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Baby names

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Original poster

Love Nell, hate Nellie

36 replies

rromy · 14/07/2025 15:47

Love Nell for baby due in a few months. Not interested in any longer forms. Is the nickname/pet name Nellie inevitable? I really dislike it 😫

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MinPinSins · 14/07/2025 15:58

It's not inevitable, but likely enough that I wouldn't use it if you hate it!

Moreteaandchocolate · 14/07/2025 16:09

I don’t think it’s inevitable - you can mostly control it when she’s little and I think Nell sounds cooler than Nellie to a teen so is likely to stick.

Shesellsseashellsnotinmystreet · 14/07/2025 16:11

My favourite ddog is Nell. Never gets anything else!!
Pic...

Love Nell, hate Nellie
chichiwaaa · 14/07/2025 16:20

My son is 6 and, similarly, has a name that can be elongated and I don’t like it. He’s never called it. I’ve only ever called him by his own name and I’ve found people tend to follow suit. All my family / friends know I don’t like the longer version. Even since he’s started school no one elongates it. Obv that might change in future but so far it’s not been an issue!

CarpetKnees · 14/07/2025 16:35

If I was very opposed to 'Nellie' then there is no way I would use Nell.

tinyspiny · 14/07/2025 16:40

Not inevitable at all , you need to just stand firm . I have a name with a shortening that I can’t stand and I never get called it . I agree with you that Nell is lovely and Nellie is not

pettingzoo · 14/07/2025 16:40

I have a friend whose daughter (now about 14) is called Nell. I have never heard her called anything other than Nell by family and friends!

I think you can control a lot of it as parents. My son has always been called by the abbreviated version of his name. Therefore that is what everyone calls him and what he is known as.

Original poster
rromy · 14/07/2025 17:11

@Shesellsseashellsnotinmystreet Your Nell is beautiful!

OP posts:
DappledThings · 14/07/2025 18:41

There's a girl in DD's who is only ever known as Penelope or Nell. Never heard her called Nellie. But literally every name in the world can and will be shortened or made into a different pet name at some point. Some will stick, some won't. Your child might like a variant you don't like and vice versa.

Basically don't worry about it. If you like Nell then use it.

Firsttimebabymummy · 14/07/2025 19:04

Moreteaandchocolate · 14/07/2025 16:09

I don’t think it’s inevitable - you can mostly control it when she’s little and I think Nell sounds cooler than Nellie to a teen so is likely to stick.

Agree. I think it'd be fine! Really like Nell.

YYURYYUCICYYUR4ME · 14/07/2025 19:16

I knew a Nell, just died this January, aged 99, full name Ellen Amy May, always called Nell, never Nellie. No idea why Nell and not Ellen, but Nell suited her, a lovely lady with a kind heart.

mum1345 · 14/07/2025 19:18

i looked after a pre schooler Nell and she did often get called Nellie xx

TippledPink · 14/07/2025 19:21

I have a niece called Nell never heard anyone call her anything but Nell. She's 14.

LucasBuck · 14/07/2025 19:30

Same - love Nell but Nellie is an elephant. I don’t think it will be lengthened to Nellie by her peers imo - kids tend to call each other by what they have been introduced as or chosen themselves in my experience (apart from older boys who sometimes refer to each other by their surnames).

TheeNotoriousPIG · 14/07/2025 19:59

I chose a one-syllable name. Unfortunately, on hearing it, a lot of people decided to immediately add '-ie' to the end of it.

By the time I chose subsequent names, I was very careful to choose ones where people couldn't add '-ie' to the ends of them!

Nell on its own is lovely. I'm not sure about Nellie, but I imagine that you (and, when she's older, Nell herself) will have to say, "It's Nell, not Nellie".

ForgottenPasswordNewAccount · 14/07/2025 20:02

This is our Nelly who gets called Nell or smelly Nelly

Love Nell, hate Nellie
EvilDJ · 14/07/2025 20:07

TheeNotoriousPIG · 14/07/2025 19:59

I chose a one-syllable name. Unfortunately, on hearing it, a lot of people decided to immediately add '-ie' to the end of it.

By the time I chose subsequent names, I was very careful to choose ones where people couldn't add '-ie' to the ends of them!

Nell on its own is lovely. I'm not sure about Nellie, but I imagine that you (and, when she's older, Nell herself) will have to say, "It's Nell, not Nellie".

Two of my kids have ie names and always get a one syllable nn, the other two have one syllable names and get the ie added!

Toddlerteaplease · 14/07/2025 20:14

Hate both Nell and Nelly. Just awful!

terribleteethinitsterriblejaws · 14/07/2025 20:45

I know a Nella. Does that feel better to you than Nellie

Purplecatshopaholic · 14/07/2025 20:46

Agree Nell is beautiful, and Nellie is not. Use Nell and just keep using it - if a NN is going to be used, it will be, no point in worrying about it!

theunbreakablecleopatrajones · 15/07/2025 00:26

I think it’s unlikely - Nell seems the popular option… but risky if you really hate it

If you give her Eleanor as a full name, you will at least have other options to revert to. It’s also used as a short form for Penelope now, I’ve noticed.

CherryRipe1 · 15/07/2025 00:31

My nanna was Ellen but everyone called her Nell. One of our Irish relatives would call her Nellie. It always made me laugh ,'not on your Nellie' !

whynotmereally · 15/07/2025 06:31

Love Nell, agree I wouldn’t want Nellie. It’s something you can be clear with with family and friends but you can’t control what happens at school.
If your child is popular she will dictate her own name. If she is bullied she could get smelly nelly or Nellie the elephant (awful if she was overweight)

SuziQuinto · 15/07/2025 06:37

I would choose something else. I personally don't like Nell because of some literary connotations, and Nellie is just awful, and will likely be used.

olivehater · 15/07/2025 06:39

One of the reasons I didn’t use Charlotte was because a I hate the name Lottie. I gave it her as a middle name instead.