Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DS is Elliot and we have only gotten complements. She is named after DH's grandfather. We call her Elliot/Ellie interchangeably.

Oops! I meant our DD!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Agreed.

Which is why I love DCUM so much, you find out that Americans really aren't so jolly at all. Under that mask of happy smiles, they are really very angry people waiting to cut your throats.

I think that it would be a mistake to conclude that DCUM is reality. Indeed there are days when I think that DCUM is nothing but performance art, with no resemblance to reality at all.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our DS is Elliot and we have only gotten complements. She is named after DH's grandfather. We call her Elliot/Ellie interchangeably.

Do you mean your DD?

I will say that "we have only gotten complements" is more likely to mean that you have polite friends, than that every single person loves your daughter's name. I think that every name will appeal to some people more than others, but that polite people think of something nice to say or keep quiet when they learn a child's name. I know that I'd choose Elodie or Eliana to honor an Elliot, and yet if I met your little Elliot, all I'd say is something like "How wonderful that you honored family! She's adorable."

+1. I am a foreigner (lived here for over ten years), and find that Americans in particular usually have a delighted response to about everything, especially something like somebody's child's name. I cannot imagine anyone here letting you know that they think your child's name is awful.

Agreed.

Which is why I love DCUM so much, you find out that Americans really aren't so jolly at all. Under that mask of happy smiles, they are really very angry people waiting to cut your throats.

If you think people in DC are constantly wearing a "mask of happy smiles" I'd hate to visit wherever it is that you're from originally. In the US, this area is pretty well known for being rude and unfriendly. It's definitely the rudest place I've ever lived.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Make sure you have another boyish name to choose from if you have another girl. Someone would feel like they got the short end of the stick if your second daughter has a feminine name.

I should have added, my great aunts were named Tommie and Grace. Tommie always hated that she had a "boys' " name and Grace had the girls' name.

Anonymous wrote:I vote no. A friend from college was named Michael and joked that her parents were in denial that they were having a girl. Elliot for a girl strikes me as the same - as if you're not coping with the fact you expect a girl and, darn it, you're going to use a boys name no matter what. It's not neutral, IMO; it's a boy's name.

Agree with the PPs who suggest other "El" names.

Anonymous wrote:Knew a confident, spunky teen girl named Eliot when I was growing up. She embraced her name. I wanted it for my daughter, but hubby didn't. An alternative spelling could be Eliette, or you could name her Eliana and still honor your FIL. Congrats!