Mary or Elizabeth - dull or bound to be nicknamed?

[peonyraspberry]

Stuck between Mary and Elizabeth, I’ve been told by a friend Mary is dull and Elizabeth is bound to be Lizzie/Libby/Eliza etc.

I don’t like many of the nicknames both conventional and unconventional for Elizabeth, I don’t mind Elspeth, Birdie, Lily and Lizzie but the rest I’m not fond of at all.

I do like Mary but I’m wondering if it’s a bit on the nose coming from a Catholic family in Ireland and potentially being seen as dull.

Middle for Mary would be Elizabeth and vice versa.

Nary is an absolutely beautiful name

@midlifeattheoasis , what would you pick instead?

Both beautiful names. Mary is rarer and less likely to get a diminutive.

Also Her Late Majesty's name was Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. So a very regal theme with your choices.

I agree.

Have exacting the same situation and he does not answer to shortened version.

Also i have a dd with 3 syllable name which I had no intentions ever to shorten as it is beautiful, feminine and unusual.

Nope, her sibling (16 months older) turned it to a 2 syllables, very common BOY'S derivative.

They work out out for themselves.

Unfortunately.

Exactly what I was thinking. Why choose one name and call the child by another one all the time!

Because on MN, most children will end up as high court judges, CEOs or Headteachers, and need options to flip between while having the one name on their BC.

If you dare call your child something like Lily, you need to register her as Lilianelliana so that she can choose beween Lily, Liila, Lilian Liliella, Liana, Lana, Annie, Ellie, Ella, Lila etc. To not do so would be DENYING her, and would restrict her career. Nobody could take a grown woman called Lily seriously because it is so twee.

Equally on MN people seem so condescending of the working classes that they think they deserve names such as Fifi Creampuff. As if their names dont matter as they wont aspire to be any of the professions you've listed.

Any name that is too babyish makes a mockery of the child no matter their job or class.

I really like Mary. Go for it :)

@TheLivelyRose , A lot depends on the name. My example was a silly one, because that seems to be the mentality on here.
What makes a name babyish? Fifi Creampuff sounds like one of those strangely groomed poodles from the 1970s.

Which names are working class? I thought it was names that weren't working class that got sneered at.
Aren't working class kids called names like George and Arthur or Isla and Ava?

Love Mary. And Marianne.

I have a long multi-syllable name, and ditched it as quickly as possible. To my parents’ annoyance, the two diminutives I prefer are ones they disliked, so if that’s something you want to control, Elizabeth may not be a good choice.

Also Her Late Majesty's name was Elizabeth Alexandra Mary. So a very regal theme with your choices.

I like Alexandra too. I wonder it's not more popular, given that Alexander/Alex/Xander often come up as suggestions for boys.

Nothing wrong with Lily as a name. The names I have issues with are those that are chosen because they seem cute for a baby, without taking into account that the baby will one day be a fifty year old man or woman.

the two diminutives I prefer are ones they disliked, so if that’s something you want to control, Elizabeth may not be a good choice.

You can't control it. Whatever name you give a child, they, or their friends, may come up with a nickname or diminutive you dislike. I knew someone who was always known as Bill, although William was not one of his given names.

I know quite a few Alexandras, and it's only in the last 18 years or so that I've not expected an Alex to be a female.

I'm not that bothered by diminutives but a relative has had a baby recently and I don't like the name at all. It's popular, and could have a much nicer 'BC' name. It seems so samey and will probably date badly.
Not my baby, not my place to say anything, but the grandparents on one side don't like it, and it's very similar to another family member's name.

@NormaSears The OP asked if they were dull names and I replied

Oh, Ok. I was hoping you'd have some amazing non-dull names in mind.

My daughter is called Elizabeth. She got Lizzie (which became Willie in the family) when she was little and Liz to her friends as a teenager. As an adult, she goes by Liz. There are lots of other varied abbreviations. It’s a beautiful and versatile name.

Shit, didn’t notice autocorrect until, the edit option was gone. Lizzie became Wizzie in the family (she was very lively), not Willie 🙄

My daughter is Elizabeth and it was because there are so many diminutives of it that we chose it. We call her Betsy but she will often give her full name if someone asks her and she knows that if she wants to be Beth/Lizzie/ Libby when she's older, that's fine by me.

The character Little Elizabeth in the Anne books (in Windy Poplars, I think) went by a different short version depending on how she felt each day.

Windy Willows in the UK / Windy Poplars in the US, I think. I’d forgotten about Little Elizabeth.