Elsie

English

Etymology 1

From a Scottish diminutive of Alison/Alice and Elspeth/Elizabeth.

Proper noun

Elsie

1. A female given name from Hebrew.
   • 1784, R. Christopher, The Bishopric Garland, or, Durham Minstrel, Stockton, page 22:

     Elsie Marley is so neat, / 'Tis hard for one to walk the street / But every lad a lass they meet, / Cries do you ken Elsie Marley, honey?

   • 1826, James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans/Chapter 6:

     "And did he not speak of me, Heyward?" demanded Alice, with jealous affection; "surely, he forgot not altogether his little Elsie?"

   • 2001, Susan Kelly, Killing the Fatted Calf, Allison & Busby, →ISBN, page 34:

     "Obviously I wasn't going to go through life saddled with a name like Elsie. When I got up to London at the age of eighteen everybody laughed at me, so a boyfriend suggested a tiny amendment, two letters swopped, and I've been Elise for thirty years."

Usage notes

• Popular as a formal given name in the English-speaking world at the turn of the 20th century.

Etymology 2

From a Scottish diminutive of Alexander.

Proper noun

Elsie

1. (rare, obsolete) A diminutive of the male given name Alexander.

Anagrams

• Eisel, Elise, eisel

Swedish

Alternative forms

• Elsy

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Elsie c (genitive Elsies)

1. a female given name borrowed from English

Anagrams

• Elise