Elisabeth or Elizabeth?

[birdofthenorth]

OK, 16 weeks now and after much mind-changing, DH & I think we have a boy's name sorted, and currently favour Elisabeth Mary for a girl, to be known as Bess. Mary is after my mum; Bess is a nn DH & I both love, although I know a lot of MNet disagree!

Anyway, my question is do you think Elisabeth is an acceptable spelling? I prefer it to Elizabeth as it's softer and less queenly, but Elizabeth is the default/ traditional spelling, so I'm not sure I'd want to land a DD with a lifetime of correcting people. Any thoughts? Ta!

my great grandmother was Elisabeth and my dd has that spelling as her middle name. i like it better than with a Z personally but dont know why, it just seems more traditional with an S.

Elisabeth is the older spelling, which is probably why Bess is one of it's short versions. Although of course spelling used to be much more variable in any case, with people using different versions at different times for the same people. And some older names have surprising short versions

Saying Elisabeth with an "s" really isn't a huge hassle - I always have to spell out both my first and second name (and yes people do mess up my email address, but I'm used to that so generally check). My mother is a Clare with no "i", there are lots of names with small variations, and the Elizabeth/Elisabeth is not that unheard of is it? If you were suggesting adding a "y" or something to make it more interesting I'd think that was problematic, but I don't think using the s form should be problematic.

Thanks very much for all your really helpful comments ladies!

Elisabeth Mary she will be, forever known as Bess... unless she opts for another nn later in life!

Bet you I have a boy now, after all your help ;)

I think with all the 'cre8tiv' spellings of names these days, variations to the norm will be a lot more common and so less of an issue than to our generation.

Elisabeth is a nice spelling. The only time I've come across it before is Elisabeth Fritzl, the woman locked in the cellar for years by her dad. So I guess it's a foreign spelling.

I used Elisabeth for DD's middle name. Good choice, OP

What EightiesChick said

Elizabeth

Elisabeth Mary is really pretty.

I always think Élisabeth, if your English with a French connection, and Elizabeth if your English, with no continental connection.

At school we had a girl with an Italian paternal grandfather (prisoner of WW2) and her name was Elisabetta. We all called her Betty.

Elisabeth is the original spelling and looks nicer. We have one in my family, and she has no problem with anyone spelling it incorrectly - she just says "with an S" if need be. She has been called by her full name, Lizzie, but now mostly Libby (or Lib), but she still gets Elisabeth too. She loves her name as it sounds more European and ancient, and doesn't have that link to Elizabeth First/II/Taylor etc.

Hello all! Long time since I first posted this thread! I'm 36 weeks now and still going with Bess, but I think we've got towards the full name being spelt Elizabeth. I still think Elisabeth looks prettier but given she will mostly be called Bess we've concluded an 'alternative' spelling of her full name might just lead to a life of correcting forms etc, which seems a silly burden to bear for a name rarely used.

So Elizabeth Mary she will be!

A lovely classic and elegant name birdofthenorth!