Elsie

Elsie is a teacup on a windowsill, a diminutive born in Scotland from Elspeth, itself a form of Elizabeth, "pledged to God." It dominated the Victorian nursery, vanished for most of the twentieth century, and then came drifting back with the vintage revival, an entire generation of great-grandmothers handing their name forward. Today it sits in the U.S. 150s, beloved by parents who like their girls' names short, sweet, and faintly embroidered. One bright syllable plus a soft tail, Elsie feels like butter on warm bread, like a child who names every stuffed animal in alphabetical order.