Too close?

alileecam

SIL just had a little girl last night named Elaine Corbett R_____, and her nickname is Elle. The name was secret until she was born.

I am having a boy in August (my first), and back before we knew what we were having, we'd picked out a boy and a girl name. We tried to get them to give up their name (to make sure there was no overlap--it would be a shame if we'd gone around telling our friends the name only to regret it due them using it first, unbeknownst to us!).

Well, so it's not an issue now. But I love the girl name we picked out:

Liesl Carson R_____, nickname Elsie

but feel it's WAY too close-- Elle and Elsie? Even the middle names are the same sort of style. To complicate things even further, another family member who is actively trying has had her names picked out forever. It's tradition in her family to name children after the grandparents, so she feels a little cheated because her girl name is Elena and she's not willing to give up the tradition.

We are all about the same age and socialize with each other. So how close is too close when it comes to family names? I have a sister named Jessica and two cousins also named Jessica (both born after my sister) and my mom is still bitter about it 30 years later because they "copied"--one even has a rhyming middle name. 

I probably should just shelve the whole thought until I'm actually pregnant with a girl, but it's fresh in my mind and I'd hate to give up on the name that DH and I worked hard on (we really weren't on the same page with any other names).  But I would love to hear any similar situations and your thoughts on whether these names-- Elaine, Elle, Elsie and Elena are just too close and confusing to have in a single family/generation.

aimee1899

I love Liesl and don't think it needs a nn, so I wouldn't worry about that unless you are tied to Elsie.

Names like Elaine, Elena, Helena, Eleanor, Ellen, Lenore all come from the same root of  Helen. Your cousin has SO many choices to stick to tradition.

kmpls

They are pretty close but doable. I would totally not worry about it though because you 1 may not have a girl - maybe all boys!! and 2 you might change your mind on names by next time - I did!

Congrats on the new editions to the the family!

chris&kendra1

I don't really think that Elle and Elsie are too close because their actual names are so different. If you wanted another option, maybe you could call her "Liesy". My sister's name is Elyse and that's what we always called her. It's something a little different if you feel it's too close to make you comfortable.

dozersmom

They would be too close for sisters, but not for friends! I say keep the name you love!

erb82

I think it depends on how far apart they are in age.  My cousin and I are 6 weeks apart, and up until the last minute we were going to have the same name.  My parents changed their minds in the end, and she and I ended up being best friends, so it would have been weird to have the same name.  If you don't have a girl for 3 or 4 years, I think the age difference makes it okay.  But if you have a girl in a year, it might be too close.  And I know you didn't ask for opinions on the name, but I think Elsie is adorable!

ta78

I don't think they're too similar and you won't be having a girl anytime soon, if at all so I wouldn't worry so much about it.

Mnerani

Of course it's your choice, but why would you use Elsie as a nickname for Liesl? It looks like you just scrambled the letters in a perfectly lovely name and made it into a different name entirely. If you could drop the nn Elsie and stick with the child's real name, it would solve your problem.

alileecam

Mnerani:

Of course it's your choice, but why would you use Elsie as a nickname for Liesl? It looks like you just scrambled the letters in a perfectly lovely name and made it into a different name entirely. If you could drop the nn Elsie and stick with the child's real name, it would solve your problem.

I know it ended up looking like that... but here's the breakdown:

Liesl Carson R_____ = L.C. R_______ 

Elsie came from her initials, and it's a name I love, but think it works best as a nickname for a younger girl rather than a given name. Liesl is DH's choice, and Carson has some significance for us as well. The letter-scrambling thing is more of a coincidence, but I did notice that once we'd decided and I understand the sentiment.