Monday, March 16, 2015

Usual Nickname, Unexpected Name: Etta/Ettie

Despite the fact that Etta rose higher than any of her long forms, I still think of her as a nickname. I'm not sure why--because -etta is a diminutive suffix, perhaps?
Anyway, she's usually listed as a nickname for Henrietta on sites and in books, but there are tons of fun possibilities...


  • Agneta (ahng-NET-ah, Swedish)--form of Agnes. Other forms include Aunetta (Finnish).
  • Aleta (ah-LET-ah, English, Scandinavian)--form of Adelaide or Alethea. Also spelled Aletta.
  • Aniceta (ah-nee-SEH-tah, Spanish; ah-nee-TSEH-tah, Polish)--from Greek, "unconquerable"
  • Annetta (ah-NET-tah, Italian)
  • Antonietta (ahn-tohn-YET-tah, Italian)
  • Arletta (ar-LET-tah, English)
  • Benedetta (beh-neh-DET-tah, Italian)--feminine of Benedict
  • Bernetta (bur-NET-tah, English)--form of Berenice/Veronica
  • Caieta (kye-ET-ah, Latin)
  • Claretta (clah-RET-tah, Italian)
  • Concetta (kon-CHET-tah, Italian)
  • Coretta (koh-RET-tah, English)
  • Dionetta (dee-oh-NEH-tah, Italian, English)--form of Denise/Dionysia
  • Elettra (eh-LET-trah, Italian)--form of Electra
  • Elisabetta (eh-lee-zah-BET-tah, Italian)--form of Elizabeth. Other forms include Alžbeta (Slovak), Elżbieta (Polish), Elisaveta (Macedonian), & Yelizaveta (Russian).
  • Etelka (ET-el-kaw, Hungarian)
  • Etelvina (et-el-VEE-nah, Spanish)--from Germanic, "noble friend"
  • Eteri (eh-teh-ree, Georgian)--"air, ether"
  • Étiennette (ay-tee-en-ET, French)
  • Fiammetta (fee-ah-MET-tah, Italian)--"little flame"
  • Fioretta (fee-oh-RET-tah, Italian)--"little flower"
  • Floretta (floh-RET-tah, English)
  • Georgeta (jor-JEH-tah, Romanian)
  • Giosetta (joh-ZET-tah, Italian)
  • Iveta (ee-VEH-tah, Czech, Latvian, Slovak)--form of Yvette
  • Jacquetta (jah-KET-tah, English)--form of Jacqueline
  • Julieta (joo-lee-ET-ah, English. Portuguese; hoo-lee-EH-tah, Spanish)--also spelled Julietta
  • Lauretta (law-RET-tah, lohr-ET-tah, English; low-RET-tah, Italian)--form of Laura. Another form is Loretta.
  • Lucetta (loo-SET-tah, English)--form of Lucy
  • Margaretta (mar-gah-RET-tah, English)--other forms include Margareta (Dutch, German, Scandinavian), Margrete (Scandinavian), Marjeta (Slovene), Marketta (Finnish), & Merete (Dutch).
  • Marietta (mah-ree-ET-tah, Italian)
  • Nicoletta (nee-koh-LET-tah, Italian)--other forms include Nikoleta (Greek) & Nicoleta (Romanian)
  • Odetta (oh-DET-tah, English)
  • Pauletta (paw-LET-tah, English)
  • Rosetta (roh-ZET-tah, Italian)
  • Stenetta (sten-EH-tah, Scandinavian)--from Old Norse, "stone"
  • Violeta (vee-oh-LEH-tah, Bulgarian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Serbian, Spanish)--Italian form is Violetta.
  • Žaneta (zhah-NET-ah, Czech, Slovak)--form of Jane/Jean/Joan. Another form is Żaneta (Polish)

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