Etta - first name or Middle?

akd4303 · August 2010

DH and I love the name Etta. I prefer it as a mn and he loves it enough for a first name. Sibling names are Ava and Cade and our last name is a long Americanized Italian name.

My choice is Mary Etta D_______.

To be fair, I'm also considering Etta Katherine, Etta Jane, Etta Ryan and possibly others. Thoughts?

kurly_kate06 · August 2010

LOVE Etta Jane!

loveislife · August 2010

My first reaction was no...

But I like it when paired with another name. Etta Katherine sounds pretty and classic to me.

MissLadyTay · August 2010

Etta Jane is absolutely lovely. I like it as a double name, too.

ETA: I don't like "Mary Etta" just because there is a town called "Marietta" in Ohio and I'm not a fan of it.

jenna0627 · August 2010

MissLadyTay:

Etta Jane is absolutely lovely. I like it as a double name, too.

ETA: I don't like "Mary Etta" just because there is a town called "Marietta" in Ohio and I'm not a fan of it.

I agree. Mary Etta sounds like the location.

I love Etta Jane and Etta Katherine is very pretty as well.

Mrs.Deputy · August 2010

There's also a Marietta in Georgia. It's a pretty name, though! I LOVE Etta Jane! Etta is one of my favorites!

braveangel2 · August 2010

Etta has appeal - it's similar to the popular, Ella, but with a more anchored sound thanks to the letter, T. It has a famous bearer - Etta James (although technically, she changed her name from Jamesetta - I don't blame her at all). This is probably why Etta Jane sounds great.

My hang up is that it sounds like part of a sentence...Etta, like "I etta steak for dinner".

Mary Etta is lovely (I love the name Mary), but it sounds like Marietta. I think Etta Katherine, Etta Jane are likable because of the distince sounds. I would avoid Etta Ryan - Ryan is a boys name and looks like you're trying to pull an Etta James. I've seen the feminine Welsh, Rhian, but that's pronounced Ree - Ann.

kle+spd · August 2010

I've always Loved Etta...

Etta Jane is great too! But for sure reminds me of Etta James...which I love too!

Agreed with pp about Mary Etta too.....sounds like a town.

I like Etta Ryan too!

strangebird · August 2010

My initial reaction was that I don't like the name Etta particularly. But, I think I really, really like it paired with the names of your other children. I like Etta Jane best.

Like some PPs have said, avoid Etta Ryan, which is very modern and has a very unisex feel. Ryan is a boys' name and should stay that way.

bperkins8477 · August 2010

Mary Etta is very cute and classic.

Koala77 · August 2010

I prefer Etta as a first name. I really like Etta Jane. Mary Etta sounds like a city called Murietta in Cali to me. Etta is so much more original and colorful than Mary.

Ms.MKBT · August 2010

I personally know a Marie-Etta who is occasionally called Etta.

MrsFoof · August 2010

Love Etta. My great grandmother was Etta Belle (that was her first name).

I really like Etta Katherine. Would that be her first name or first and middle name?

akd4303 · August 2010

Thanks everyone. We actually got married in Marietta, GA and would love to live there again (in Chicago now). So I kind of liked the play on words. Still have 100+ days to settle on something!!

MrsFoof - I love Etta Belle. I would use Etta as first name and Katherine as a Middle. Naming a child is hard! We always try to come up with creative, not too trendy or popular names. When I named my daughter Ava in 2004, I only knew of Ava Gardner - since then it's been in the top 5 every year! with my son, I had never heard of another Cade - now Caden is at the top! LOL.