In your opinion, can people with names like 'Posy', 'Kitty' or 'Dotty' be taken seriously?

Omg my senior doctor on tonight is a Polly!! People are making ridiculous assumptions on here,

I kind of agree with your mother. Posy & Polly are ok as nn but not to be taken seriously. A 'proper' (sorry can't find the right word) name for the first name and then Posy or Polly as a middle name?

I have given my DD a (fairly common) long name and short name, and we have always used both interchangeably. If that's is annoying to other people, well.... how is it their business?!! And every traditional boy name seems to get shortened at school anyway. Why not pick one with a shortening you like? Would you call a child Jim instead of James? I doubt it.

OP, people in RL (esp mothers!) love nosing in other people's name choices pre-birth. Much better to make a decision you love, keep it a secret, tell people at the birth, then they can lump it!

names always get shortened or lengthened no matter what they are,Posy will be called Po for sure!

PLus if they hate it they can change it when they get to 18 if they want to,my cousin did that,but it was from one boring name to another so didnt see the point.

I dont see the point of giving formal names if you intend to call them a shortened version,its annoying,and that comes from someone with a long name who is known as the shortened version,id rather of just been called the short one.

Littleen,

Whilst people shouldn't judge others on their names, I think it is naive to think that others won't. There's a huge amount of research to show that people are judged by their names all the time. The link shows this point, although it is American, but there is a lot of British studies that have similar results

www.livescience.com/6569-good-bad-baby-names-long-lasting-effects.html

There's another, British study where researchers sent in identical CVs, certain names were found to be offered interviews far more frequently compared to other names. I forget where I read it, but it was fascinating.

And also, just because a name will become more common, doesn't mean it will necessarily be judged well. Think Sharon and Tracy of our generation!

Pixie is a way cooler name than Bernadette

Not suer I would not take someone with a cutesy name seriously..., but I do think that a lot of the recently trendy cutesy names are likely to sound dated as they fall out of favour again, as people look towards more solid names again. Such names incluce Alfie, Archie, Poppy, Ellie, Evie, Molly etc.

I personally prefer the sound of longer, elegant sounding names.

I think Poppy is popular on a larger age span, went to uni with one, had an 18 year old apprentice one last year and know a three year old one!

And yet despite her 'proper' name she still goes by Pixie in her professional life!

I think it's ridiculous to judge someone by their name, and I would happily have a doctor called Posy or a lawyer called Lola! Name your little one what you think is beautiful :) None of them will be thought about as "too ditsy" by their own generation, because they are not so unusual. It won't matter!

Yes CheshireDing, but "Pixie" McKenna from Embarrassing Bodies is actually Bernadette Anne McKenna!

I haven't read the whole thread as it's massive

We have a Poppy and yes it does seem to be becoming a bit more popular but by the time she grows up and is in the working world there will be lots of people different ages so less people with the same names, ikywim.

Kitty or Dotty I think are fine but would probably use them as the nn but register the official name so the child then does have a choice.

I do think it is better to not tell people your name choices in RL though as they love to give their opinion ! Let's face it most people grow in to their names and nobody thinks anything of it.

We know a Teddy and the Doctor off Embarrassing Bodies is called Pixie.

Yon according to google it is!

Is Posy short for Josephine?

Having the choice though makes it feel like you're not being called by your actual name. My birth certificate name is a formal name which I actually love as it was given to me at birth, later on in life when I was a little older way before school it got shortened to a nickname. Now I'm known by my nickname by everyone and really hate it! If I request my formal name it always get shortened and doesn't 'stick'. If your child grows up with being known as a shortened name, that will be their identity, if at 21 they change it to their formal name on their birth certificate they won't feel like themselves in my opinion.

I just wish I was still known as what was actually on my birth certificate! It's who I am!

I guess I also like the idea of having a formal/informal distinction in names. I always use the full version of my first name on official stuff, but shorten it with family and friends. I quite like having the distinction - I'd have hated it if that choice had been taken away from me.

It's your child your decision

[Dons hard hat]. I really hate that attitude. We don't own our children. They're the ones who have to live with their names long after we're dead and gone. At least give them something un-cutesy on the birth cert so they have a choice in later life.

To make clear, Kitty is on her birth certificate too, it's not simply a nickname.

If think your mum is wrong. I always want to be sure enough of my daughter's name to put it on the birth certificate and not just put a traditional name and then shorten it if that makes sense.
My daughter's name is Kitty by the way! It is such a pretty name and is actually very old fashioned, one of the sisters in Pride and Prejudice is called Kitty! She gets lots of compliments on her name and is the only one in her school with the name.

My gp is called dolly. I work with a radiographer called kitty. I know an obstetrician called Hetty. And my feisty nieces have four of the names that have come up on this thread. Shame on you lot who are showing your snobby colours. Really, who do some of you think you are?

It's your child your decision, I regret telling people the name of my son before he was born they all looked at me as if I was mad then offered up their own (dull, boring, traditional or overused) suggestion as if I'd change my mind. My little boy is called Brody and he suits it right down to the ground. if he really hates it or finds it holds him back when he grows up his middle name is Alexander and he can use that.

Am I the only one that's thinks its ludicrous to give their child a formal name and a nickname? Are people that do that members of the royal family or summat. Sounds to me, like the way a pedigree dog has a name on his certificate for show purposes but a pet name for home. Barmy on a human.

Why would someone who likes Kitty( I love it btw) put Catherine on birth certificate? Sounds snobby to me and as if a parent is embarrassed by the name they really like.

Also, what is exactly wrong with being girly and cutesy?I am a professional woman but love sparkly, glittery pink stuff. Doesn't mean I have no brains!

Yeah Susan may be nice but a little dull(sorry). I'd much rather be a Kitty, Polly or even a Princess :)

I bet this doesn't happen in the states.

I will admit to sometimes being a bit sniffy about certain names, and Lola was always the exemplar - it seemed to become popular about the same time as I had my oh-so-sensibly-named daughter. But then I came across this lady - Baroness (Lola) Young of Hornsey:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Young,_Baroness_Young_of_Hornsey

She's amazing, and I feel embarrassed about being mean about what the name Lola signifies. More fool me!

ps ref the name Poppy, I like, but did inwardly cringe once when hearing the (quite posh) mum of one calling her child in the park by several even more cute forms of it: Popstar, Popsicle, Poptart...