Variations on Elizabeth?

[emilybrianne.livejournal.com]

I don't even know the sex of my baby yet so I'm not sure why I'm fretting over this, but...

Hubby and I like the name Elizabeth. However, my husband's sister's name is Elizabeth and I have a 16 year old cousin named Elizabeth. I also just lost a good friend named Elizabeth this week (her death is "suspicious" and under investigation). I would love to honor my friend and perhaps even capture a teensy bit of her compassionate nature by passing her name on to my child. But with two Elizabeths in our immediate family, I don't want to create confusion or muddle my child's identity by giving her a name she would share with two relatives that she'd see frequently.

So, I'm here to ask - what is your favorite variation on the name Elizabeth, and/or what is your favorite nickname for Elizabeth? Creative suggestions are welcome, so long as they are credible. Foreign variations are also welcome. I'm hoping for a little more help than the crappy baby name book I have.

Thanks. :)

Comments

[tunknut.livejournal.com]

I don't think sharing the name Elizabeth with two family members is that big of a deal, as long as they don't live with you and have different nicknames. It would be weird to share the name with a sibling or a parent, but I don't think it would be weird to be an Eliza, for example, and have an Aunt Liz and a much older cousin Beth, even if you saw them frequently.

My favorite nicknames/forms for Elizabeth are Betsy, Elise, Eliza, Libby, Lisa/Lise/Liese/Liesl, and Lizzie. I know an Elizabeth who goes by Lily as a nickname, which I love (although I don't care for Lillian or Lily as a stand-alone name), but Lily and its variants are pretty popular nowadays. I also like Anneliese, which is the contracted German form of Anne Elizabeth, which would different enough from her relatives, and she could go by Annie/Anna as a nickname.