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What would you shorten elizabeth to...

94 replies

lola0109 · 15/01/2010 13:53

Now I know all the nn's for Elizabeth but just interested on the general opinion.

So my question is, if you had an Elizabeth what would be your favourite nn/shortening?

Mine's is Lizzie, DP is Beth so for this reason we can't agree on this name.

OP posts:
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nickelbabe · 15/01/2010 14:22

the queen's nickname is Lilibet, which is quite sweet.

SleighGirl · 15/01/2010 14:22

Buffy is just a cool name , she'll never be a Lizzie to us.

ShowOfHands · 15/01/2010 14:22

My SIL is Libby. She was 10 when I met dh and is 21 now. Different groups of friends have called her different things. She is Lizzy to her rugby friends and Beth to her good female friends but always Libby to her family and when she refers to herself in emails/letters/on fb etc, she is Libby.

nickelbabe · 15/01/2010 14:22

oh, and i also knew a Buffy in school: this was before the vampire slayer and when the vampire slayer came on TV i thought it was really funny that she was named after my schoolmate!

DecorHate · 15/01/2010 14:28

I am not keen on most of the shortenings already mentioned - I would choose Lisa (and probably put that on the cert tbh) but I realise that lots of people regard it as a very 70s name!

OmniDroid · 15/01/2010 14:38

Beth, or Libby / Liddy. Kind of wish I'd used it for DD's first name (tis her middle one) as she SO is a Beth.

diddl · 15/01/2010 14:41

Beth.

Quink · 15/01/2010 14:42

Well, I DO have an Elizabeth and wanted to call her Lizzie but she's resisted me for years (she's 9 now). Her friends sometimes call her E-lizzy which she doesn't mind and her brothers call her Bubuff because that's the way they both pronounced it when they were little. I'd still like to call her Lizzie, but I'm so used to the proper name now that calling her something else doesn't sound like it belongs to her, IYKWIM.

skidoodle · 15/01/2010 14:45

The full name Elizabeth is the nicest of all.

KERALA1 · 15/01/2010 14:47

Lizzie is adorable. Libby ok but not nearly as pretty sounding as Lizzie IMO.

Undercovamutha · 15/01/2010 14:47

My mum is a Libby, but was Buffy as a small child !

GrimmaTheNome · 15/01/2010 14:49

I think the rather cool thing about 'Elizabeth' is that it gives you a lot of choice of diminutives which you can settle on when you see what the child is actually like.

Lizzie - fiesty as in Pride and Prejudice
Beth - sweet and mild as in Little Women
Lilibet - for little princesses
Libby - sound commonsense as in Purves.

or of course just Liz which can be for sensible or glamourous types.

musicposy · 15/01/2010 14:49

My middle name is Elizabeth and I always hated Lizzie. I think it's something to do with the z in the name - I never liked that z! If it was spelt Elisabeth I would much prefer it. My grandmother also had Elizabeth as a middle nmae and she was always known as Eliza.

My favourite would be Beth - I always liked that and envied it as a first name.

Just personal preference, of course!

hambler · 15/01/2010 14:50

Lizzie

SleighGirl · 15/01/2010 14:53

My Elizabeth/Buffy was a BufBuff for a long time too

I love the nickname Libby too

Doozie · 15/01/2010 15:17

Love Elizabeth and favourite shorting is Eliza or Libby.

Can't stand Liz, sounds cheap and a waste of a beautiful name.

Other nn that I've heard over the years include:

Beth
Liza
Lisa
Lizzie
Bette
Lilibet
Betty
Letty
Zaza

FluffyDonkey · 15/01/2010 15:21

I was Lizzie to non-family until I was 11 when I insisted on Liz. My brother has never called me anything except Lizzie. My mum and dad have never called me the same name. To my dad I am : Liza, Liz, Libby, Lizzerty...To my mum I am Beth, Eliza, Lizzie, Bess, Elsbeth and Elizabeth when naughty (when a child obviously!). The only names I ever refused were Betsy and Betty. I now live abroad and my friends have thought up a whole new set of diminuitives : Lilibet, Lisa, Lise, Zabeth (!). I like it and I like the fact that different people call me different things.

I don?t think it?s a problem if you and DH don?t call your DD the same name. If you both like the original name then go for it.

tummytickler · 15/01/2010 15:38

Bess

CaptainDarcyCasuabonHenchard · 15/01/2010 15:49

Gloriana

TinaSparkles · 15/01/2010 15:49

Libby or Beth for me if needed to be shortened. I do think Elizabeth is a beautiful name in its own right.

Not keen or the Liz/Lizzie version either.
Makes me think of Liz MacDonald from Corrie or Mad Lizzie the aerobics instructor from TVAM (waaay back).

juneybean · 15/01/2010 15:50

I love Liz or Eliza

TheFallenMadonna · 15/01/2010 16:05

Lizzie and Bess

Loathe Beth. Irrationally. I blame Little Women.

I think you can get away with having different nicknames from different people. DD seems to manage. She quite likes it in fact.

JamesandHisFlamingSword · 15/01/2010 17:43

Betty
Beth

or Elle

JamesandHisFlamingSword · 15/01/2010 17:46

I really like Elizabeth, and would consider it for my (mythical) daughter. But I would never choose Liz as a nn (sorry)

jellybeans · 15/01/2010 19:18

Beth is the nicest

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