is RAY-chel in English but ra-SHEL in French. Katharine is KATH-rin (or KATH-eh-rin sometimes) in English and kah-tah-REE-neh in German.

If they are still not different enough for you how about Caroline? It's KAIR-o-line in English and kah-roh-LEE-neh in German. Charlotte is SHAHR-let in English and shahr-LOT-teh in German. Do you see how the number of syllables changed? They are still not mispronounced.

I explained it before but Ottilie has three syllables ot-TEEL-yeh in most German accents only when you pronounce it very carefully does it become ot-TEEL-ee-eh but in daily life hardly anyone would say it like that just like in England hardly anyone would say KATH-eh-rinn for Katherine but KATH-rin.

@bloominglovelyorange

Love your posts *@Snowbell99* you've got some really interesting thoughts and insights! I love Ottilie, one of my favourite names and perfect is has meaning for you too. I have never met an Ottilie in real life despite being around young kids every day. Like you say it's still outside the top 100 chart- with less than 400 babies called Ottilie in 2020 so it's all relative. 4,300 babies were called Oliver in 2020.

Thank you :)

Well you’re very defensive over the name op, so I think you should just go for it!

@Rosieposie101

It's not at all like Sophie! Sophie has been commonly used in the UK since the 18th century. It's now well-known to the point of dull and considered a British classic in it's own right. The differences between the original pronunciation and the British pronunciation are also tiny.

Ottilie went from basically unheard of in the UK a few years ago, to suddenly extremely trendy. Therefore it will date very badly and seem very naff in a few years. Yes, all names date. But names that go from 0 to painfully trendy overnight date badly. It's why we don't cringe when we hear Elizabeths and Annas, but a Donna or a Jayden seem far less nice or classy a few years later.

The pronunciation is not just slightly different, like with Sophie, either. It's very different and embarrassingly wrong. It's not even the right amount of syllables, and every syllable except the first 'Ot' sound is wrong. It's not a change that's emerged slowly over time due to changes in language. It's literally people who don't know much about jow names are pronounced in different places made an attempt to say it based on it's spelling and got it very wrong. It's a mistake, whereas Sophie isn't.

But like I said, you clearly like the name to the point of not wanting to hear other people's opinions so to be honest I think you should use it. I once posted a thread on here about a name (under a different username) and people didn't like it and were mostly negative, like on this thread. My reaction to their comments (defensive like you are being) made me realise it was the right name to ise for my next baby because I loved it so much I didn't cwre what any of these people thought and I disagreed with them anyway.

So go for it.

I’m sorry but this is such a massive pile of doggie poop.

First of all it’s impossible to stay which classics will date. Ottilie may well stick around for a long time, other classics have suddenly popularised and endured. Either way it’s not really commonly enough used to date the way very popular names do.

Secondly if you’re going to lay the law down about pronunciation at least grasp the linguistic element that a. Ottilie has long been used in France and is not pronounced the German way. It’s the French pronunciation that the U.K. has adopted. b. Countries always adapt foreign names to their language.

Sophie is not a British classic. It’s a name that derives from the ancient Greek word Sophos meaning wisdom, the original name was Sophia. The common 18th century British pronunciation was actually Sof eye a as with Mar eye a, and Sophie was the French version that also took off in the U.K.

@WhoppingBigBackside

I like Karen too and many of the 'middle-aged' names. I much prefer a lot of them to the vowelly names that seem to be popular now.

The current names often have a long vowel sound in the stressed syllable (e.g. Ameeeeelia, Sopheeeea, El-eye-jah), OH-tis and they seem whiny.

Might just be me

Lol rude. Thanks for insulting both of my names

I would put Ottilie in the same name camp as Eleanor, Emmeline, Florence, Virginia and the like. Edwardian names. It's pretty for sure but likely already 'trending'. Names have become much more 'international' as the world has got smaller through travel and technology. Not sure whether that's a good or a bad thing.

I think it’s fairly nice and given your Otto connection, I think go for it?

When I first heard of it I loved it but I’m starting to feel it’s a bit flowery the more I hear it. I know one who is a baby and her sister has a similarly flowery name (think Arabella, Aurelia type name) and I guess in my mind now it’s part of the flowery / vowel heavy girls names list in my head… but actually I’d personally rather be an Ottilie than an Aurelia.

Ottilie, pronounced Otter-lee, isn't a classic! It's as much a made up name as the bizarre names you listed. It's literally a mistake, a mispronunciation of an old German name. You're calling it a classic but it isn't.

It's like saying 'Beatrice' pronounced 'Bee - at - rice' is a classic 😂

Anyway, like I said. You've asked for opinions and then disagreed with everyone who didn't like it or had a negative comment to make, so clearly you should just use the name.

(Also, FYI, Jadon wasn't made up, by sticking a 'J' in front of 'Aiden'. It's a name in it's own right - a very old name. Originally a biblical name, the name of one of the men who helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem. It still sounds naff and dated though, right?)

@Rosieposie101

(Also, FYI, Jadon wasn't made up, by sticking a 'J' in front of 'Aiden'. It's a name in it's own right - a very old name. Originally a biblical name, the name of one of the men who helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem. It still sounds naff and dated though, right?)

I mean that’s your opinion obviously. I really don’t understand why certain names are so denigrated on mumsnet (other than their association with the despised working classes making them ‘chavvy.’) In my opinion Jaiden is a nice enough name. If I met a Jaiden I wouldn’t really think much about it, there is usually a Jaiden or Kaiden at most nurseries and schools I’ve worked in and it seems to suit most children just fine.

Another one in the camp if thinking that Ottilie will definitely date horribly, and is very twee.

Think about it OP, when did you first think of using the name Ottilie? I bet when you were growing up you didn't dream of having a child with the name- I bet it's far more recent. The reason being js that you have been influenced by the current trend for it, consciously or not.

I know multiple baby Ottilies.

Then again, if you don't mind having a name that will date like Susan or Carol etc then go for it. Only the true classics like Alice and Elizabeth will never date, which is a pretty limited list to choose from (although granted they are beautiful and classics for a reason).

I like it on my friends rabbit 😊.
It's cute but too twee for me

@Rosieposie101

Ottilie, pronounced Otter-lee, isn't a classic! It's as much a made up name as the bizarre names you listed. It's literally a mistake, a mispronunciation of an old German name. You're calling it a classic but it isn't.

It's like saying 'Beatrice' pronounced 'Bee - at - rice' is a classic 😂

I don’t know anyone who pronounces it Otterlee, nor how many times you can simply ignore that it has a long history in France pronounced Oteelee.

Stropping because people aren’t that interested in your opinion is rather self-indulgent.

I want to like it but to me it sounds like

Otter-ley

So, in the manner of an Otter 🦦

Having read more of the thread I clearly only know people who pronounce it incorrectly.

The German pronunciation sounds much better and less Otter like though otters are pretty damn cute

I'm usually against anglicising names but I do think I'd use Ottilia to avoid the Otterley vibe

@Rosieposie101

Ottilie, pronounced Otter-lee, isn't a classic! It's as much a made up name as the bizarre names you listed. It's literally a mistake, a mispronunciation of an old German name. You're calling it a classic but it isn't.

It's like saying 'Beatrice' pronounced 'Bee - at - rice' is a classic 😂

I feel sorry for you because you are so rude and unfriendly and don't even bother trying to understand what people are patiently explaining to you. Just kind of sad.

With all the talk of Jaiden, Sophie and Beatrice confusing the issue I've lost where we're at with Ottilie really and I'm not even going to go to the classic versus dated argument.

I don't care for the name at all but possibly because I don't much like the look of it written down, which is not something I've ever said about a name before. I think it's because to my ear it sounds twee and frilly but looks quite harsh.

It's not a name I came across for most of my life, but have seen mentioned a lot and know of a couple over the last three or four years.

I think here, an awful lot of people will see and say Ot Tilly, which I really don't like. If it were more complex say in the same manner as Ophelia, I'd maybe like that better, but I would foresee a lifetime of correcting people, which can be done of course, but is extremely wearing when you're the one having to do it.

It will also be pronounced as O'illy in some accents. I just can't grow to like it. It is an OTT name in more ways than one. But I'm not entirely sure why you asked for opinions when you're clearly set on using it.