Elspeth/Alice

[Lilym]

Broken down a brick wall  and have come across a wife's name varying between Alice and Elspeth. It is a Scottish family and definitely the same person as other family members may be named - census, relationship on certificates, etc. Has anyone else encountered this combination? If it is normal it may break down another wall in another family where I have been searching of a death and second marriage.
Comments welcome.

[Schoch]

At the risk of stating the obvious, could she have both names and alternated each of them throughout her life.

I have a relative called Dorothy Jayne and found that sometimes (birth) it was Dorothy. Later it was Jayne (census and marriage).

Richard (middle name withheld) 

[Millmoor]

Whenever I have a problem regarding first names I always have a look at the wonderful "whatsinaname" site. The exemplars are largely from Scotland.

If you look at the entries for Alice and Elspeth on the above site ,while the two names would not appear to be interchangeable, one thing that they do share in  common is the pet name Elsie.

William

[ThrelfallYorky]

Elsie? Now: that's something I never knew .... and I'm glad to know. I'd always simply assumed e
Elsie was a name in its own right. Thanks.

[Millmoor]

Well worth reading the entry for Elsie " Elsie was derived late in the 19th century from Elspeth, via its mainly Scottish pet form Elspie. In the 20th century it began to be used as an independent name and overtook Elspeth in popularity. It may also be a pet name for Elsa and Elizabeth/Elisabeth...... Elsie is a rare pet name for Alison, itself a diminutive of Alice."

William 

[Andrew Tarr]

Elsie? Now: that's something I never knew .... and I'm glad to know. I'd always simply assumed Elsie was a name in its own right. Thanks.

My great-aunt was christened Elizabeth but I believe was always known as Elsie.

As a general rule, I would say most names ending in '-ie' or '-y' are pet names for something else, with a few clear exceptions such as Henry, Barry or Valerie, for example.  I posted a few months back about Victorian baptisms in my Lancashire parish, where a rash of Bettys, Minnies, Lizzies and the like persisted for about a decade.

What happens in other languages?

[Lilym]

Thank you all for your input, certainly a thinking cap needed.  The lady in question was married as Alice, was Elspeth on her husband's death certificate, back to Alice as next of kin on a son's enlistment papers, mostly Alice in the census but one Elspeth. It may be worth me looking at a child's death cert sometime.
I had found Elsie as an abbreviation for Elizabeth in the early 18th century, again a Scottish family. I will look out for that book.

[Millmoor]

Just Google "whatsinaname", LilyM. It is a website where you search by name. (I would provide a link if I knew how to do so!).

William

[Girl Guide]

William - as you were uncertain how to copy & paste I have provided the link below:

http://www.whatsinaname.net/

I assume this is the one that you are referring to?