Torn between Elsie and Elektra for our baby girl

[BrightLemonQuail]

First time parents, Two very different names but these are our top two and I feel so torn. Elsie feels very cutesy and girly, Elektra feels bold. Sounds silly but it feels like a decision that will have a huge bearing on who she becomes. Elsie is a family name but worried it is very popular. Elektra i just worry could be too bold. Also if it was Elektra I envision it with a ‘k’ not a ‘c’ but is that also too bold?

Elektra is a hell of a name to live up to! Think of a name that would suit someone shy and retiring as well as someone who'll take on the world. Elsie is a bit cutesy as you say, it's a pet name.

Do you like Elizabeth or Elspeth?

Elsie is lovely.

Elekta is vile!

So what if it’s top ten? In the UK these days that equates to a couple of thousand kids a year at most, from 650,000 or so across the UK.

Our DS’s name was top ten and we’ve not met a single other boy with his name that was born the same year as him yet.

I loved Elektra too and really wanted it for my daughter even if it was just her middle name but everyone I spoke to seemed horrified and realistically they could get bullied very easily as it sounds like a superhero name so I went with a less unusual name. Now one of her dolls is called Elektra which I like :) x

Elsie is very dull. And very twee.
What about Erika?

That’s why I worry about Electra what a name to live up to, if she was a bold fiery girl it would be a perfect name, but if she wasn’t (which im certainly not) the name would not be great

Yeah, don’t name her after the Elektra complex 😬

But I know what you mean about the boldness. I like that about it. What about Elettra which is another very similar name?

Elsie is a bit twee for me.

How about Eleni or Elena?

Elsie is a million times nicer but I actually prefer Elise.

How about Estelle or Estella?

Also consider Eloise

Definitely not Elektra. Elsie is nice but a bit twee. How about Elizabeth with Elsie for short? Love Elise as a previous poster suggested.

Estelle or Estella is also good

Electra is perhaps a challenging name to carry. Elsie is an old lady’s name but why??? Say it out loud and it is lovely. L and s sounds are so soft on the ear. I would give that 100% of my vote.

It's a tricky one because normally when parents are deciding between 2 names they are usual of a similar vibe but your top 2 are so completely different.

I prefer Elsie and I wouldn't worry about it being mega common now yes it's gained in popularity over the past few years but I wouldn't say it's common.

You could change the spelling. Elsey Elsea or Ellsie just to make it slightly different but still with a respectful nod to your Nan.

X

I didn’t vote because I don’t like either but Elektra is really bad.

Eletta is perhaps a middle ground, I liked ‘Lettie’ and I guess Eletta could be a ‘Lettie’ too, I bet my husband vetoes though, he really disliked Lettie 😂

Elektra is one of the kitten characters in the ALW musical Cats, so for that reason alone I love it.

lottie then, charlotte?

or Elspeth

My first thought when I hear Elektra is the Strauss opera based on the Greek myth. Elektra’s father sacrifices her older sister to the gods for success in battle. Her mother and stepfather murder her father. Elektra vows revenge on them, achieved when her brother returns to murder her mother. In the opera, Elektra dies during her victory dance.

I’d say as a name, it has baggage!

Etta?

Ettie ?

We have such different ideas of names, he likes very out there bold names, which his name is, I like the traditional old fashioned names that many people would say were ‘granny’ names. We have literally these two we both like and that feels like a big decision on the kind of child I am having because of how bold Elektra is and how cutesy Elsie is. I know in reality she will be whoever she is regardless of name, but right now its all I have to go off.

It's also the name of a complete moron of an electric train in one of his other musicals.

Elsa ?( I know that film! ) But its a pretty name and Frozen is not so prominent now.

Elektra is bloody awful sounds like a cartoon character.

I saw Brie Larson as Elektra, the play was bloody awful but it’s ok as a name I guess. If you like the hard sound in the middle what about Octavia, or Rebecca? Elsie is also a perfectly acceptable name.