traditional names for a girl that can't really be shortened

Bess
Beth
Maeve
Emma
Kate
Gwen
Lila
Ruth
Anya
Rose

But i doubt anyone would give nn if you didn't use one while she is small - and later on her friends might lengthen/shorten, but you can't really stop that - she might even do it herself to be 'different' etc. If you love a name and it feels right for her, go for it. Alice is beautiful. Good luck

The thing with liking all variations is that the child themselves may choose one you dislike. If I'd had a Catherine I would have hated it if she'd decided (quite reasonably) to call herself Cat.

Lydia gets shortened to Lyd and Lyds... Trust me

Sophie
Chloe
Anna
Lauren
Freya
Maya
Mia
Lydia
Hannah
Ruth
Rachel
Thea
Orla
Isla
Poppy
Grace
Faye
Kaye
Daisy
Kirsty
Cora
Cara
Carla
Carrie
Zarah
Sarah
Beth
Kirsten

So does Lois!

Mine is known as Lolly/Loll half the time!

Ivy gets shortened believe me!

I totally understand what you are saying OP! DH and I both have the kinds of names which people automatically shorten. (Think Victoria and Jonathan sort of thing). As a result we are called all different things by all different groups of people - Vic, Vicky, Tori, Jon, Jonny, Jonty - and never have a clue how to introduce ourselves!

People often shorten them automatically and it seems rude to say no, it's x.

It is completely different to short names being affectionately abbreviated/lengthened!

We were determined to try to avoid this for our DC.

Fwiw, I love Alice but I do think it's v close to Lewis. What about Anna? Or Phoebe?

I also don't get the nickname thing and think it's a bit of a MN thing! I have a 9 letter, 3 syllable name that has never been shortened - Catherine. My family don't shorten names and all my siblings have long names that often come up MN as X, nn Y (both parents had names shortened and didn't like it).

It was only as an adult that people (usually new colleagues) would sometimes try to call me Cathy/Kate. I'd just say that no one calls me that so if you want me to answer stick to the full name! Never been a problem.

Still think Alice & Lewis would make me think you loved Lewis Carroll a lot!

How about Iona or Isla (works with Lewis as a Scottish Island name too!).

I know a Ruth that gets shortened to Roo, a Daisy that gets shortened to Daiz. Sarah can be Sar or Sally.

Alice = Ali/Al
Helen = Hels
Lucy = Lu/Luce

and yy people may lengthen a short name. I've known Mike = Mikey, Grace = Gracey.

My daughter has a traditional name that can be shortened. We usually call her by the full version, but sometimes the shortened. I loathe my name and only ever answer to the shortened version.

Gwen can be a name just on its own, just as Finn can be. They don't have to be shortened versions of Gwendoline and Finlay.

What's with this only choosing names where you like shortened versions too? I have a ten-letter, three-syllable first name which never got shortened as a child/teen. This was down to the fact that we don't tend to shorten or change names as a family, and because my Mum was adamant no-one would shorten it, so constantly corrected anyone who tried.

Grace
Emma
Sophie
Mary
Sarah
Faye

Martha

What about Alicia?

Ruth
Claire
Sarah
Lara/Clara
Anna
Jane
Xanthe
Alice can definitely be shortened.

Tbh, I'm not sure you can 100% control what other people may occasionally call your child. My niece is Zoe and my sister has had at least 3 separate people call her Zo-Zo . It's no-one she see's regularly enough for it to become a "thing" and she figures it will stop when DN isn't such a wee little thing so it's not worth stressing over. But she never thought there was a nn for Zoe!
My other sister is Catherine. She was always that until she went to uni and became Cat to her friends. She's still Catherine at home as that's what close family call her. I think that's the only time you can properly control it, unless you drive yourself mad!

Yes to choosing a name where you like all reasonable nicknames. I ruled out Catherine because I don't like Cat and Elizabeth because I don't like Bet, Betsy.

I know to Alices, one sticks with Alice, the other is universally known as Ali. Lewis and Alice is a bit of a mouthful when said together but they don't sound so similar you would constantly be getting the wrong one when you call up the stairs.

Also, names that are already short tend to get lengthened, either to their "correct" name eg Meg to Megan, or just because they sound too short, eg Ann to Annie, Grace to Gracey, Jane to Janey.

Amy is the best I think.

Others-
Ivy
Kate
Daisy
Claire

Emily (although they often get "Em")
Esther
Heather
Eve
Anna
Ruth

Although I think if you really love Alice, you should go for it, it doesn't sound too strange with Lewis. If you love the name Alice, unless you find something else you love more, you're going to always think of her name as a compromise.

Whatever you call your child, don't underestimate the ability of other children, especially teenagers, to find a nickname - if they can't shorten it, they will lengthen it - Mae will become Maisie, Bet, Bezza etc.

I thought no-one would shorten 'Amber' when we called DD that - she's been Bambi, or Bam ever since she went to secondary school...

Alice + Lewis would I think be a bit odd because of Alice in Wonderland, and yes they are very similar sounding names.

Plus as others have said an Alice might well become Ally or Al. Very difficult to find names that can't be shortened, and lots of children like nns too. I think it's better to choose a name where you like the nns really.

My grandmother had similar views, and called her children Ian and Clare. They both were known by nicknames throughout their childhood!

More helpfully I think that the hardest names to shorten are single syllable names. You might find they get lengthened instead though.

Ruth
Anna
Anne
Mary
Rose
Helen
Sarah

Georgia
Meg
Ruth
Grace