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? Isn’t that a comic book character?

What about Allegra instead?

Omg - please don't name your child Elektra, unless you want her to grow up to be a dominatrix or a gladiator. It's reeeeeally tacky. Elsie is sweet though.

I love Elise!

i think Elsie is a bit of a dog or cat name

Elsie is an old ladies name- my nan was Elsie.
Elektra spelt either way is a name of ill omen- look it up.
My favourite of this type is Elise.

If you're classically educated then you'll appreciate Electra as a brilliant name, but also a dark one - like Medea. Elsie sits a world apart, with associations of knitting. They are quite different! Depends if you want a cosy English name or a dramatic one from Greek mythology....

Elsie is short for Elizabeth or similar, just give her the full name and shorten it.
Elektra just reminds anyone whose looked at psychology of the Freudian complex involving little girls believing they've had their penis removed lol.

Lettie makes me think of Lucy Letby.

Or a pornstar

I knew an Electra when I was a teenager. She had a few oh-so-funny jokes about electrocution but she was bold and took it in her stride. She’d be around 60 now. I thought it was a great name.

I like Elsie, Elise, Eliana, Eloise.

I think Elektra is a porn star, please don’t do this to your baby girl.

How about Elsa

Elektra sounds like shes gunna keep on dancing at the pink pony club

Elvira

correct 🤣🤣🤣

Elsie is quite common among teenagers at the moment, I've taught a few.
I've noticed several on our new yr7 lists

Elsie is very, very popular at the moment OP. I have an 8 month old and there is always at least 2 Elsie’s in every baby class/ group we go to. I also have loved that name pre-popularity but didn’t use it because of that reason .

I worked in several strip clubs as a dancer when I was in university and I knew several Elektra’s who also worked there so it would be a hard pass from me.

It was also one of those names clients would laugh at and instantly say “so what’s your actual name?”.

Elsie. Definitely Elsie. And for what it’s worth I don’t think it’s that popular as I’ve only met 1 under 10.

According to the ONS, it's in the top 10 names for girls in the UK. Reaching no8 recently.
It's been in the top 20 for a while.

Elsie - love this - other sounds like a porn star - sorry

Cleo (Cleopatra) - gets you old school, confident, bold in one.
Odette - old school and Hollywood
Greta - old school and mysterious
Maeve - old school and non nonsense
Zita / Zyta - old school, funky, agricultural

My DD is at a girls school and out of the class of 30 there was an Elsie and she was lovely. There’s also an Eloise and Esme which I like. I love a bold name and wanted Astrid for my DD but it sounded weird with our surname.

@BrightLemonQuail

why would the popularity of the name worry you?

fyi - if something is popular there is usually a reason for it - it’s be because it works, because it’s really good

Dont saddle your child with a burdensome name for the misguided purpose of being “unique”. So many people do this it is in fact far from being unique and is actually very common and cliched

This. Elsie is such a dull name. I’m not the biggest fan of Elektra as it sounds like a sci-fi porn star…but even then it’s better than Elsie.