Random questions I've been saving up....

[sedgiebaby]

None of these seem to have warranted their 'own' post but I'd like feedback/thoughts. Your thoughts on just one point or all anything welcome

1. Can you actually stop unwanted nick names?
   

e.g. We like Eloise Grace and Evangeline/Angeline Grace so...Is Eloise going to be Ellie even if I want Lulu; Evangeline/Angeline going to be 'Evie' or 'Angie' if I want GiGi.

1. Is GiGi a nice nn for dd or am I being whimsical!?
   

1. Can I go for the french, Raphaelle for a girl (DH French Canadian) or would it have to be Raphaella (our last name starts 'la' so sounds v silly)and are the lads at work right about 'teenage ninja turtles?!'
   

1. What do you think for Isadora/Isadore (is it Franglais as I need to satisfy this for the French speaking side of the family)
   

1. How awful is it if a friend has the named new baby a name we REALLY LOVE (not close friend)and would 'prefer' I wouldn't use it...and we do?
   

1. Is it stupid to have more than one nn for dd? e.g. if going for Angeline/Evangeline...french side of the family LOVE Angelie (on-ja-lee), English side of the family can't say it, and like GiGi
   

Sorry for the long post but would love your thoughts...

[HarderToKidnap]

1. No, not past the age of 6 or so
   
2. Sounds a bit Spearmint Rhino to me. But if you love it, then great.
   
3. There isn't technically a law against it, but it doesn't translate well to the UK
   
4. Don't like, your other names are much nicer
   
5. Your friend is being a twat. You can use it. Unless of course, she made the name up.
   
6. No, it's fine to have a few nicknames. I have about 5, from different groups of people.

[sedgiebaby]

Thank you HarderToKidnap this is helpful! Except I'm wasn't sure of what a Spearmint Rhino was but I asked the lads at work and they enlightened me lol!

[BikeRunSki]

What Harder just said - exept I rather like Isadora.

[LarkinSky]

Q2, I think it's horrible, agree with HarderToKidnap, 'a bit Spearmint Rhino'

Q3 Raphaelle is lovely. Plenty of other womens' names end in 'elle'.

Re question 5: if she's not a good friend now, chances are you're more likely to drift apart than closer together, and you may not even be in touch with her by the time your child starts school. So don't worry about it.

[SummerRain]

1. No... which was a mjor consideration for me and i ended up naming all three of mine names that couldn't be shortened... dd actually has our preferred name as a middle name as it has a horrible shortened version
   

1. A buxom woman in a corset and suspenders comes to mind, sorry!
   

1. I have to admit i did immedietly thing Ninja Turtles but then i am an 80's child so they were a huge part of my childhood
   

1. It makes me think of perfume for some reason, is there a perfume with this name Oh, wait... it's make up isn't it?
   

1. If it's not a close friend and you loe it who cares? i know lots of people with babies called the same as a friends older child... wouldn't do it myself but don't see a problem with it.
   

1. No, perfectly normal

[sedgiebaby]

Thanks for responses so far, DH has just vetoed Isadora via text saying it is an 'old mans name?' (what? see what I have to put up with!?)

[Cortina]

Good as I like the others but not that one, makes me think of a witch for some reason.

Sebastian, Carine? Carine is French isn't it, Carine Roitfeld with a daughter Julia..French Vogue editor.

[ValiumSingleton]

1. in primary school you can control a nick name I think. Children in the playground have called out *'kitty' to my daughter after school and I have said to them 'her name is not Kitty, please call Katherine by her name, which is actually Katherine'. Seems to have nipped it in the bud.
   
   
2. Gigi is very sexualised imo. I see her revolving around a pole in a thong. Waxed to within a millimetre of her life.
   
   
3. I prefer Rafaelle to Raphaella with a sur name that starts La ___. It's pretty, unusual, but it's still familiar, and I definitely think you will 'get away with it'. Even without a French Canadian link.
   
   
4. Just don't like that name, either Isadora or Isadore. Isolde is lovely though. So is Ismene. neither of them is French though
   
   
5. Who ever has a baby of that sex and names it first is the first past the post. Even if it was your idea and you made the mistake of sharing, and she was inspired by you - totally frustrating, and I sympathise, but the first baby NAMED is the original and the second baby named is the second one. That's just the way it is, no matter how unfair. Keep your ideas to yourself!!
   
   
6. No! I have loads for both my children. Some are bonkers and bear no similarity to their real names, like Tubzee and Pookie and Podge, and others are a bit like their names. I have many versions of these which are straightforward shortened versions and fancified versions. OKay for ME to use but not for some random child in their class to pick on a name which will stick for their entire acquaintance for the next 15 years.

[PaulineCampbellJones]

1. Whatever you do and no matter how short the name is, someone will always think of a nickname
   
2. I have a friend called Gigi who is French, gorgeous and very clever. Not a bad template.
   
3. Raphaelle is really nice.
   
4. Like both of these too, prefer Isadore
   
5. Its a tough one - my niece is Eva and I loved Aoife so no if they are very close and family. But if you aren't going to mix too much don't see the problem.
   
6. No, my dad has two nicknames depending on the family and some of my friends have completely different ones with their family and between sets of friends.

[CupcakesHay]

1. Agree - afetr a certain age, no control over nicknames. I read a book where Evangeline was nn Vangy (UGH!)
   
2. Gigi is nice IMO, i agree a bit spearmint rhino, but also - used to be a sports presenter who was Gigi - and she was not slutty, if you see what i mean!
   
3. LOVE this name
   
4. Irrelevant thanks to your DH's text (LOL!)
   
5. I had same problem, and asked it on here - about name Beatrice - and pretty much got told - No, unless you are not close, or don't want kids playing together. That being said - did you already have name in mind, when she named her kid or did you hear name and think WOW And what is it - so i can steal if i like it :)
   
6. I have random nn - some to do with name, some to do with me - so no probs there.

[BikeRunSki]

1. and 6. I have been thinking about this, and my DS (2), niece (6) and DH (30 something!) all have several nn that have nothing to do with their first names. eh: DS is "Peepee" (affectionatley) to one set of cousins because his middle initials are "PP". Poor lad! Should have thought about that ! My own nn is based on my hair.

[mathanxiety]

1. Can you actually stop unwanted nick names?
   

e.g. We like Eloise Grace and Evangeline/Angeline Grace so...Is Eloise going to be Ellie even if I want Lulu; Evangeline/Angeline going to be 'Evie' or 'Angie' if I want GiGi.

-- What you do is always use the preferred nn, never use the original name except officially.

1. Is GiGi a nice nn for dd or am I being whimsical!?
   

-- It's beautiful.

1. Can I go for the french, Raphaelle for a girl or would it have to be Raphaella, and are the lads at work right about 'teenage ninja turtles?!'
   

-- I think you could use Raphaelle, but some people will get it wrong and call her Raphaella. This goes for a lot of French names ending with E (Marie turns in to Maria, etc) The Ninja Turtles are not exactly cutting edge popular culture right now, so ignore the lads at work.

-- (Isadore/Isadora question now settled.. But I would consider Isadore a boy's name, Isadora a girl's).

1. How awful is it if a friend has the named new baby a name we REALLY LOVE (not close friend)and would 'prefer' I wouldn't use it...and we do?
   

-- There will be hard feelings; be prepared for a lot of cooling of the friendship. If this doesn't bother you, then go ahead.

1. Is it stupid to have more than one nn for dd? e.g. if going for Angeline/Evangeline...french side of the family LOVE Angelie (on-ja-lee), English side of the family can't say it, and like GiGi
   

-- Are you sure the English side can't say Angelie? What is their problem? It's not rocket science. Not stupid, but maybe a bit confusing for your DD, depending on how often she wees the rellies. If she sees one side of the family a lot and then visits the others occasionally, she might be puzzled about being called something different. Or she might take it in her stride and not be a bit bothered. Can the French not say GiGi?

I think your expectations of both sides wrt pronunciation are simultaneously too high and too low (you want them to do it exactly as you do but don't think they possibly can), and that you're overthinking the potential cultural and linguistic problems. No matter how you choose, the French and English -speaking relatives are going to speak to your DD in different accents and languages. And no matter what you choose, your DD may confound you herself and come up with some charming nn or pronunciation of her own that will stick.

[mathanxiety]

Obviously if she 'wees' the rellies she won't be seeing them too often ...."SEES"

[lowrib]

1. Can you actually stop unwanted nick names?
   

e.g. We like Eloise Grace and Evangeline/Angeline Grace so...Is Eloise going to be Ellie even if I want Lulu; Evangeline/Angeline going to be 'Evie' or 'Angie' if I want GiGi.

You can't stop unwanted NN, but this is true with any name. MIL gave DP a name she thought couldn't possibly be nicknamed, specifically because she doesn't like NNs. DP's primary schoolmates made up a NN based on his surname instead, and he has been called this ever since, most of his mates don't even know his real first name! So I reckon go for what you want, and hope for the best!

1. Is GiGi a nice nn for dd or am I being whimsical!?
   

I'm not very keen on it, but if you love it go for it.

1. Can I go for the french, Raphaelle for a girl (DH French Canadian) or would it have to be Raphaella (our last name starts 'la' so sounds v silly)and are the lads at work right about 'teenage ninja turtles?!'
   

Raphaelle is lovely. TMNT a thing of the past now.

1. What do you think for Isadora/Isadore (is it Franglais as I need to satisfy this for the French speaking side of the family)
   

Lovely names.

1. How awful is it if a friend has the named new baby a name we REALLY LOVE (not close friend)and would 'prefer' I wouldn't use it...and we do?
   

Is it a very unusual name? If not, go for it and if they complain they're being a bit precious IMO. If it is a very unusual name, on the other hand I can understand them being a bit miffed, but even so they don't own the name. Like mathanxiety says if you don't mind the possibility of the relationship cooling then there's no reason why not.

1. Is it stupid to have more than one nn for dd? e.g. if going for Angeline/Evangeline...french side of the family LOVE Angelie (on-ja-lee), English side of the family can't say it, and like GiGi
   

Angelie is lovely. Could the English learn to say it with a bit of practice maybe?

[stleger]

My dd1 has 2 names beginning with G - we intended to call her GiGi, but it never caught on! I have three kids, none has ever had a nickname really. My aunt was really strict about names not being shortened, my cousins had long names (like Sebastian). They got jobs in fields like nursing and the services - an immediately became Seb and Rosie!

[sedgiebaby]

This is all very interesting and really helpful, you have no idea! These questions keep me up at night!

I'm still a bit uneasy about making anyone upset about 'stealing' their choice,I had fallen in love with it before I realised, and it is one of the names cited and so a bit unusual.

But my dilemma is that I need a French/English name that is easily spelt and said by English people that isn't too frilly (on account of our kind fancy-sounding-in-England, French last name) and there is very very little that we agree on, DH has vetoed literally hundreds of names!

[mathanxiety]

I don't think the English would be completely stumped by Angelie (which I love) -- look at names like Niamh, Caoimhe, Saoirse, Siofra, Caoilfhionn, Siobhan and other Irish names that people have got used to.

[stleger]

I get stumped by some of the Irish names at times, and I'm from Northern Ireland living in Cork. i can say them but i can't spell them...

[sedgiebaby]

mathanxiety thanks for your comment although most unfortunately I only know how to say two of those :S (feels a bit stupid)

[Atlasive]

1. No
   
2. No
   
3. Up to you but may be right about the turtles
   
4. It's a computer program
   
5. It's your decision and no-one can copyright a name.
   
6. Up to you

[mathanxiety]

Sedgiebaby.

The trick with Irish names is not to let anyone see how they're spelled, just say them aloud and repeat until everyone can make a reasonable effort to copy you; maybe this would work for Angelie?

[Lora69]

GiGi is a veery common name for a horse in North England!!

[sedgiebaby]

Oh no's Lora69 you just took all the romance out of it, here was me thinking of the Leslie Caron movie I saw and loved as a little girl lol

[Lora69]

Haha, afraid not for those of us up north!

But regardless of that, i do tend to agree with the stripper comments, if i didnt already know the horse association!! Angelie is much better