New Post
Search
Help[Facts] Is "Lilly" a nickname of Elizabeth?
I love the name Elizabeth. It is a family name... but I want a cute, not overused nickname. On the show Once And Again, the woman is named Lilly... but her formal name is Elizabeth. I think that's cute. Do you think I can use Lilly as a nickname for Elizabeth? I know the most popular nickname of Lilly is from Lillian. I hate that name. No thanks. I like Elizabeth... and there is a family history to it. Someone told me that Lilly is the English nickname of Elizabeth. Is that true?
1
Replies
I suppose that anyone can call themselves anything other than their given name, and claim it as their "nickname". You could just as easily have a child named "Elizabeth" with the nickname of "Sally".
Most people, though, would not automatically associate the name "Lilly" with "Elizabeth" -- certainly not as easily as the nicknames "Liz" and Lizzie" are associated with Elizabeth.
If you're talking about naming a child "Elizabeth" and then calling her "Lilly", she'll probably grow up having to explain to people all the time why her legal name differs from the name by which she is known.
Why don't you simply name your child "Lilly Elizabeth"? Or even "Lily Elizabeth", as the flower "lily" is correctly spelled with one "l".
Even "Lilibeth" or "Lilybeth" are pretty names for a girl.
-- Nanaea
Most people, though, would not automatically associate the name "Lilly" with "Elizabeth" -- certainly not as easily as the nicknames "Liz" and Lizzie" are associated with Elizabeth.
If you're talking about naming a child "Elizabeth" and then calling her "Lilly", she'll probably grow up having to explain to people all the time why her legal name differs from the name by which she is known.
Why don't you simply name your child "Lilly Elizabeth"? Or even "Lily Elizabeth", as the flower "lily" is correctly spelled with one "l".
Even "Lilibeth" or "Lilybeth" are pretty names for a girl.
-- Nanaea
1
I don't really see what's so unusual about using Lilly as a nickname for Elizabeth when both Libby and Bess can be nicknames. I don't necessarily think they seem like logical nicknames. I don't know if you watched it while it was on, but Sela Ward played a character named Lily on "Once and Again" and her given name was supposed to be Elizabeth. So, at least one other person had the same idea as you. I personally loved the nickname Winnie but hated the names it was short for, either Winifred or Edwina, and wanted to used it for Gwendolyn. When I tried to find out through an internet searc if you could use Winnie as a nickname for Gwendolyn, I was surprised to see that another tv show had the same idea. Evidently, Winnie on "The Wonder Years" was really a Gwendolyn. Who knew? Anyways, getting back to Lilly. I think it's a beautiful name on it's own or as a nickname, and personally, I prefer Lilly with 2 l's even though the flower is spelled with one l. It just seems more like a name. I can't explain it. After all, Lillian is spelled most often with 2 l's so why couldn't Lilly be spelled with 2 also? You could even spell it Lillie if you wanted to get creative. As far as it being a strange nickname for Elizabeth, look at Sarah. A nickname for Sarah is actually Sally and I would never have made the connection had I not read it in many baby name books.
1
Thanks Nanae... Good point.
1