Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed.
We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight!
Courtney writes:
Must begin with the letter B, E, or W, with B as the first choice.
Cannot rank in the current Top 100, and a name outside of the Top 300 is preferred.
A feminine name with substance and a cute nickname would be the ideal.
If possible, the nickname Lulu would be a bonus!
If you really want to go with B, I think Bettina is a nice bet. Have you considered Beverly? My friend has a Beverly and she wears it well. That said, you could use Bee or Bebe (baybay) or Bibi as a nickname, or even Evie.
I LOVE the suggestions of Eulalie and Bridget (with or without the nickname Birdie, which I personally think is so cute but might not be for everyone). Or Elizabeth with the nickname Betsy. But I think Matilda and Eulalie sound perfect together–Tilly and Lulu. Swoon!
These Breton & Welsh names immediately popped into my head: Bleuenn, Elouane, and Eluned. A surname-name also came to mind: Willoughby.
He there!
A name that is ancient and rich in history just like Matilda is Belisent very rare but very beautiful and strong also carrying quite a few Nicknames if you wish.
Good luck with your choice.
Bridget or Brigitte (Bree).
Being that B is your preferred letter, I think you need a few more B ideas…
Berit – (Scan.) Gorgeous, splendid, magnificent. I’m not sure of a nn on this one, but I knew a lady with this name growing up and I loved the intrigue.
Belita – (Sp.) Little Beauty. Nicknames include Lita or Lili, which aren’t Lulu, but are still cute.
Bevin – (Ir. Gael.) Singer. Nicknames Bev or Vini.
For E names I love Edith, and know a 14 year old who rocks it. Other E names that you might consider….
Elmira – (Arab) Princess or lady. I love this with Matilda; bold yet cute. Nicknames include Elm, and Mira, but if she went by Lulu I wouldn’t find it too surprising.
Elma – (var. Lat) Soul. Nn similar to above.
Enid – (Welsh) Life, spirit. Unexpected, but easy to read and pronounce. Nn include Eni, Nidy.
Eloise is perfect but if you are worried about the popularity then Eloisa doesn’t even rank in the top 1000.
Other E names that would get a Lulu nickname:
Elara
Eula (how cute are Eula and Matilda as a sibset?!)
Emanuela (or another variant)
Elodie
Wilhemina doesn’t have the name Lulu but it starts with W and Mina and Tilly really sound like sisters.
Bailou might sound a bit unusual but it starts with a B and the nickname Lulu fits extremely well.
Eloisa is absolutely my favourite choice for you though.
Eulalie! It’s certainly unique, and it gets you to Lulu.
I love the suggestion of Beulah, and also…Babette. I think of Babette as an elegant French name (the movie Babette’s Feast…anyone) and it’s a nickname for Elizabeth as well. Etta is super cute with Tilly, so is Betty. I think Matilda and Babette sound like artists and adventurers.
What about Eliora?
Winona may also work well with Matilda, nn Noni.
Trying to use your letter of first choice (B) to get to Lulu or Loulou.
Blandine Eloise
Berenice Lucy – Lucille
Benedicte/a Louise
Balsamie Lucence
They might be a bit over de top. I got them from The Book of Saints (1921)
Beatrice and Matilda (Tilly and Bea) are my dream twin girls so very sad that’s off the table. I had 2 boys so couldn’t use either but since our styles are similar, what about another name we were going to use: Eliza. Its a little more popular- 100 something but so sweet. Or, I think Elizabeth nn Libby would be so great too. I also thought of Winifred nn Winnie and oddly thought of Bettina before I read Abby’s response too. Eloise does seem perfect too!
Eloise is a perfect choice in every way. Winifred in second place. Best wishes to you, Courtney. Can you post your choice after she is born?
Before I read your criteria, my first thoughts were Beatrice/Beatrix, Eleanor and Adelaide, with Isadora as a wildcard option.
After reading, I can see that they’re all out.
I think Abby’s suggestion of Eloise is wonderful (bonus points for Eloise being a strong children’s book character, like Matilda). I love Edith, too.
Other thoughts (mostly E-namess):
Eleanora (Ellie, Nell, Nelly, Nora, etc. Lulu might work)
Eluned (Lulu, Ellie)
Edwina/ Edina (Eddie, Dina)
Estelle/Estella/Estrella (Essie, Stella, Ella)
Elena (Lena, Ellie. Too popular?)
Emmeline (Emmy, Emma, Lina, Lili, Melly). Mentioned above.
Elisabeth/Elspeth (all the Elizabeth names). I saw a mention of Elizabeth above, but the variants take it out of top-100 territory
Bluebell (a bit left-of-centre, but it gets you Lulu, as well as Belle)
Might a ‘lulu-name’ (depending on your heritage and where you live, something like Alura, Iluka, Lucinda, Lucia, Lucy, Luca, Lleleu, Louise, Louisa, Tallulah, Melusine, Luna, Luned, Lucretia, Luella Ludovica etc) work in the middle spot? That would give Tilly a reason to call her Lulu. Or, of course, she could just have Lulu as a family nickname unrelated to her official name.
Babette : nn. Bobbie
Benedicte : Bunty, Bennie
Bernadette : Betty
Belisent : Ellie
Bridget : Bibi, Birdie, Gigi, Bunty
Emanuella : Lulu, Emmie
Edessa : Edie
Elise : Elly, Elsie
Evelina : Livvy, Evvie
Ellen : Nellie
Wilhelmina : Winnie, Nini,
My dear friend has 3 daughters- Beatrice (Bea,) Matilda (Tilly,) and Daphne. So I’m so partial to Bea!
BUT- What about Beulah? Super unique and Lulu is perfect!
What about Wynn? You could call her Wynnie but it is less clunky than Winifred.
I like Bea by itself as a name but it could work for any B name.
Those are my favourites but also
Bridie (stand alone or nn for Bridget)
Bonnie
Elaine (a lulu option?)
Elise (Liesl, lulu, Elsie)
I can’t believe I’m suggesting this, but Beulah could get you to Lulu. Ursula would be another option, but it doesn’t start with your preferred letters. Emmylou? Eden, nn Denny; Edwina, nn Winnie, Wendolyn, nn Linnie; Everly, nn Vivi.
Perhaps you – or at least Tilly – might be able to get Lulu from Eleanor?
Emmylou or Eulalie!
Bernice, Berenice, Eula, Elodie
I actually love Elizabeth, called Bess.
Matilda & Elizabeth
Tilly & Bess.
Fresh, sweet and long-wearing – but I don’t think you can get Lulu from it 🙁
Someone suggested Waverly. I don’t know what nickname you could get out of it but I think it is a great girl’s name. Also, I am not trying to be insulting but we have a big beautiful hen named Waverly. I mention her here because she was the sole survivor of a major chicken massacre last fall that wiped out everyone in her group (17?). She alone was able to hide underneath the hut and so escape. She sustained a huge wound to her back but we were able to patch her up and she is as good as new and back out with another group. So the name Waverly now connotes survival and strength to me.
Good luck in your search!
My favourite is definitely Bettina. I love that it has the same T sound in it as Matilda does. Tilly and Betty are super cute. Betty has a new fresh, spunky feel to it… there is new Netflix series Riverdale that loosely follows the storyline of Betty and Archie (like the comics) and it makes Betty seem like a fresh retro name. Add in old-grandparent names are definitely in style right now. Love that they are both five letter shortened names, both with double consonants ending with a Y yet have their own sound and don’t seem too matchy. Really really love this combo. Would stop here. Love it!!
My next favourite would Edith. Edie is super cute too.
Good luck!!
Luella, nickname Lulu
Beatrix, nickname Trixie (so sad your hubs doesn’t like it)
Clementine, nickname Clemmie or Clem
Ramona, nickname Momo
Frances, nickname Frankie
Florence, nickname Flora or Flossie
Theadora nn Thea
Winifred is totally the name I would’ve suggested.
My daughter’s BFF is a Tilly who has a younger sister Emily; if Tilly and Emily are too rhyme-y, how about Emmeline?
I don’t think you can improve on Eloise! It’s perfection. I know one who goes by Lulu.
My vote for B is Bernadette, Birdie is so great. And W has to be Wilhelmina nn Minnie.
Otherwise: Eulalie, Evelina, Beulah, Bellamy, Winona, Waverly…
Lucina, nn Lulu!
Eulalie would be a great option! Matilda and Eulalie sound very sweet together and I think you could pull Lulu from it!
What about Elula?
We have a Bernadette nn Birdie, and are strongly considering Matilda nn Tildy for our third. I guess they’re not as out there as we’d thought! I think they are both such beautiful names, though. 😀
Wow, thank you so much for the thoughtful response and awesome suggestions! Can’t wait to meet our girl.
The first two I thought of while reading your request were Eloise and Winifred. Bryony and Bettina are both beautiful, as well. Other rare, strong-but-girly B ideas that might work for you are Belinda and Blythe.
I couldn’t think of any B names to get to Lu Lu, even after reading through a couple lists. 🙁 One idea might be to use an L name in the middle. Depending on the first name, you could use Lou, Lucy, Louise, Louisa, etc.
Beatrix was my thought before I even read it… My favorites are Matilda and Eloise or Edith, if not Beatrix. (Previous suggestion, Wilhelmina nn Minnie, is a favorite of mine, too.)
Bianca and Edith popped into my head, too, along with a million reasons for you to love Beatrice (but that’s not helpful). I would use Betty as a nn for Beatrice. I love all the suggestions and wanted to add Wilhelmina–> Mina or Minnie.