What is with the obsession with nicknames here?

As someone else has said, there's a difference between a traditional shortening of a name and a nickname; the latter is a spontaneous creation but the former can be chosen. So Nell is a traditional shortening of Helen and you might name your child Helen on her birth certificate but always call her Nell. She might additionally have a family nickname of NelBel and a school nickname of Nelster. Her school friends are unlikely to choose a nickname based on Helen, though, as she is never called that.

There's nothing at all wrong with considering short forms and nicknames when you're thinking about naming your baby, obviously - it's the reverse engineering that is so odd, when you like a short form, but not the full name it usually derives from, so you post saying, 'We like the name Kit, but hate Christopher, so what other full names could Kit be a short form of? Ezekiel? Geoffrey? Rocco?' And then when everyone says 'Just call him Kit!', the poster says 'But it's not a High Court Judge name!' etc etc etc.

It's the I like this nickname what will I call him or her that I don't get. 2 of my dc have short 4 letter names. Dd has a granny nickname that just kind of evolved and ds1 gets his lengthened. Ds2 has a long name with a few short versions. I was adamant that it wouldn't be shortened I love his name. Unsurprisingly it was me that started the variations as I seem to have some weird affliction that means I rarely say my dc's names normally. That version has stuck now and is used in school and everywhere. Even his dentist calls him it. I use it as well but I hate seeing it written down with his surname it sounds clunky. But I can't think be too choosy I started it and at 6 he's more than capable of stating his preference and he does

I think if you go for something like Elizabeth, you can introduce them by your preference, ie Lizzy but if they have the full name don't be surprised if all her friends call her Beth when she's 13. Surely the point of giving the full name is so they can change it - never understand people giving a name like that but they can't stand Beth (for example)
also my girls nn now have nothing to do with their actual names - most people call the toddler bob...i did not name her bob but it's happened naturally and stuck

useyourimagination that's my lifelong understanding of a nickname too, something personal that evolves, not just a recognised short form of the name.

My own DCs have had lots of various nicknames from different sources, family, school, other friend groups. They answer happily to all of them.

I wonder if anyone ever calls Prince Harry 'Henry' except when they refer to him in church or on official occasions?

It annoys me - because of the inaccuracy - it's a shortens or abbreviated name, not a nickname

Every time I see 'nn' I want to scream 'short version'

My oh has the full name version of a common name but only ever gets called the nickname (think Michael/Mike but it's not that).

He wishes his parents had just called him the nickname.

"wound up" and "annoyed" are mumsnet speak for "vaguely interested"!

What a strange thing to be wound up by! Surely people call their children what they want to call them. It seems bizarre to get would up by parents registering their daughter as Elizabeth and calling her Lizzie from the start. All it does it give her choice and it's really so innocuous that it baffles me as to why this would annoy people.

There are some names that just get shortened - let's use the example of Timothy to Timmy. If you don't like Timmy, it's probably not a good idea to call your child Timothy, assuming you'll be able to call him Moth. Because everyone will call him Timmy.

I chose a name with a standard abbreviation that I didn't like for DC4. The name also had a common, but slightly less standard abbreviation, that I did like. I was clear. They would not be called by the standard abbreviation. You will be unsurprised to find out she has been called just that from the time she left the hospital.

Do = dog

Our daughter has a name that can't really be shortened. But dh family is Welsh and everyone goes by a shortening (not really a nickname as such as it is usually just the first syllable - eg gethin would be geth, Cerys - cer) so can't wait to see what she ends up with!
Our do goes the other way - she has a name that is a random noun (to others) but shortened it would make a normal human name - however we have never used that - her nickname is Mrs p (our surname doesn't start with p!)

It winds me up too!

Both my DDs have nicknames which are absolutely nothing to do with their names. They have evolved over time, derived from habits they had when they were little and actually, nobody outside the immediate family uses them or would even associate them with either of the girls.

We considered what names could be shortened to when we were picking names for our baby due in August. I'm a teacher so know names get shortened amongst kids and so I wanted them to have one that I didn't mind the sound of.

Mine gets shortened and my other half goes by a shortened version of his name. It happens to lots of names, though I do always ask before I shorten if it's ok. Just polite to I think.

Isn't it more a case of working out possible NNs before settling on a name?

For example - my mum always loved the name James but wouldn't use it for DB as she hated "Jim" or "Jimmy", which were the usual NNs at the time he was born.

When people list their NNs, I always assume it's because they've put thought into what they might end up being.

IME NNs are usually chosen by friends at some point anyway - no-one can ever truly dictate. I've got a name my DPs thought couldn't be shortened - my friends still manage it .

DinosaurRoar, we rarely use our DC's full names but it's nice to have them.

We have specifically called ours by their nn pretty much since birth. We would not have chosen a name that couldn't be shortened. it's just personal preference isn't it? In the case of one of our boys I really liked one nn, probably more than his full name and I wasn't so keen on the other shortened version. He is Kit.

Their is nothing wrong with NN or shortened versions of names but some mumsnetters seem to get worked up about their tillys and izzys.

Oh op in your example- I know a family who've done just that with Isabelle/ izzy. Basically, they want a dd called Izzy, but felt it's not really a good name for many professional careers, and v traditional grandparents wouldn't tolerate anything other than a "proper" name. So she's introduced as Izzy, with a grown up name in waiting for when she's a barrister / prime minister / CEO of a FTSE 100 company etc.

I think it's a lot weirder to say 'We don't like, say, Isabelle as a long form of Izzy - what else could Izzy be a nickname for?'

If you actually want to call your child Izzy, call her Izzy. But if you want a more formal name, but, crucially, don't like the name of which Izzy is a shortened form, it's a bit senseless to wander around the internet dolelfully asking strangers whether it's OK to use Izzy as a nickname for Annabella-Mary or Shaznay!

Well, our dd has a name with an obvious shortening, which we use, so we did need to think "xxx, will be known as xxie"

I have a friend who wanted a classic name for her dd that has 2 nicknames traditionally, she doesn't like the most common one so did do the "yyyy known as yy" or even just introduce her dd as "yy" to avoid anyone picking the other nickname, but she didn't want to put just the preferred nickname on the birth certificate as its a bit girlie and thought depending on what career her dd goes for in later life, a "grown up" name might serve her better.

A lot of posh people have nicknames I always think the nn people live in chelsea or country houses with their NN children nobody has a real name