Hi Swistle,
Long time reader, first time writer here.
I’m due with my second in September. We don’t know the sex. We have a daughter, who has the same name as the main character in My Fair Lady.
We chose names really easily and early this time, which is perhaps why I’m having second thoughts! The baby will have my husband’s last name – European name that starts with a Van and my last name as a second middle name. Middle name will be Belle or Mary if a girl and either Willard or Cyriel if a boy.
For a girl we were settled on one of Mazie/Maisie/Maizie/Maisy, but now I can’t decide how to spell it. I’m also concerned that I’m going to endlessly be having to spell out her name regardless of how I choose. I think I’d like to minimize this, but maybe I don’t care!
When I look it up on baby name wizard I can see that Mazie is the only one that’s been in the top 1000, so I think that makes it the traditional spelling. However, I suspect that Maisy or Maisie were commonly used as nicknames for Margaret, which complicates things.
I like that Mazie has 5 letters and includes a ‘z’, like my daughter’s name.
So I guess I’m looking for some alternate opinions on which spelling may be misspelt the least, or perhaps some reassurance that it doesn’t really matter. Or maybe I should just start over!
I also really love the name Frankie for a little girl, but hubby is lukewarm about it. We don’t agree on many girl’s names.
The name we have chosen for a boy is Frederick, but I tend to think of names in my head phonetically and now I’m wondering if I’d be better off spelling it Fredrik, which is how I would like to pronounce it. I like nicknames and will probably call him Freddie, if it’s a boy that is.
I’m hoping you and your readers can help me make a decision!
Thanks,
Alyssa
For me personally (this will of course vary from person to person because of our varied experiences), the spellings I am most familiar with are Maisy (from the cartoon mouse books/show) and Maisie (from I don’t know where, but my feeling is old-timey novels).
I am separately familiar with the grain-word “maize.” I find that the z-spellings of the name bring that word to mind.
Maisy is my own favorite spelling, undoubtedly because of the nice little mouse, and also because it looks like Daisy and so is easy for me to remember how to spell it. If easy spelling is a priority, this is the one I’d pick, because I could say, “Maisy: like Daisy, but with an M.”
The Oxford Dictionary of First Names lists only Maisie as its own entry, with Maisy listed as a variant spelling.
Current U.S. usage looks like this according to the Social Security Administration (2017 data; including spellings used for at least 25 babies):
Maisie 594
Maisy 178
Mazie 124
Maizie 90
Maizy 60
Mayzie 55
Maisey 44
Maizey 34
Maizee 32
I do think you will have to spell it constantly, but I have to spell my name (Kristen) constantly: some names are just like that. Picking one of the most common spellings will help, but people still sometimes guess mine as Cristin or whatever, and it’s fine: I know there are a lot of ways to spell my name. However, if you are someone who thinks of names phonetically, I wonder if you’d be happier with a name with a spelling that comes immediately to your mind, or with a name that has only one familiar spelling—and ideally, a name where those two things unite, as with your daughter’s name.
This seems like a good moment for a poll. The poll thing on my blog no longer works, so we are now giving Twitter polls a try: https://twitter.com/Swistle/status/1022828579216863240. It will only let me do four options, so I will do the four you mention—which, happily, are also the four most commonly used in the U.S. as of 2017. People who want to choose another option will have to say so in the comments; it is not a perfect system, but it is what we’ve got. [Poll closed; see results below:]
As for Frederick/Fredrik, I have in general such a preference for traditional/familiar spellings (and especially when the first child has a traditionally-spelled name), it’s hard for me to even turn my mind to it. Here is the 2017 U.S. usage:
Frederick 580
Fredrick 149
Frederic 47
Fredrik 20
Fredric 13
Frederik 10
If Fredrik is the dominant spelling in another country, you could use that as your reasoning; bonus points if it’s a country of ancestry for either of you. Or the spelling Fredrick would let you say “It’s like Fred plus Rick.” Otherwise, again, I wonder if you would be happier in the long run finding a name where the spelling in your head is the same as the usual spelling.
Name update:
Thank you Swistle for posting our question, you and your readers gave us a lot to consider!
Our baby girl, Maisie Belle, arrived September 28th. We are so in love and she fits her name perfectly!
Thanks so much for your help!
I voted for Maisie on the poll simply because it somehow seems more English/European, and that makes it fit better with your elder daughter’s name in my mind, especially when you bring up My Fair Lady.
I love Frederick.
There was a Maisy in my daughter’s preschool class and while her name was pronounced Daisy- with a M like Swistle stated above, everyone still called her Macie (“s” pronunciation versus the “sz/z”) so I think you’re going to have to spell her name no matter what along with correct people in the way they pronounce her name. I knew how to say her name only because her parents spelled it Maisy and I was able to remember to pronounce it like Daisy.
The Maisy spelling makes me think of the mouse and that’s apparently my strongest association because I voted for that spelling. Maisie makes me think of the Henry James novel What Maisie Knew. It’s about divorced parents (more of a scandal back then) who mistreat their daughter.
I have a Frederick called Freddie! :)
I voted in the Twitter poll for Maisie. I do not think Mazie is the traditional spelling of the name, I think it’s just not traditionally a given name but is instead a nickname for Margaret, as you suspected.
One thing I’m thinking about is name coordination. I think Maisie as a given name is a bit more cutesy than your daughter’s name (and definitely more so than Frederick, if you have a boy now and another girl later or vice versa). I think sticking with an old-fashioned spelling like Maisie or Maisy could help mitigate that, while a spelling like Mazie, which looks self-consciously modern, at least to me (it’s the z where there’s usually an s, like replacing ks/cs with an x — it seems like trying to zhuzh up a name with interesting letters).
Maisie is the spelling I go to first, but I’m not certain why. My second guess is Maisy-and I love Swistle’s suggestion of like Daisy with an M. I think the name will require you to spell it for people, but the Daisy comparison would make this easy and should help people remember. If the spelling issues bother you, I wonder if you’d like Maimie? I have only seen it spelled one way, though I suppose I could be wrong.
I am actually surprised that you would consider an alternate spelling for Frederick. If one of the cons of Maisie is having to correct spelling, that will also be an issue for Fredrik. I think it would actually be a bigger issue since Frederick does have a standard spelling that most people will be expecting. I vote for the traditional spelling.
Mamie Eisenhower. :)
Otherwise I agree with you. Hard preference for one of Maisie/Maisy (with overall preference for Maisie), especially with Eliz@; hard preference for Frederick, especially with Eliz@ (unless Fredrik is an honor name . . . ).
To me (I’m English) Maisie would be the classic spelling, followed by Maisy. I’m a huge non-fan of modernised spellings for names so Mazie etc are very much not my taste.
Having said that, I don’t feel the same way about Frederick/Fredrik because both are classic spellings, they’re just from different cultures. If the baby will have a Dutch-sounding surname then Fredrik fits just fine – although I would expect the default spelling from strangers to be Frederick until corrected.
The traditional Dutch version of this name is Frederik, pronounced with three syllables. I’m Dutch and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Fredrik before (although statistics show it does exist) and it looks wrong to me because there’s a syllable missing…
LOL I have a Mabel nn Maisie, and both your older daughter’s name and Frederick were on my short list for her older brother, so I feel like I MUST weigh in! If you are a GoT fan, the actress who plays Arya is named Maisie and a lot of people right now have that association. Whether it lasts remains to be seen. A lot of parents of young kids will also know Maisy, as Swistle suggests. Both IMO are good suggestions; both are by far my preferred spellings of the various choices. I don’t think you can go wrong either way! I chose Mabel as the given name and let my husband choose the spelling of Maisie…I guess I’m actually very little help on the girl front but I AM telling you those are both solid choices. ;)
Having a big sister with a MFL name and a Freddie may be amusing to hard core musical theatre fans, but not enough to deter me, a hard core musical theatre fan. HOWEVER, in our case, we were going to go with Frederick nn Fritz (FRITZ!) — which is ALSO 5 letters and has a Z. Just saying. :)
As you can see I have an unusual but not unheard of spelling of Christi. If it is important that it be spelled correctly (awards, important documents, etc…) I have to spell it. In generally usage, I gave up caring a long time ago. I have family members who can’t spell it right, lol. So if it is going to bother you to have to spell the name repeatedly I would go with either Maisy or Maisie. I will note for you that spell check tagged Maisy as misspelled but not Maisie. Maize makes me want to pronounce it as maze since that is Native American for corn and in Oklahoma it is a pretty commonly known word. For Frederick, I immediately knew the correct pronunciation and I think you would end up spelling Fredrik far more often. My roommate and I both have common names with unusual spellings and always advise against it. It’s possible that your child won’t want to have anything personalized (not as big of a deal these days as when we were growing up in the 70’s and 80’s) and won’t mind spelling their name all the time, but I’m willing to bet against it.
Oh, weird! I’m reading through these comments and realize that the only spelling I’ve been exposed to is Mazie. So that is my vote.
I have a Fredrik! And my takeaway on spellings is similar to what others have said. Fredrik gets misspelled all the time, but Freddie is definitely the default nickname, spelled -ie. Why I thought it would be y, I don’t know. Upshot is that Grandma spells Freddy’s name Fredrick on birthday cards, all my mom friend texts include Freddie in the playdate invites, and I just don’t even care. His best friend calls him Freds. He spelt his own name Ferd for a year. The glory of Frederick and its variants is the endless versatility. I think the same takeaway could apply to Mazie/Maisie too. Do the one that you love, not the one you think is “right” and then just let people be wrong. Spelling is so post-Elizabethan era anyway ;)
Maisie is my preferred spelling, purely because of familiarity with the Henry James novel. I like Swistle’s suggestion of using “Maisy like Daisy with an M.”
And I love Frederick, although my mouth sort of skips over the center “er” syllable.
Maisie for me as well, but also like the “Daisy with an M” option for Maisy. The ‘z’ spellings remind me of corn too, but also give me the feeling of trying to make the name more “unique” as I’ve only been exposed to the ‘s’ spellings before.
My brother has Fredrick as a middle name, simply because our last name already has ‘er’ in it twice! So my mom wanted to cut down on repeating that for a third time. He still gets misspellings of Frederick, but as a middle name it is less problematic.
I would stick to the traditional spelling of Frederick for a first name personally.
My vote is for Maisy or Maisie, though the -ie- ending is my personal preference, as well as the traditional spelling of Frederick. If you like that though, I wonder if you’d like Rodrick? It has a similar sound, is traditional but not commonly heard anymore, and is spelled phonetically.
On a similar but not completely related note, growing up my parents had a friend named Frederick but he always went by Bunky. When I tried to find out why I was told that it was a nickname for Frederick but haven’t been able to find anything backing that up. So I was wondering if anyone else had heard of Bunky as a Frederick nickname before?
Roderick is still the more common spelling in the U.S.: 160 new baby boys named Roderick in 2017, and 43 named Rodrick.
I don’t have twitter & it won’t let me vote.
Maisie is my vote. Maisy, Daisy w/M, is my second choice. Frederick is my boys spelling pick. Fritz as occasional nn is a neat idea to get 2 z names! I don’t like Mazie spelling. I taught a little Mazzy once-Too close to that. The Maisie spelling is most traditional as its own name. I’m carrie. I spell it EVERY TIME. It’s no big deal. I like both of your choices. Please update us!
I’m usually kind of a stickler about name spellings, preferring the traditional/most common spellings of names. (I think is because I live in Utah where many people think it’s amazing to spell their kids’ names as uniquely as possible, OR to make up a new name entirely. Not my fave.)
However, this is a case where all the spellings seem equally familiar to me. I think you should go with what you prefer best.
FWIW, I’m more familiar with the spelling Maisie, and Frederick. But I think Fredrik or Fredrick are both very nice and lend an air of internationality that is nice.
My problem is that there are two ways to pronounce this name – May-zee or May-see. My cat is named Macy, pronounced the second way. If you want the z sound without spelling it with a z, then I like the Maisy spelling with the “like daisy with an m” explanation.
I would go with ‘Maisie’. Just like someone stated before, it brings to my mind the title of Henry James’ novel “What Maisie Knew” (if I remember correctly, it’s a classic from late XIX century). This way, when someone asks about the correct spelling of your daughter’s name, you can always say something like “oh, it’s Maisie, just like the title character of that Henry James’ novel”, the way you say your older daughter’s name is “the same name as the main character of ‘My Fair Lady'”.
Or maybe just name her Margaret (a beautiful, classic name, just like 3liza) and use Maisie/Maisy as a nickname? That way finding ‘just the right’ spelling won’t be such an issue.
As for Frederick/Fredrik: I’m not an American, but I don’t find its correct pronunciation complicated at all (btw Polish version of that name is Fryderyk, like Fryderyk Chopin) so, I guess, I’m “team Frederick” too:)
I am also most familiar with, and prefer, the spelling Maisie, as in the Henry James novel. (Henry James was BALLER at character names, truly)*
I am also Team Frederick, but my preferences lean very Established and Traditional.
*we won’t mention Fanny Assingham
My daughter is Margaret nn Maisie. I actually think Maisy Mouse is what made me prefer the Maisie spelling, so it wouldn’t seem like she was named after a fictional mouse. Though I do appreciate the ease of “Daisy with an M” that Swistle pointed out. I think either Maisie or Maisy would be best, especially with your first daughter’s more classically spelled name.
We haven’t had much trouble with people pronouncing it as Macy. The main spelling problem we’ve had is that second i in Maisie. One of her preschool teachers continually spelled her name Maise which to me looks like it should rhyme with maize but what do I know. My name is Betsy and I am constantly having to correct people who spell it Besty so you’re going to run into this with a lot of names.
We fell in love with the name long ago after hearing it in the movie Uncle Buck. One of the kids (played by Gaby Hoffman) is named Maizy. It’s a great name, no matter how it’s spelled.
I voted for Maisy like daisy with an M, partly because of the mouse, and partly because my son’s name is Fordon like Gordon with an F. :D
I also prefer Frederick. And, while I love Freddy, I even more love the suggestion of Fritz with Eliza.
I’m gonna have to disagree with the idea of Margaret if what you REALLY want is Maisie/Maisy because there are so MANY nns for Margaret and there is no guarantee your daughter will stick with the one you love. (That said, I love every single one of the nns for Margaret. Maggie, Meg, Peggy, Greta, Gretchen, Gretel, Megan, May, Daisy, Maisy….SO MANY!)
Maisie is more familiar to me because of Maisie Williams! Great name :) also love Freddie! I find Frederick and Fredrik are almost different names, the latter reminding me more if Scandinavian/Viking name versus a more old English name — can’t go wrong either way but I feel like Fredrik would often get his name misspelled if that was important to you!
I would say Maisie is the dominant spelling in my experience, with Maisy being an outlier contender (very tied to the mouse). Mazie feels like an entirely different name, more in the semi-French/invented/nickname category like Zazie and Zadie. Maizie seems challenging to spell and like it is trying hard to modernize the old-fashioned sweetness that is the name’s strength.
Maybe to check if you are comfortable with the name’s flexibility around spelling, you should try a version of the Starbucks test? Give your name as “Maisie” when you order a drink and see how it comes out spelled on the cup. It’s also a good judge of your comfort level with the name overall.
Maisie does feel a bit out of step with siblings E—za and (potentially) Frederick, but that’s totally fine, it shakes things up a bit.
Have you considered Margot or Margaret for the birth certificate, and using Maisie as a nickname?
If I saw someone named Fredrik Van Something, I would assume they were from the Netherlands/not American—also ok, but something to consider!
I wanted to use this name in 2005 and would have gone with Maisie. That feels like the more traditional spelling to me. Based on it being the Margaret nickname version. Plus my own name ends in -ie too.
Maisy is also familiar because of Maisy Mouse. I would avoid the Z spellings because they look more invented.
I think it’s just a name you will have to spell for people.
My son’s middle name is Frederick with the E in there.
Disclaimer I’m in a country that uses British English spelling (way more S than Z). I’m also one of those people who think spelling is important and who can’t break rules without hyperventilating!
I love the name Maisie (planned to use it as a nn for Mary but had a boy). I’m most familiar with Maisie. The Z forms are not my style and I would put them in the ‘Unique’ category which I know some people love but aren’t for me.
Frederick in my mind is spelled this way and has three syllables. I think Freddie is very, very cute.
I also don’t use twitter but would use Maisie as it is the most common way of writing the name in my experience.
If you don’t want to spell the name again and again, I would go with Frederick. In any case, I do not think that you would get mispronunciations from this spelling.
My sons name is Frederik and we went through the same thought process and found that while Frederick is the usual English spelling, it‘s Frederik in Denmark/Netherlands/Germany, Fredrik in Sweden and Frederic in France. We went for the Danish version because of family ties (living in Europe).
Also a fun fact: the current Crown Prince of Denmark is a Frederik.
In the show Maisy mouse, Maisy’s best friend is Cyril… That might rule out using Cyriel as a name if you go with Maisy?
I like Maisie the best and the actress from Game of thrones has definitely popularised this!
Maisie and Frederick get my vote. I love a good nickname so I’d name a girl Margaret or Mary and use Maisie as the nickname. Freddie is super cut but Fritz! Fritz is dashing! Handsome! Cool!
I’d go with Mazie after Sen. Hirono, who is pretty badass.
I did not know this reference – we are Canadian, although we went to Hawaii on our honeymoon, so all things Hawaiian have a special meaning for us.
This name is on my own short list and I have debated the spelling. I have been reading the detective series, Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear, all summer so I vote for Maisie! I love this name, but my husband is a GoT fan and doesn’t want people to think he names a child after an actress. I, on the other hand, would proudly name a child after a book character (I’m a librarian).
I have considered May Zora called Maisie. I do like the Maisy spelling, too.
I understand the desire to simplify Frederick to how you pronounce it, but I would avoid that impulse if I was you. My own name suffered as a result of that same desire. Plus I like the 3 syllable symmetry with your daughter’s name.
I was a Brittany who loved the “ta” sound in the middle, but It was in 2nd grade when I gave up the 3 syllables. By that year, 1992, 2 syllable variants had become the mainstream in my southern town. I don’t care how strangers spell my name anymore, but it made an impact.
I personally would not go with Eliza and Freddie as they were love interests in Pygmalion/My Fair Lady! As for the girls name I think the best spelling is Maisie. A little biased because my sister is named Maisie but I think it’s very cute. Her nn is Macy because of the way she pronounced her name when she was small.
It definitely gave me pause when I put this together, but I like it enough to use it anyway