My favorite forms of Elizabeth

The English name Elizabeth has been steadily popular pretty much forever. It’s a solid, established classic that sounds mature and professional, works on any age, doesn’t date the bearer, ages very well, and is probably one of two names with by far the most nicknames to choose from (the other name being Katherine, of course). However, if you really like the name or want to name your daughter after someone special, but are a bit off-put by how popular the name is, there are plenty of foreign versions to choose from. These are my personal favorites.

1. Elisabeta. This is the Romanian form of the name, and sounds and looks so pretty. It really stands out for all the right reasons.

2. Elisabetta. This is the Italian form of the name, a little frillier than the Romanian form but still super-pretty.

3. Eliisabet. This is the Estonian form, and the name of one of the Estonian characters in my Russian historicals. I love the double vowels found in so many Estonian names.

4. Elżbieta. This is the Polish form, pronounced Ehlzh-BYEH-tah. It’s got so many great nicknames, like Elża, Ela, Elżunia, Elunia, Elcia, Elicia, and Elka. The Lithuanian form is Elžbieta, which is pronounced basically the same way, except for having a háček instead of a dot over the Z.

5. Elisabeth. I’ve really grown fond of the German and Dutch form recently. It looks so soft, classic, and pretty, as well as having been borne by so many famous women and girls throughout history.

6. Élisabeth. The French form has also really grown on me recently, not to mention the fact that I’m a sucker for names with accent marks.

7. Lizaveta. I prefer the simplified Russian form of this name over the traditional, full version Yelizaveta. It sounds softer and prettier, and doesn’t have as many syllables.

8. Elisabet. This is the Scandinavian and Finnish form of the name. The Icelandic form is Elísabet.

9. Elisaveta. This is the Bulgarian and Macedonian form, and I have a deep fondness for the Bulgarian people due to how they saved their entire Jewish community from the Nazis.

10. Erzsébet. This is the Hungarian form, pronounced Ehr-ZHAY-bet, and with nicknames including Erzsi, Bözsi, Erzsa, Eri and Zsóka. Sadly, since history is written by the victors, many non-Hungarians to this day believe the lies the Austrians concocted about Countess Erzsébet Báthory. It’s so hard to get people to believe the truth after centuries of sensationalistic stories.