Comic by Jim Davis. Image source
I have a theory – completely without proof – that “Elizabeth” has more variants than any other name. You have:
- Betsy
- Eliza
- Elsa (for you Frozen fans out there)
- Ellie
- Lisa
- Liz
- Isabel
- Libby
- Bess
- Beth
- Betty
- Buffy (no, really)
(Thanks to Baby Name Wizard for helping with that list.)
Other names have variants you might not expect. Peggy, for instance, is a diminutive of Margaret.
And John is fun to trace around the world:
- Jean (French)
- Johan (German)
- Giovanni (Italian)
- Juan (Spanish)
- Ivan (Russian)
- Sean (Irish)
…not to mention Jack.
James, meanwhile, is a derivative of the biblical Jacob, which means “heel-grabber.”
Crazy.
Coming soon: weird old American names that nobody uses anymore. Like “Philander.” No, really.
Brian D. Buckley 
You forgot “Eli” 🙂
Hmm…interesting. Seems like it can be related to Elizabeth, Helen, or even some others. I’m curious where you came across Eli as a female name, since it seems fairly obscure.
My friend Rob’s wife liked to be called “Eli” and hated “Liz”.
Cool 🙂
I read a book once where the narrator posed the thesis that not only are there a lot of versions of Elizabeth, but you can make some predictions about personality based on which one a particular Elizabeth uses. A Beth is usually very different from a Liz or a Libby (the theory goes).
Also, for Eli as female name, see the movie Let the Right One In. Or just see it because it’s really good. 🙂
I’ve actually seen Let The Right One In, both the American version and the original. Loved them both! But I’d forgotten about there being an Eli in it. :-O