Elsje

Elsje is a Dutch diminutive form of Els, itself a short form of Elisabeth or Alheid (a contracted form of Adelaide), both ultimately rooted in Hebrew Elisheba, meaning something akin to "my God is an oath" or "my God is abundance." The name has been in common use in the Netherlands and Flanders for centuries, carried by ordinary women of the early modern period as well as appearing in Dutch Golden Age art, most famously in Rembrandt's tender 1646 portrait of a young girl. Related forms include Elske, Else, and the fuller Elisabeth and Elsbeth across other Germanic languages.