How do you introduce your dc if you use a diminutive of their name? And did the diminutive change as your child grew old enough to voice an opinion?

[ToTiredToBeWitty]

Do use their full name or the name they are called in everyday life?

We are thinking of using Edward in the birth certificate and then Ted. So two questions:

1. How did you introduce them? (Edward or Ted in this case)
   

1. We will use Ted but its very possible that in later life he wouldn't want to be known as Ted. Has this happened to you? Did you start calling him something else that he choose (eg Ed) or do you always call him the diminutive that you chose and its just his peers who use his new choice?

[fibrecruncher]

My brother is called Edward - so I do love the name. I always called him Ned and Neddy when we were growing up. He now goes by Ed or Edward - but I can't bring myself to call him Ed. I have to be careful as we work together sometimes and I have to stop myself introducing him as Neddy - not something he'd appreciate in professional circles :) However I've never been particularly fussed by what diminutive of my name people use (have a long name with lots of options). I always found it interesting to see what people came up with and an idea of how they saw me.

[dinkystinky]

DS1 is Joshua - we call him Josh - Ds2 is Daniel - we call him Danny. We introduce them by their diminutives.

[littlepeas]

My ds is Alexander, he is supposed to be known as Alex but is mostly called Alexi (older dc started this and it stuck). I introduce him as Alex.

My family (mum and dad, etc) call me by a different diminutive to everyone else. It's a bit odd sometimes (like during speeches at our wedding - dad called me one thing, dh and best man the other), but is generally not an issue. If my parents started calling me by the other nickname it would be much more weird!

[DorisIsWaiting]

DD1 is Emily but known as Milly we introduced her as Milly. As she has grown she is still know as Milly but that may yet change. School teachers call her Milly but all her official documentation is Emily.

[BardOfBarking]

DS is an Edward - we introduce him as Teddy and we call him Teddy or Ted. In fact he was surprised to learn that he had a 'grown up' name when he started school and the teacher called him Edward!!! :) Now even the teachers call him Teddy.

[Trills]

I would assume that you would do what an adult would do - introduce yourself or your child by the name you expect the person to use.

[PrincessOfChina]

A friend's dad once told me that the best name for your child should have a standard version, a diminutive and a derivative. Excellent advice.

So, Edward, Ted, Ed

I'd introduce my daughter by the name I expected people to call her.

[superbadspeller]

I introduce dd by her name as even though family and friends call her a diffrrent name it's not appropriate for school/doctors etc.

Ds is known as a shortened version of his name most of the time by everyone - hv etc call him full name but i mention they can use short name and they do.

Not much help am i?!

[MushiMushi]

I have a longer name on my birth certificate, and I have always been known by my diminutive. I hate being called by my proper name as the only time I ever heard my parents say it was when I was being told off.

I must say I hate having a different name on my birth certificate. For example, at school and uni as my name was down on the register in full, I felt like I was constantly having to correct teachers with "please call me xxx instead". Also I get awfully confused when filling out forms/registering with utilities/various other admin type stuff, because I never know whether I should be giving my proper name or even whether it matters. It just all seems like such a faff when I'd never bother with the full name in real life anyway....because it's just not 'my' name.

[superbadspeller]

[FunnysInLaJardin]

DS2 is Raphael on his birth certifucate but we have always called him Rafe. I doubt most people know his full name tbh and at 3 I'm not sure he does! DS1 is Fabian and is known as that or Fabes or Fabie.

[Thurlow]

DD is Alexandria. I do sometimes introduce her as Alexandria because it's not the name she actually gets called, so I like to give it an airing occasionally! But she is Alex, and most of the time she is introduced as Alex - especially now she looks unequivocally like a girl. When she was a baby I used to get enormous pleasure out out of replying "Alex" when people asked her name, knowing full well they were trying to politely ask if she was a girl or a boy

[itsnothingoriginal]

Love Edward (and Ted as nn)

My DS is Laurie and some people initially look a bit before I explain its short for Laurence! He's always called by his nn at the moment but the option is there if he chooses to use his full name when he's a high court judge

[FatherSpodoKomodo]

Ds has always been called by the shortened versiOn of his name. When he started school the Reception teacher asked me how I wanted his stuff labelled as this would also be the name he'd be taught to write. I chose the shortened version as it was really all he'd ever known.

He's now in year 1 and his stuff is labelled with his full name (no idea why they changed it) but he does now know how to spell both names, and answers to both. There's really only one nickname for his name though, and I guess he's always been known by his nn so his friends will grow up calling him that.

Weirdly, my Ds1 has a full name with a very obvious nickname that no one has ever used except me! None of his friends have ever shortened his name!

[3boysgirlontheway]

I really want to call DD a diminutive of her name but, I just can't seem to stop using the full version. She is 15 months and I use the diminutive in texts at times but never when saying her name.

[FanjoPaterson]

2yo DD is Imogen. She's called Bean by pretty much everyone except her doctor.

I'm pretty sure she doesn't realise she has a name other than Bean or Small Fry!

[AnathemaDevice]

Both DS1 and DD use the shortened versions of their name, and that's how I introduce them. I've started using their full names more since DS2 came along, otherwise all 3 of them have 2 syllable names ending in 'y'.

They're only 4 and 2, so it's a bit early to know whether they will want to use their full names when they're older. I think I'll always use the names I call them now, even if nobody else does.

[Catbiscuit]

I have an Edward who we call teddy or ted. I always introduce him as teddy. When he was born we announced Edward x x (teddy)
He's at school now. He knows he has a 'long' name of Edward but insists on being called teddy. He is teddy to his teachers, on his books etc.

[arwen72t]

I have an Amelia who is Millie at home but Amelia at school, an older ds who goes by his full name and a younger ds who thinks his name is bear as we use it more than his actual name ( which we love and bear is a derivative of)

[nooka]

When my two were small I tended to introduce them by their full names, and at school etc that's what they were known as. As they have got older we tend to only really call dd by the short form of her name (or variations of), whereas ds gets all forms of his name :) They introduce themselves using their short forms. I don't really like the short forms on official stuff (school reports etc) as it feels very informal to me, but it's not really a big deal.

My close family tend to call me (and probably introduce me to others) by a short form that I don't use otherwise anymore (and haven't for about 20 years). So it's a bit odd when people I don't know very well use it.

[Bowlersarm]

All three of my DS's are known by the shortened version of their name, and that's how they are introduced.

For official forms we would write out their full names but on some forms eg school forms, or forms for out of school clubs etc, would put in brackets what they are known as eg Edward James Brown (known as Teddy)

[TrudyW]

Our little man is Jacob and we use JayJay a lot, I introduce him as both really and he does reply to both. His dad uses Coby a lot which I never knew was a nickname for Jacob but it is in baby name books.

[Nivet]

My DS (4) is officially an Edward but I don't think anyone even realises that - he's 100% Ted, always introduced as Ted.

It's a great name

[RandomMess]

Elizabeth, known by family as buffy always was introduced as buffy, now called Lizzie by her friends.

We still usually call her Buff - old habits die hard

She seems to answer to any of the above!

[RandomMess]

In fact all mine have nick names that get used all the time by the wider family and in front of friends