Elsa

How many other Simba's do you know in popular culture though? There's a reason why Elsa, Belle and Ariel are considered "acceptable" and why Simba is too associated with Disney.

But right there is why I can see parents hesitating to use the name. The "let it go" jokes. I do think its a beautiful name and a little kid probably will love being named after a princess/queen...but they dont stay little forever and teasing does usually happen when they reach middle school age or so.

I love this name!

That is almost exactly what happend to us and our daughters name is Elsa anyways. We tried looking again but our hearts were already set on it and nothing else hit us the way Elsa did. I was very angry at Disney at the time but after a few years it is what it is.

Just “let it go”

I like the name Elsa, and its Disney association is a bonus in my opinion. My son will be Simba (not because of the Lion King, but because I love the name itself), which so many people say that its Disney association is far too strong and that the name is unusable for a child - it annoys me when people say names that still have heavy Disney associations, like Elsa, Belle, Ariel are acceptable... and yet they say that Simba is a bad name? It makes no sense. There is no difference at all really. It's just picky people.

Sorry for this late reply, but El or Elle is a fine short form if you really don't like your name.
El probably fits the spelling of Elsa, but I think Elle is usable.

that was so sweet actually, i can't. kids are so precious :)

That's so cute! I think you definitely had the right idea.

My family is German, and we use Elisabeth and/or Elsa (traditionally spelled Else) in every generation. They are both lovely names and very common in Germany.

I agree!

And now it's Moana!

I loved it as well, but only fell in love with the name after watching the movie :)

Haha that's so funny XD

I have always loved this name ever since I saw the film "Born Free". I love the Scandinavian feel to it.

I think this name is gorg. It's not that popular even with the movie out now. I could name my daughter Elsa Snow or Elsa Belle. It's very pretty :)

PEOPLE! Get over the Frozen connection! This is a wonderful name.

Name totally not ruined! :-P

Don't be so critical of your name, I think Elsa is far more romantic and exotic than Elise. :)

Do it! It's a near and dear family name for us and there's no way I'm going to let a movie take that away from us.

My name is Elsa! It was never a popular name until the movie, Elsa. My mother said she liked that it was short and simple (boring) and my dad wanted a longer name. They settled on this one... They were completely unimaginative because they loved Beethoven's Fur Elise and purchased the same album for each other on their one year anniversary. They could have named me Elise, it has more of a romantic sound to it instead of El-sa. The end.

My name is Elsa! It was never a popular name until the movie, Elsa. My mother said she liked that it was short and simple (boring) and my dad wanted a longer name. They settled on this one... They were completely unimaginative because they loved Beethoven's Fur Elise and purchased the same album for each other on their one year anniversary. They could have named me Elise, it has more of a romantic sound to it instead of El-sa.

I agree.

I know I got that just pointing it out :D

I have an adult friend named Elsa and she is one of the most beautiful human beings I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I met her eight years ago, so this name has lovely associations for me thanks to her. It's funny because, being a name nerd, I remember calling her one day and telling her that Elsa was on the rise, and she said, "Great! Now it's not just reserved for fat German women!" :-D Funny how our associations change over time!

Pretty sure that's the joke. :)

Lol sounds like the lyrics to "Let It Go" ;) The cold never bothered me anyways... I have a little sister so...Yeah.

It's a pleasure Rose, I hope you feel better about things. I have found the best way to deal with people comments is to say it is a family name. My grandmother was called Elsie and it sounds close to my maiden name so it is not too far away from the truth! I don't think people mean anything by their comments but they can be hurtful. Sending you warm wishes and support. Xxxx

Thank you for the great reply :) I will stick to my choice since I love the name Elsa and won't let anyone destroy the rosy feeling I get whenever I call my daughter's name and will also teach her to be the same and always proud of her possessions specially her name. However, if she choose to be called with a nickname she loves that will be totally ok with us too.
Thanks for the heartwarming words Annie! xxxxxx

I didn't know about the film Frozen when I named my daughter Elsa as she was born only a few months after the film came out. Once the Frozen hype started to build momentum I was thinking that maybe we should change her name but my partner wasn't keen. I started to use a nickname for her as I started to get anxious about what people's responses would be when they heard her name. Basically I got myself in a strange head space about it all. Then I found that people didn't know were confused to what to call her which felt odd and my 4 year old son was never going to call her anything other than Elsa and it didn't feel right in asking him to call him something different. So we reverted back to calling her Elsa and then around the same sort of time I met a really nice mum at a toddler group called Elsa and I guess that helped me put a better perspective on the whole thing that it is a name to lots of women in the world, real ones at that!
My daughter is almost 2 now and I can't imagine her being called anything else. However, if she doesn't like her name I'll give her the option to use a nickname Elle, Ellie, Essie, Elsie before she starts school. I thought that might be a better option and then she can get to choose a name that she hopefully likes. Although my gut feeling is that she is probably going to be fine just being Elsa.

I could really empathise with your message Rose and wanted to contact you as as I know how it feels to be internalising the name and worried that you've made a mistake. If you need to chat more please feel free to get in contact.

PS - I appreciated your response TheHumanCanvas.

You're welcome :)

Thank you so much for the thorough reply. My husband loves the name, I do too.
Really appreciate your comment.

No, I definitely wouldn't change it. I really wouldn't worry. It's not likely she'll get teased - if anything, the kids'll love it. But you found the name before 'Frozen,' it has family significance, you loved it and picked it. That's all that matters, and if anyone has the nerve to comment on it, I would tell them so. You'll regret it if you swap the name you love for another because of pop culture, especially after six months of using it for your daughter. It must just feel like her, by now. So don't feel too badly about it. Anyway, I think it's a beautiful name :D A fabulous choice, in my humble opinion. Others will love it too!

I named my daughter Elsa before even knowing and watching the Frozen. It was a name picked from searching on the Internet and actually a hybrid of my name and my husband's. Now after about 6 months I am totally devastated of the burden of people's comments about my daughter's name, mostly related to the movie. I have even decided to change her name because I am worried if she might get bullied at school or so!! Please help me. Should I change her name? Isn't it too late?

Personally, I think that Elsa and Aurora would be a beautiful twin-set.

I love this name.

Elsa is a beautiful, strong, girly, fresh and not-too-popular baby girl name, and I love it!

I don't see a reason to be "disgusted." If you chose the name because it's classic and sweet there isn't anything wrong with that, even if there is a Disney Princess by that name. It's my great-grandmother's name, so I don't get the opposition, all because of a children's film.

I was pretty disgusted when Frozen came out, because I had chosen Elsa for my youngest daughter (7 years ago now) as an uncommon but classic name, but what can you do? My daughter mostly likes her name, but sometimes she doesn't. I keep hoping the Frozen craze will finally pass away without very many namesakes! Little girls do get excited when they hear my daughter's name, though.

Elsa is a gorgeous, short-and-sweet name. I can't fight it anymore. I'm in love with it. ❤️🌈

still didn't care for Frozen. I'm a Princess Jasmine type of girl.

My immediate association was Born Free (which is OK as I love big cats)

Another important figure was Elsa Morante, who was an Italian novelist, short story writer, poet, and essayist. Pure genius!

Bizarrely, Elsa is the one Disney princess name I haven't any scruples about using. Queen Elsa is an amazing character, and I've met few people who object to, say, Atticus (aka. Atticus Finch). Oh, sure, my brothers would tease me mercilessly if I named my daughter Elsa - but they'd get over it. Anyone would. I'm seriously considering this name, if I ever have a daughter.

I could less about Frozen. Elsa is gorgeous and a perfect name to me, plus my mom's name is Betty so I would totally use it!

Frozen is great. An amazing movie, I loved it a lot. But don't discard the name Elsa just because of a Disney movies. Plenty of people have names that are seen in Disney movies. I know a Belle, two Anna's, a Jasmine, an Eric, etc. I love the name Elsa sooooooo much, even before Frozen came out :)

I agree!

I don't think that this was ruined by Frozen at all. It's still really pretty and sounds very Scandinavian

I remember a Nameberry thread some two years ago, with a woman saying that her family all hated her baby name pick of Elsa for her daughter. She said she persisted in her name choice because she and her husband loved it, and didn't care that everyone else thought it sounded like a granny name. Now all I think of is, I wonder what the woman's relatives think now! She must be laughing at them inside in triumph and feeling glad that she stuck to her favorite name choice- she's now a hipster who named her daughter Elsa years before the age of Frozen! Good for her.

IMO: Elsa's a great name. I actually prefer Elspeth, similarly cultural-ethnic variant of the perennial Elizabeth, sounds just as charming and vintage, but would not explode in popularity as much as Elsa will.

My name is Grace Elizabeth....Anna means grace....Elsa is a diminutive of Elizabeth....*internal screaming/possibly combustion*

I love it!But what would people think about naming their kid after a Disney princess?

very beautiful name and spelling.

My daughter (8) is named Elsa, after my grandmother. She loves her name but doesn't like when people relate it to the movie. She is not a Disney princess kind of girl. I tell her it will pass and her name is beautiful.

Agreed. They should.... let it go.

The associations never bothered me anyway.

Way to ruin another great name, Disney.

Great name, and not just because of Frozen, although that's a good association, too.

also, Elsa fits with the current trends of baby naming. Turn of the century names feel very fresh now. Rapunzel and Merida are out there names when taken out of context. Elsa fits perfectly with Hazel, Josephine, and Olivia. THAT is why its an issue, not JUST because its in a movie. Essentially, its throwing this name into the minds of expecting parents already clambering for a "fresh" vintage name.

No, Elsa isn't from Frozen. Elsa is used in Frozen. It's not like Galadriel from the Tolkien books.

Yes but I think that Frozen is way more popular then brave and tangled

I love Elsa the only problem is that its from Frozen in fact we were going to name our second daughter Elsa but frozen came out so 1. We decided since it was from frozen everyone would think of Elsa from that movie instead of my Elsa and 2. My first daughter, Maisie would be so jealous of her baby sister because Maisie loves frozen

Elsa is a lovely name, with or without the Frozen connotation.

beautiful name. instead of thinking of Frozen you could always associate it with Elsa Einstein, Albert Einstein's second wife :)

Did anyone else notice how they called Queen Elsa "Disney's newest princess"?

I have a 30 year old cousin named Elsa, I've always thought it was really pretty.

This could work in 50 years when no one cares about frozen, I personally wouldn't want the question "Did you name her Elsa because of Frozen?" and the constant singing of let it go or getting let it go stuck in your head upon hearing your daughter's name or even thinking about your daughter.

i named my daughter Elsa a week before the movie came out. the name was already picked out after a VERY long battle with my husband (which i eventually won), so giving up on it when I heard she was a new Disney queen was not going to happen. only a few people have ever said anything, and we laugh about it, so as long as you go into it with that mentality its not bad. most recognize the coincidence and say something like "all her classmates will be jealous!" BUT the best reactions come from little kids who ask me what her name is. when i say Elsa their eyes light up and they look at their parents in shock and say "JUST LIKE IN FROZEN!" which only reaffirms that its an awesome name :)

You could always associate this name with Elsa Eschelsson who the first Swedish woman doctor in law or Elsa Lanchester who was best known for playing the bride of Frakenstein or Elsa Einstein the second wife of Albert Einstein. I hope this helps you think of something besides Frozen :)

The thing is, in Hans Christian Andersen's original story the character was not named Elsa, the popularity is Disneyfied. That still won't deter me from using it (because it's gorgeous I love it!) but again by the time I have kids Frozen will be old, it'll be like Toy Story from my generation. That movie came out the year I was born and no one really brings up the name connections. I'll wait this one out.

I think I would really like this name if only I could find something else to associate it with besides Frozen.

I associate this name with a Mexican restaurant in Ohio. I live in Texas now and every time I watch "Frozen", I find myself missing Ohio and craving something from Elsa's menu.

yeah i had a friend from summer camp named Elsa. That was the first time i had heard it. It's a spanish variation of Elizabeth, she said.

I WOULD use this for a character in my novel, but my other character has white hair. I'm going with Mary instead, to avoid too many Frozen references. I do really love this name.

I don't understand why people don't want to use this name because of Frozen. Elsa is a beautiful name and was that way even before Disney made a Queen with the name. I think the Disney association is more of a reason to use it! What little girl wouldn't want to be named after an awesome Disney character, especially one with snow and ice powers? I can't think of one. In fact, for a while my seven year old sister wanted to change her name to Elsa (now she just wants three kids named Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff).

Elsa is a gorgeous name--if you love it, go for it!!! An alternative would be Elke (pronounced Elka).

I wanted to call one of my children Elsa, but all I can say is that I hope the Frozen craze will have died down by then. I came across the name in Born Free.

Such a beautiful name with so many nice associations! Love its soft sounds.

I liked this name years ago because of the Victoria's Secret model Elsa Hosk, but now I won't even bother with it. (But on the other hand by the time I have kids Frozen will be like 10 years old or something)

I've always liked this name.

I was so thinking the same thing! I loved the before frozen. I say use it. It's such a lovely name.

Thanks for the feedback-I love it more than ever!

It's a lovely name, and let's be honest, there are literary associations with just about every name out there. If anybody asks if you chose the name because of Frozen, say "No" and that's the end of it. It's really not too much of a hassle that you should consider discarding the name entirely.

Yeah I'm guessing that Elsa also came from the Frozen movie.

If you really want to, you could use an alternative spelling, but Elsa is such a beautiful name. Think of all the Ariels, Jasmines, Belles and Annas out there. The world needs Elsas. It's a shame to shove it aside because of a wonderful namesake.

I say go for it! It's a beautiful name and even if people think of Frozen, I don't think it really matters. She's a very strong, independent character, not a flimsy, silly princess like some of them. Plus, in a year there will be a new movie craze, and Frozen will be less popular. Just like Brave and Tangled.

I loved this name before Frozen, and now I'm expecting a girl I really want to use it, but I'm afraid it will seem that I'm naming her after a Disney princess! Thoughts?

Although this name does have strong connections with "Frozen" for me, it still is very simple and stunning. Quite a gem.