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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Gabriella

35 replies

calimommy · 02/11/2020 19:03

I'm not a fan of Gabby for short but is this inevitable? 😂

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Original poster
calimommy · 05/11/2020 19:17

Gabby, Gaby, Gabi, Gabbie etc they are all the same to my ears.

Thank you for the feedback! I'm happy to go forward with Gabriella as a name. We are between Sienna and Gabriella at this point... 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
foxtiger · 05/11/2020 18:44

I would spell the short form Gaby as there's only one B in Gabriella, and I think it instantly looks nicer that way! However I think it's quite acceptable to use (and encourage others to use) Gabriella in full, as long as she agrees. I knew a young Gabriella who was very insistent on her full name (her own choice, the adults in her family sometimes shortened it) until she went to secondary school, when she suddenly wanted to be Gaby.

I believe Lady Gabriella Windsor (a minor member of the royal family) is known as Ella, or at least was when she was a kid.

Original poster
calimommy · 03/11/2020 21:59

😂 Gabs is the same as Gabby to my ears

OP posts:
midsomermurderess · 03/11/2020 21:12

Gabs is pretty awful, isn't it. How to turn a pretty name into something lazily awful.

GetOuttaMyPub · 03/11/2020 17:41

I know three Gabriellas of varying ages. Only one is nicknamed Gabi . The other two are Bella and Gigi.

It’s a beautiful name.

MoonlightInVermont · 03/11/2020 17:36

Gabs is appalling (in my view)!

Sophoa · 03/11/2020 15:17

The Gabriella’s I know are shorten to Gabs which is lovely I think

TheDuchessOfAquitaine · 03/11/2020 14:57

Love Gabriella. Firmly insist on full version Grin

Original poster
calimommy · 03/11/2020 14:54

I'd not considered Gabri and it's nicer than Gabi/Gabby certainly.
Tbh I like the full name and would use it.

I think after a while Gabby would go unnoticed even by me haha. For now I can't help but associate it with 'someone who talks a lot or loudly'.

OP posts:
TheSeedsOfADream · 03/11/2020 12:50

Unless you literally only call the child Brie or whatever from the start, nicknames tend to be a bit sui generis and just happen. And, yes, agree with @notalwaysalondoner, it tends to be the child and their friends who otherwise generate the nickname.
Gabri not Gabi would be the usual nickname here in Italy.

notalwaysalondoner · 03/11/2020 12:46

I think with any name you have to accept that a nickname will depend on if the child likes it. If they like to be called Gabby, you won't be able to stop it, but equally, if they hate it, it will never stick. My SIL has a pretty unusual name and only answers to a nickname that is barely connected to her first name - her parents would never have thought of this nickname being a 'risk' when they named her compared to several other much more common nicknames. (Think as if her name is Michelle and instead of being called Shelly or Mimi she is called Marti). Equally I have a long name and whenever someone tried to shorten it I didn't let them, so it's never stuck.

VenusClapTrap · 03/11/2020 12:44

The Gabrielle I know never shortens it.

magnummum · 03/11/2020 12:05

I have a Gabriella and she only became Gabi at secondary school when she decided she couldn't fit Gabriella on the cover of her art book! Her teachers and secondary school friends all call her Gabi but she won't let anyone else. I feel like I have to explain to her friends that I'm not telling her off when I use her full name Smile.

2beautifulbabs · 03/11/2020 11:54

Love that name I wanted it for my DD but husband didn't like it because he thought it being shortened to Gabby so we both went with Ella instead

Sunsetdawn · 03/11/2020 11:51

Gabriella, obviously.

Sunsetdawn · 03/11/2020 11:51

I know two people who's parents insisted on the full name come what may, and as they became teenagers they were both insistent on their names being shortened to how they like it. So for what it's worth, if you loathe Gabby, I wouldn't do it, but if you can tolerate it later then go ahead.
I like the name Gabrielle, but it is quite a mouthful.

17caterpillars1mouse · 03/11/2020 11:49

I don't think Gabby is inevitable.

I like Gabriella and only know one. She is 1 and currently always Gabriella

percheron67 · 03/11/2020 11:45

Love Gabriella. Ella is fine. PLEASE don't use Brie (Camembert, Cheddar) for diminutive - these are cheeses!!

MikeUniformMike · 03/11/2020 11:35

The Gabrielles and Gabriellas I know are known as Gaby or Gabby.

SenorFrog · 03/11/2020 11:26

@MoonlightInVermont

I’ve come to the conclusion that I live in some sort of name-in-full bubble, because unlike in MN world just about everyone I know goes by their full name. If you want her to be known as Gabriella that’s easily done, at least until she gets to the age where she can choose for herself.
Same here, in my wide family there's only 2 people who go by a shortened name. Both my dc have easily and commonly shortened names but neither likes it, so full name every time, they're 19 and 15 now so I don't see that changing.
Apileofballyhoo · 03/11/2020 09:59

I know a Gabriella and I've never heard her name shortened.

MoonlightInVermont · 03/11/2020 09:44

I’ve come to the conclusion that I live in some sort of name-in-full bubble, because unlike in MN world just about everyone I know goes by their full name. If you want her to be known as Gabriella that’s easily done, at least until she gets to the age where she can choose for herself.

MercyBodle · 03/11/2020 06:07

The Gabriella in the royal family is called Ella for short. I think you would find that some people will automatically shorten it to Gabby - you (and she if she feels the same way when she's older) will just have to correct them. That assumption about a short version is common with many names, as you've found out. It happens to me and drives me crazy. I just correct people though.

SenorFrog · 02/11/2020 21:44

I prefer Gabrielle, I wanted it but dh vetoed it, it's now one of dd's favourites, who knows, I may get one as a gd, lol. I know one who gets Gigi or Gay.

JollyGiraffe12 · 02/11/2020 21:25

I know a Gabriella that goes by Brie. I also like Ella or Gigi. Lovely name!

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