Else pronounciation?

BrideBuddies · February 2012

Elsie or Elise? Or is it really just like the word else.. as in.. "Or Else!"

My cousin just named his little girl this.

If it helps, they're Minnesotans and their 2 year old is Axel, which is a nod to the mamma's Skandanavian heritage.

BrideBuddies · February 2012

Ah.. my brain didn't go to El-sa... that makes sense.

I think I'd have gone with the more traditional spelling tho... makes it confusing for people who are apparently dense.. like me!

alli84 · February 2012

mj.reilly:
It is pronounced EL-sa
Like Elsa. It is a German/Dutch name. Just like Sabine is pronounced za-BEE-na in German.

Agreed. My niece's name s Elizabeth, but she has always been called Elsie. I have always thought they should have just named her that, but I suppose it was their call. Wink

glueck · February 2012

Seconding the above post. The final E is a schwa sound- Like the first syllable of deluxe.

Its a cross of these sounds. El-seh, El-sa, El-suh

I married a german who has this sound as the final syllable of our last name, and the Americans have a heck of a time pronouncing it. The -eh sound in this case will likely be the right one!

Emiliana7 · February 2012

I've always thought Else was pronounced like LC (el-see), but could be wrong, never met someone IRL with the name.

cloud9climber · February 2012

Else = El Cee and Elsa = El sah in my book.

laurynfaerie · February 2012

I was named after my (German) great grandmother Else, everyone in my family pronounces it El-see. Well, mostly, because of the accents in our hometown there ends up being a slight random "T" in there, but that's the way certain people talk.