Am I alone in hating this trend?

I actually hate the opposite. For me it seems absolutely pointless and perhaps even snobby to give a full name you never intend to actually use.

I don’t get giving a name you never intend to use. I have a nickname as a first name. It has never given me one iota of a problem. I think it’s weird to have a choice of names, surely your name is just a name.

Some of them are okay... I mean you can get away with Lucy instead of Lucinda and Kate instead of Catherine, Charlie instead of Charles, Beth instead of Elizabeth.. some short versions would not be questioned as a full name because they are established as stand alone names

But the ones that I dislike a bit are names like Teddy, just by itself not short for anything... I do think that's a bit odd... I mean Teddy is a fun nickname for a more serious longer name like Edward or Theodore.. I just think it's a bit daft on it's own!
And stuff like Izzy, Liz, Becky, vicky, Chrissy and Nicky I do think they are going to have a lifetime of people assuming it's a shortening of a longer name

But this has been happening since forever? Have you only just realised? How old are you?

Mine both have the full name on their birth certificates but get mighty offended if anyone actually uses it. I wonder why I bothered really.

I agree OP, I think having options around what you want to call yourself is great for an adult. Why not give the widest number of options available?

I always thought names were for the person who would have that name not the parents. It seems that with nickname names you're taking away so many different options that child/adult would have had concerning what they wish to be called

But by that logic everyone should have a 'long' name that can be shortened. Loads of names can't be shortened at all. Mine can't. It has never occurred to me that I should have had some choice in what I'm called

My Nan (b.1927) was Betty. Not Elizabeth but christened Betty. Her next door neighbour (98 when he died last yr) was Ted - not Edward. If it’s ‘a trend’ it’s being going for 90 odd yrs!

I know a female Frankie too, the grandparents were completely baffled why she wasn't a Frances or a Francesca with Frankie for short.

I also know a Jake which isn't too bad on its own and an Ollie which is a bit babyish for a whole name in my opinion. Everyone naturally assumes he is Oliver but nope!

I doubt they will spend their whole lives saying its not short for anything, since it's common among their generation!

Yes, only you.

The other 68 billion threads saying the same thing are started by...🧐?!...aliens! That’s it, yep, aliens. Clearly.

I think that the ones with a non y/ie ending work better as stand alone names in my own personal opinion. So Sam, Tom, Ben, Kate, Beth, Meg. I think that in general, the ie or y names with some exceptions, come across as diminutives that people would use for children rather than for grown adults. So you could be Jamie until an adt and would then be James or Jim. I know things change and each to their own, but I always think it infantises adults when they only have a child name and not the option of a grown up one too.

It's OK provided the spelling is the usual one, and it is not hypenated.

Depends.

I'd put Joseph on a birth cert rather than Joe but I'd put Max on a birth cert rather than Maximilian.

That should say etc!

I can see why people do it. We called our daughter a 'long' name with a view to shortening it on a day to day basis and absolutely no one will do it, everyone refers to her as her full name. She's 13 now so they've had plenty of time to get used to the idea.

Where I am people just don't tend to shorten names, and I remember at school that teachers just completely refused to use any name other than the one that was on the register. So I can see why people will go for Sam rather than Samuel et

I’m not sure if it’s a new trend. My dh & best friend both have ‘nicknames’ as their given names, they’re in their 30s. So does my uncle in his 50s.

Like pps have said, it doesn’t really make sense to name a child something you have no intention of ever using.

My DS has a ‘nickname name’. I didn’t see the point of putting a name on the BC that he wouldn’t ever use.

Charlie, nice name, suits child and middle aged taxi driver/rugby player etc.
Charles, horrible name, suits ageing prince.

Why would you call a DC Charles rather than Charlie if you agreed with above?

*always

I had a boss who would had awkward discounted CVs with nicknames on as people not being formal enough. They looked a bit "oh shit" when I said that may be their actual birth certificate names.

My mum's dad and my dad's mum were called Harry (not Harold or Henry) and Kate (not Katherine) and were born in the 1900s and 1910s respectively so it's really not a new thing!

How militant do you want to be about it? All Jacks should be John? All Betties or Beths should be Elizabeth? All Mollies should be Mary?

I wouldn’t assume Kate was short for anything.

I don’t mind this trend unless (as pps have mentioned) it’s a really cutesy or informal nickname like Flossie, Dolly, Buddy or Ace.

Kate, Beth, Pippa, Tom, Max, Nate, etc. stand alone perfectly well, IMO.

I knew a Jenny that was not short for Jennifer- she must be in her 30s now.