Lara writes:
Hi Swistle! Unless a miracle happens in the next few months, I’ll likely be writing for name help again, but as I was perusing my name list, I keep getting stuck on this issue, and thought it might be a quickie email that you could answer quickly and that others would find helpful.
I really like both Elliott and Emmett for boys, but fear that they skew slightly feminine (girls! stop taking boy names!), though they stay firmly on my boy list for now. Where I COMPLETELY get stuck with these particular names is the nicknames. They’re multisyllabic names that seem to cry for a shortened version – but what?? Ellie and Emme are clearly out, since they are feminine nicknames, though they seem the most obvious. Elliott could, I suppose, use Eli – but is the “EH” to “EE” pronunciation change too much of a change? And with Emmett I’m completely stuck. Mett??? Metty??? Gross.
So what do people use for nicknames for these boy names?
Thanks!
I would do no nicknames; I don’t think they need them. Especially Emmett—that’s only two syllables.
The Elliott/Eli connection doesn’t feel natural to me, though I know people do it. The letters are the same, but the sounds are completely different: not only eh to ee, but also ih to eye. When we shorten a name, it’s common to add a long-E sound to the end (Ellie, Emmie, Maddy), but not common at all to add a long-I sound. If Eli weren’t a name, I don’t think anyone would naturally start saying those sounds as a shortened version of Elliot—any more than we’d give a Madelyn a nickname that sounded like “Made-I.”
Emmett so far is not skewing feminine at all: according to the Social Security Administration, in 2012 there were 2,007 new baby boys named Emmett, and only 10 girls. (For comparison, that same year 20 girls were named Matthew and 18 girls were named David.)
Elliott is still mostly used for boys, but girls are indeed using it. Here are the 2012 numbers:
Elliot: 307 girls, 1480 boys
Elliott: 236 girls, 1252 boys
Elliette: 96 girls
Elliotte: 46 girls
Eliot: 23 girls, 215 boys
Eliott: 59 boys
Yes, Ellie and Emmie definitely seem out to me, too. But I would just use the full names: neither Elliot nor Emmett seems too long to go without a nickname. There was an Elliot in my classroom back when I worked in a daycare, and it didn’t feel odd/long to call him Elliot. But if you definitely wanted a nickname, you could use the initial, either alone (E.) or with a middle/last initial (E.J., for example).
My husband’s grandfather was an Elliott called Ellie, so I guess it isn’t impossible for the “right” kind of man to pull off, but he’d have to be very comfortable in his masculinity?
Maybe Liot (lee-ut)? Sounds weird, but reminds me a little bit of Liam, so maybe not as weird at second glance.
Probably better to just stick with no nickname or do some kind of initial nickname like EJ for Elliott James?
Emmett sounds great all on its own…no nickname unless you wanna go with the initial option =)
I have an Elliot and for right now we mostly call him Elliot or occasionally “E”. However, I’ve always thought that Leo (from -lio- ) might be a cute nickname. A bit of a stretch, obviously, but I like to keep it in my back pocket for any future nickname needs.
I too have an Elliot and have had the exact same thoughts as you Kate! We only call him Elliot right now, and that is pretty much our plan, but I have thought of using Leo (from -lio-) as a nickname if the need arises :)
Elliott could pretty clearly be Lee, in my opinion, if you wanted a nickname.
Emmett is harder. I think initials are the only way to go, if you want something that’s not used more often for girls. But I would also argue that lots of little boys get babyish nicknames that don’t necessarily go with them to elementary school, so if you’re going to instinctively shorten it to Em or Emie, that’s not the end of the world.
(I’m trying to decide if Em is feminine or unisex as a nickname…if I met a Daniel who people called Dee, or a Caleb called Cay, I wouldn’t necessarily think girls name, but if I saw it in writing I probably would assume female)
Emmo or Emmer?
I like both those names and don’t think they need nicknames. We sometimes use a nickname for my daughter but my son’s name doesn’t lend itself to one so we don’t use one. Initials could work, though.
I think Em is a less feminine nickname for Emmett. But I agree, I don’t really think either name cries out for a nickname. I bet a natural nickname would emerge once your little Elliott or Emmett showed up, or maybe you’ll be inspired by something completely unrelated to their actual name. I know a Jake who earned the nickname “George” because as a baby he was in to absolutely everything. They started with Curious George and shortened to George. Or there are always the classic pet-names. My mom called me Pumpkin and that was just fine with me!
I think it’s smart to think ahead about these nicknames if you’re a natural nicknamer!! Even though names don’t NEED nicknames, they so often evolve that it’s important to think ahead. That being said, even if right now you think you can’t stand the idea of “Ell” or “Em” as nicknames, you probably won’t mind them on your own little boy. Our little boy has a very masculine name, but a VERY feminine nickname, just by chance, and just because it’s natural… we’re really the only ones who use it, and the only time I really avoid using it is when we’re out in public, since I don’t want people to think I gave him a girl’s name. I just use his full name in public.
I think of Elliot as being more feminine that Emmett, but it won’t surprise me if they “go to the girls.” That’s also how I feel about Emerson and Everett. We were visiting family in a nearby state and I met a different family with little boys named Avery and Emerson- which was SO strange for me, because I think of those as girl names. But my sister-in-law was shocked, because she’d never heard Avery OR Emerson on a girl! And THAT is shocking to me!
As a few other commenters have already mentioned, family nicknames won’t necessarily follow your little guy to school. My mother and sister often called me Leithie, but nobody at school ever did. My best friends have a two-year-old Isaac, and they often call him Isey but always introduce him as Isaac so I suspect that he will be called Isaac by friends and teachers. If you have an Elliott and call him Elly, or an Emmett and call him Emmy, this doesn’t mean that anyone outside of the home will ever call him by those names. If Elliott and Emmett are names that you love for a little boy, my advice would be to use them and not worry too much about nicknames. It’s really common to just not use nicknames, anyway.
That said, though, I REALLY liked the suggestion given above of Emmo for Emmett, and think that Ello could also be adorable for a little Elliott. With so many ends-in-o names gaining steam, I think that it might actually become a lot more common for people to start nicknaming with this sound as well, and both Emmo and Ello seem like logical progressions to me. :)
(I should add that now that Isaac is talking, he always introduces HIMSELF as Isaac, as well!)
We call our Elliot Elly. Out in the world he doesn’t seem to need a nickname. We also call him Smelliot. And Smelly ;-)
For Elloitt you can call him El or us L for short when you needed to. No advice on Emmett. I have a Noah & occasionally No will come out in short for him.
Since you do not like “feminine nicknames,” I completely agree with Swistle- no nicknames for Elliott and Emmett.
Like Jenny Grace, if I had an Elliott, I would probably start to call him Elly or Ellie.
I know of a young boy named Elliott who is regularly called “Ellie” — not sure how it’s spelled or if it even is written — it may just an affectionate family nickname for him. If I had a son by that name, I might find myself shortening it like that, whether I planned to or not. I might spell it “Elly” as that looks less-girlish.
As for Emmett, I know someone who has considered the name and likes it because of it’s similarity to her sister’s name, Emma. I would imagine that an Emmett might sometimes be called “Em”.
I do like both of these names, especially Elliott, but might not use either because of the similarity to girls’ names that are currently very popular.
Perhaps Elliott worked better for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s son, b. 1910, because the similar girls’ names weren’t among the very most popular names of that time. And as Elliott was his maternal grandfather’s name, it was a natural for his parents to choose it for him. That Elliot Roosevelt, b. 1860, was called Ellie or Nell as a young child.
I know an older man named Emmett who’s always gone by Chip. When a young neighbor of his named her newborn son Emmett, Chip just shook his head. He couldn’t imagine why she’d want to “saddle” a young one with a name he still felt embarrassed to have. So…probably not helpful, except to say that nicknames can really be anything.
Is there any reason you can’t use El or Em? I can understand not wanting to use Elly or Emmy as they sound more feminine, but El and Em are simply SOUNDS, the first syllables of their full names. When said out loud it seems completely logical for an Emmett to be called Em for short, just as an Emily might be called Em for short. It doesn’t make it feminine, it just makes it a sound.
Like James, Jayden, Jada and Jane being called Jay for short, it is just the first sound of their name.
If I had an Emmett, I’d use the nicknames of Emmers or Metz.
For an Elliot, I’d use Leo or Etto (EH-toh).
Having said that, Emmett and Elliot are great boy names. We know an adult male who is now very tempted to go by his first name of ‘John’ because the little ladies have commandeered his middle name of ‘Riley’ that he has used his whole life. Sooooo… perhaps if you used Elliot or Emmett with a solidly masculine middle name, it might be built-in insurance. Example: Emmett Richard or Orville Elliot.
Love that you’re a name fanatic!
Thanks for posting this question! I have EXACTLY the same dilemma (going to use Elliot for our impending son). I use nicknames all the time for my daughter and would naturally use the nickname Elli without thinking for Elliot if it wasn’t such a girly nickname.
We’re still going to use Elliot – I figure that I’m the most likely to want to nickname him but other people in his life will probably just use the full name anyway, so it’s really an issue that concerns only me, and I think I like the name enough to try to deal with it.
My husband likes the nicknames Eli and Leo, but as Swistle said, I don’t find them very natural. I’m happy for others to use them though – and I’ll be happy if all his friends call him one of those – I just can’t see myself using them.
I might use E or Lee or Ello or E.J. (initials) or Edgy (play on the sound of the initials). I hadn’t thought of Etto as someone else said – I quite like that!
I would not use El (too much like Elle in my opinion) or Elli and I am prepared to correct anyone who tries to use either of those (nicely). I reckon I’ve got enough acceptable alternatives to offer as nickname options that people will be able to learn to use something else.
If Etto works, maybe Otto would too?
Elliott- Etto, Leo, Eli (I think it works)
Emmet- No nickname needed, but if you have to have one, I don’t think Mett is gross (I actually like it)
I know an adult Elliot who is occasionally called “Ells” and referred to as “Ellioso.”
What about using the name Ellio? i would have considered it if close friend didn’t have a son with the name. He goes only by Ellio, but my sons have always called him “Leo.”
One of my twins is named Emmett. His twin brother’s name isn’t even in the top 1000….oops. We sometimes call him Ems.
I once knew an Elliott. He went by “Ells” most of the time.
We love the name Emmitt/Emmett for a boy & Emercyn/Emmersyn for a girl.
I think we would shorten Emmitt/Emmett to Emmers or Metz & shorten Emercyn/Emersyn to Emy.
Love Leo as a nickname fur Elliott.
I have a son named Elliot, and it rolls off the tongue without needing a nickname…. other than Monkey, Baby, Love Bug, and all the other names directed at a toddler : ) Before he was born my husband said we could call him E. I like the idea of initials as well, like EJ.
As a guy named Elliott let me tell you that the name leans to girly nicknames and is easily twisted by bullies (Smelliott, elly the elephant etc..).
Everyone has to face bullies of course but it’s worth bearing in mind.
I’ve found that Ells is the most natural shortening, that’s what I get from close friends and family.
Elliot nn. Lio, Leo, Otto
Emmett nn. Mett
We have an Elliott and his nickname is Elly or just plain El. Not weird at all. A friend has an uncle named Elliot and he is Uncle Elly to her. I love my Elly belly and his name is amazing. He will most likely go by his full name at school, but I will always use my nicknames for him.
What about Elio