Message: "Essie" - Behind the Name

[Opinions] Essie

by LMS

11/30/2014, 8:43 PM

I was reading a blog and the author is named Estee but nicknamed Essie. What could Essie also be a nickname for? I think its adorable, but I don't like Estee.

Also, her husband is named Aslan. Such a unique pair of names.

Lasly, what do you think of the name Nella?

#Essie

Replies

- Genevieve

12/1/2014, 6:32 PM

I like Essie. It seems insubstantial as a given name, but I think it would be nice as a NN.

Could be short for:
Elizabeth/Elisabeth
Elsa
Estelle
Estella
Esther
Esmeralda
Esperanza
Estrella
Nessa
Alessa
Alessandra
Esmee
Hester
Hestia
Odessa

I really like Nella.

- kvpp88

12/1/2014, 3:51 PM

Esmeralda
Elisabeth
Esther
Vanessa
Clarissa (maybe...that's a stretch, I guess)
Estelle
Esme
Elspeth

Aslan. It's a real name and I know that, but the Narnia connection is too strong for me.

Nella is cool, but a little incomplete.

- kudriashkajo (jodirae) +1

12/1/2014, 11:36 AM

Essie would be such a sweet nickname. I like it! The options for full names are endless:
Agnes
Agnessa
Alessa
Alessandra - love this
Celeste
Cressida
Delores
Desiree
Desta
Destiny
Ernesta
Esme
Estella
Esther
Frances
Francesca
Genesis
Hester
Jamesina - how awesome would that be?
Janessa
Jessa
Jessica
Jessalyn
Jessamine
Lesley
Nessa
Odessa
Presley
Princess
Silvestra
Tempest
Tesni
Tessa
Vanessa

All the -ella's are just too cutesy for me. So I'm not a fan of Nella

- LMS

12/1/2014, 6:28 PM

Essie for Jamesina is a good idea!

- Joiya (guest) +1

12/1/2014, 7:48 AM

Essis is a common nickname for several fuller names, like:

Estelle
Esmeralda
Esther
Celeste
Vanessa
Teresa
Cressida
Elspeth
Hester
Hesper
Estera
Agnes
Francesca
Estefania
Elizabeth
Esme
etc....

Nella is a bit too Nutella for me... but, I love Nelle!
(though, Nella would be decent for someone with a longer name like Antonella.)

- LMS

12/1/2014, 6:27 PM

Ooh, I like the options of Elspeth and Hesper!

- RoxStar +3

12/1/2014, 6:23 AM

edited to add about Nella

Essie falls into a category I'd describe, for lack of a better term, Slave Names. Essie, Hattie, Jemima, Mamie, Moses/Mose, Amos, that kind of thing.

Essie could be short for any name with the ess sound, especially a name a little kid couldn't pronounce and ended up with Essie.
Or Estelle, Esther, Essence, Elizabeth?

Nella makes me think of vanilla wafers.

This message was edited 12/1/2014, 7:38 AM

- Joiya +2

12/1/2014, 7:53 AM

I agree somewhat with the "slave name" connotation.

However, I think that is a great reason to use the name. Kids nowadays will not get the reference and we could stymie the cycle.

In any case - Araminta (a def. "slave name") is one of my favorites and pretty trendy in the UK, so I hear.

- RoxStar +1

12/1/2014, 8:12 AM

Araminta definitely doesn't give off a slave-name vibe to me. It sounds like mouthwash, first and foremost. If I try to picture a human named Araminta, I picture some irritatingly "spunky" Victorian kid pulling less "spunky" girls' hair and then acting all innocent and who-me? when caught.

- Joiya

12/1/2014, 9:38 AM

Harriet Tubman was named Araminta - so I guess that association is ingrained in my memory.

Your description is humorous though.

I have a totally different picture, except when the nickname Minty is used. Then I picture Nellie Oleson (Little House on the Prairie) for some reason. She could technically fit your character description if you swap out victorian garb with upper-class prairie-girl frocks.

- Anneza, nsi (guest)

12/1/2014, 5:16 AM

I've known Essie used as a nn for Esther, and Hessie for Hester. Estelle might also work.

I'd rather have a husband named Leo than Aslan.

Nella is very trite and middle-aged where I live. It's a nn for Petronella or Pieternella (which I've only seen once), both widely used as fem forms of Peter, Petrus, Pieter. I quite like it, apart from its wrinkly image.

- Pink Princess

11/30/2014, 10:35 PM

There is an Australian actress called Essie Davis, her full name is Esther. Aslan is such a cool name! Nella is alright, though I don't love it.

- G (clouds) +1

11/30/2014, 10:29 PM

I like Essie a lot. There's an actor called Essie Davis, but I don't actually know her full name. I think she keeps a lot of things private. Maybe Essie is her full name, though.

Esther
Estella
Stella
Estelle
Tess
Tessa
(Theresa?)
Celeste
Celestine
Celestina
Cecily
Esme
Esmeralda
Alessandra
Alessia
(Alexandra, Alexia, Alexis too, I guess)
Francesca
Frances
Agnes
Vanessa
Jessica
Odessa

You could potentially use any name with an S sound and a short E sound, whether or not they're next to each other or in the "ess" order. For example, Josephine and Stella.

Aslan is a very cool name, but it completely makes me think of Narnia.
I just clicked on the link and I never knew it actually meant 'lion'! Good job, C.S. Lewis.

I don't really like Nella. I much, much prefer Nell or Ella.

- Rachel Shaina (Evil)

11/30/2014, 10:34 PM

Essie Davis's given name is Esther.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essie_Davis

This message was edited 11/30/2014, 10:34 PM

- Rachel Shaina (Evil) +2

11/30/2014, 8:48 PM

Estee is a nickname for Ester, so Essie could also be a nickname for Ester.

Also:

Esmeralda
Esperanza
Essence
Estefania
Estelle / Estella
Estrella
Escarlata
Esclarmonde
Esmée / Esmé
Esmeray
Esmerée

And I guess anything with a heavy -es- sound in it, Alessandra, Cressida, Jessamine, etc.

I'm always interested to hear Nella but it's not something I like enough to use.

- LMS +1

12/1/2014, 2:05 AM

Esme is a good suggestion. I feel like a lot of the others have a definite hispanic lean and I don't have any latin blood in me, and would feel awkward using it.

- Joiya

12/1/2014, 7:50 AM

I feel like Latino names will boom pretty soon. I mean, French and Italian names are commonplace for multi-ethnic groups right now... so who is to say that latin-based names would be out of place?

I personally love some me some Spanish monikers!

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