Beatrice?

[igglepiggle599]

I'm not a fan of unusual names and I don't particularly need my children's names to be unique or 'special'. I do, however, feel strongly about them not having names that could be ridiculed or that they would be likely to dislike.

I love the classic name Beatrice, but I've read a few comments online by people who feel that it's 'frumpy' and they also have concerns that it can be read as 'beat rice' (a bit far-fetched in my opinion! When would anyone use the phrase 'beat rice'?). Ultimately the name would be for the child and not for me, so any honest thoughts would be welcome!

Lovely name.

It's a beautiful name! Not "frumpy" at all.
Strong, elegant and classy.
Makes a change from all the ditzy names like Maisie, Daisy, Lottie, Dottie etc, which are so common, or things like Wren and Lark which will date.
Go for it!

It’s pretty imo and a reasonably uncommon classic - yet well known thanks to Dante (and a current princess). Not sure how “beat rice” is any different to “a lice” and Alice has nearly always been popular so most people obviously don’t care.

Imo a bigger deal might be the pronunciation- many people can’t decide if it’s two or three syllables, and whether people pronouncing it differently to you might bother you. But that’s the same with lots of names, so I don’t think it would matter to me personally. And it would be worth it for the nn Bea/Bee - I’ve always liked that.

is Bea 'bee' or 'bee-a'?

I assume Bea is Bee-ah

Bee would be Bee

I also assume Beatrice is pronounced
Bee-ah-trice

I say Beatrice as Be-uh-triss. I know people with the surname Lea and that's 'Lee'.

Be a trice, Be at rice, beer trice...

I know a Beatrice nn Bibi

Enid is quite heavy-sounding though,

Beatrice is quite different - really classic and pretty I think.

i like it and especially the nn Bea

but I never know if it has two or three syllables
bee-triss
bee-uh-triss

Very frumpy and ugly in my opinion but then you’d hate my name choices

I'm sending everybody who thinks Beatrice is "frumpy" to read Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing; the lady is one of our guy's most feisty heroines!
And even if there weren't the literary backing, it's a charming name.

Lovely name and always reminds me of The House of Elliot!

Don’t worry some of us are educated enough to have read the play and still think it’s an ugly name

Derailment but was the House of Elliot good? My dm raves about it and I’m looking for a Downtown replacement! But I remember her watching when I was a child and there seemed to be a lot of sewing and not much else!

Ah, for me the name is inflected by the delightful character. Language carries its own baggage.
But I honestly don't know what "frumpy" or "ugly" means in a world where people think names like "Alfie" or "Olive" are charming, so I guess to each her own . . . .

I absolutely loved it. But we’re talking 30 years ago. It’s probably v dated these days.

I have loved the name Evangeline ever since

Oh it's brilliant. I watched it again a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Evie (played by Louise Lombard) is just about the loveliest character ever on screen! I wanted to be her!

I don’t think it’s very frumpy, it sounds quite neutral to my ear.

Am not keen on the shortening Bea, as I always think it as Bee-a, which sounds odd to me and then I have to correct it to Bee, which is something that buzzes and not a human.

Very pretty name. I like it.

I have a Beatrix, nn Bea (said Bee) and it’s unusual enough to have met one other but also well known enough not to be silly or give pronunciation problems.

i prefer the -ix ending as to me it sounds stronger and more defiant, but both versions are great choices.

I like it

It's not nice in my accent- Beet-riss.

Used to make me think of beetroot when I was little

Lovely! DS would have been Beatrice had he not been a boy.