With Emma having been in the top 5 for ten years now, I think she has run her course. Ella, meanwhile, has been on her climb to the top. "Ev" names are also quite popular and rising (with Eva and Evelyn both in the top 100, and Evie, Eve farther back but all four climbing). It is unsurprising that people are finding the option of "Ettie" as a nickname as charming. I have particularly been hearing a lot of buzz around the name "Henrietta" as a source for Ettie, though it has not been in the top 1000 since 1968. It and its derivative Harriet may soon be making comebacks!
I think Ettie is an adorable nickname, but by no means are you limited to Henrietta as the source. Since posting about my unused girls name from when my son was born, Cosette, I have been intending to post about "names ending in ette". And here it is. "Ette' is a diminutive ending in French. That means that it makes a word become smaller, cuter, more feminine (in German "chen" serves the same purpose". It is kind of like adding an "ie" or "y" to something in English, though much more clear and more common than that.
Because of this role of "ette" in French, there are MANY names with it as an ending, and it can be added to almost any root name to get a feminine alternative. I cannot possible touch on all "ette" names here. If you would like to see more, check out this list, which claims to have 204th, though I am sure there are duplicates based on how they count. (The list of names ending in Etta is 172 long and is largely overlap.)
My favorite options for getting the nickname Ettie:
Alouette/Alouetta
Amoretta
Antoinette
Bernadette
Burdette
Clarette/Claretta
Cosette
Georgetta
Gwynetta
Lisbette
Lisette
Juliet/Juliette/Julietta
Janette
Josette/Josetta
Marlette
Mariette/Marietta
Nikoletta
Rosetta
Scarlet/Scarlette
Suzette
Violetta
Do you like the nickname Ettie? What long name would you pick to get there? Obviously, I am a fan of Cosette, but I also love many of the other options.
I think Ettie is really cute! I love Juliet and if I were going to call her Ettie might spell it Juliette.
ReplyDeleteI saw quite a few women in old records named Esther and nicknamed "Etty" or "Ettie" - I like that if you wanted something old-fashioned but back in style.
ReplyDeleteThanks Waltzing More Than Mathilda! Great point! I got so wrapped up in my "ette" endings I forgot the options for beginnings! Esther, Ethel, Ethlynn, and Aithne are all definite options. You even could get there from Elizabeth! (if you can get Betty, why not Ettie?)
ReplyDeleteThere's Arriety also!
ReplyDelete