So we've had many inquiries about if/what nickname we'd like for Elynor. We've also had many inquiries RE: the origin of her name. I'll address both here:
1. First, the origin of Elynor Aline:
Ryan & I just like the name Elynor. Maybe she'll someday wish there was more to the story... but there really isn't. We did brainstorm LOTS of names and this one kept rising to the top. Finally, in June we were sitting at Ravinia and said to each other, "If she's born tonight, what would you name her?" and we both said Elynor Aline. So there it was settled. We did debate the spelling. The name Elynor can be spelled many ways (Elinore, Elinor, Eleanor, Elenor... just to name a few). Since there are so many spellings, we figured she'll always get asked how to spell it and/or it has a good chance of being spelled wrong, so we went with the spelling we liked most (because we just like y's).
Aline (pronounced Uh-Leen) is Ryan's Grandma Westrom's middle name. We love the sound of the name and also love this grandma. So there you go!
2. And RE: nicknames...
Similar to the spelling of Elynor, there are many different nicknames that can be derived from the name. Elly (or Ely, or Ellie, or Elli) seems to be the most obvious, and is the one most people are already taking to. However you could also pull out: Elle, Elyn, Lyn, Nora/h, or Nori (and maybe more). In fact, this versatility was one of the reasons Ryan & I picked Elynor over other first name choices. We like the fact that if Elynor does not want to go by her given name (at any stage of her life), she has many nickname options... many of which seem to align nicely with different stages of life.
For now, however, we are calling her Elynor. This isn't because it's what's hanging on the wall over her bed, but because we really do like the full name and don't have a strong preference (or negative preference, for that matter) to any nickname. We figure a nickname is something that she will take on naturally as she develops her personality and/or as we and others get to know her. The only thing I will say is that the name Elly sounds remarkable similar to our dog's name, Ally... so at least around our house, we'll have to be careful with that one!
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2 comments:
I would add, we did do a lot of research. We felt like giving a new person a name is a big deal! I mean they're stuck with it for the rest of their life.
Sites we (maybe more me) used in creating our Excel database of possible names (from which our favorite was chosen) included:
Baby Name Wizard
Nymbler
the Freakonomics name list
and top European names.
We also purchased a book called 10,000 Baby Names to use to look up name origins, etc. Thought this might be worth adding...
I was shocked to find out just earlier this year that everyone called me by my full name, Elizabeth, until my first grade teacher got tired of waiting for me to write the whole thing E l i z a b e t h, that she told me to just write L i z and it stuck. How dare a teacher change a child's name... that wouldn't happen today would it? Good thing I wasn't trying to write left handed too!
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