Thoughts on Edith?

[lengoyeko]

My dad and my MIL hate it and MIL says she would refuse to call our baby anything other than Edie. We wanted the nickname Edie anyway but is it really that bad!? My husband and I both like it a lot.

Our last name begins with W but having heard from other EW’s we understand it’s rare to actually get picked on for having those initials.

Virginia will almost certainly be the middle name no matter what first name we go with.

The other name we’re considering is Abigail and we’d probably exclusively call her Abby.

It's cute! I love a classic name.

Don't tell people your baby names before they are born though!

I know an Edith and she goes by Edith, it's an old lady name but these names are really common now, she's in school with an Audrey and a Margo! I think older people baulk at these older names but they are quite usual now.
If you plan to call her Edie then does it matter what your MIL says? I do prefer Edie.

Edith is intellectually attractive.

Think Downton Abbey.
Edie is lovely.
Edith Virginia is sweet.

Edith or Edie is much nicer than Abigail or Abby.

Abigail is much nicer and Edie sounds like ED.
Edith is ok but a bit too great-grannyish for my taste.

It is one of the old "Granny" names that has been revived and your MIL might just not be caught up with that, which is fair enough. Names like Brenda are not going to sound old enough to be quaint for me when they start coming back!

I like Edith, and especially Edie.

I prefer it to Abigail, which to me has been a bit cheapened by the widespread use of Abby, which has done the rounds for quite a while now and there are quite a few grown up Abbys, with various spellings.

But I think these revivals do turn on generational impressions quite a bit. I don't like some - like Mabel and Nancy - which still just sound old-ladyish and not cute to me.

I like Edie but not Edith so much.

Gorgeous name.

This is my Edie (I'm a Warhol fan so she's named after Edie Sedgwick)...but she gets called Edith when she's naughty 😁

Oops didn't post!

Great great name 🥰

I love it ❤️. Don’t discuss names with anyone other than your baby’s dad. It’s none of their business.

I love Edie but Edith is horrible.

Gorgeous name

Don’t base your decision on other people’s views. Your dad and your MIL have named their own children, this one is yours and you choose the name you love the most.

FWIW, I love both Edith and Abigail. Both classic and pretty names.

Virginia I find awkward, being always associated with virginity, being a virgin, which is a sexist concept in itself. But I’m guessing you are using it for a family connection.

Love it.

She looks a handful!💕

I think both Edith and Edie are very sweet. Our daughter also has the first and last initials, not including middle names, of EW and nobody has ever raised it as an issue, it honestly never occured to us as being a potential problem!
Perhaps your mum is a bit out of touch with current baby names, if she weren't she would know that so-called 'old lady' names are all the range. Most of our toddler's peers have these sort of classic names, Mabel is by far the most common but plenty of Lilys, Phoebes, Elsies, Ediths, Ivys, Graces, Noras, etc. too. All beautiful and timeless!
I realise this renders my comment and the existence of this board redundant, but As I always advise on these threads, never consult anybody, even prospective grandparents, about your putative name choices. There is no name on earth that will be universally approved, usually for entirely arbitrary reasons that should carry no weight with you.
My advice is to announce the name as a fait accomplis when your gorgeous baby arrives. At this point, people are usually too polite to make negative comments and will learn to love the name because it belongs to your precious baby. Mention your name choices before it is a done deal and everyone will stick their oar in. This is a decision for you and your husband alone. Please do not let anyone, whether that be family members or strangers on the internet, talk you out of a name you have chosen with love, you will definitely regret that.

There's a bit of Bengal in there so yes, she has her moments!

It’s a name. You like it. It is absolutely sod all to do with your parents or in-laws. My sister hates the name of one of her grandkids and I am genuinely the only person who knows that, because she respects her son and daughter-in-law and their choice.

Neither does it - or it shouldn’t, anyway - make one iota of difference to your name preferences what people on Mumsnet think.

Edited because I can’t proofread properly

I never liked Edith when I was younger, but it's really grown on me in recent years and now I absolutely love it. Edie's great too.

I feel the same about Olive, Daphne, Mabel and Ivy; always thought they were awful and now I think they are fabulous names. I'm even coming round to Nora, and I never thought that would happen.

I'm probably your MIL's sort of age, btw.

I think it’s lovely, I do like Abigail too but not Abby - but prefer Edith of the two names

I love Edith. I know a very sweet little one.

Whatever one thinks of the name, it’s incredibly rude of your MIL to say she would refuse to use it at all. If you were anti-shortenings, she would bloody well have to, at least until the child was old enough to have an opinion.

I like Edith, it’s pretty and chic.

Seeing as you asked, I like Edie but really don’t like Edith.

But if you do, that’s surely what actually matters!

I love Edie - have adored it since the Cult song back in the 80s.

@WyrdHag - your cat absolutely looks like an Edith. Beautiful!