"Nicknames" as first names

Prefer. Absolutely fine. Prefer whatever you like.
we can all prefer. Most of us with an open mind can accept that others have preferences.
For those who label a none offensive child’s name as undignified, this is not a preference. This is stigma.
in this circumstances I believe The indignity is reserved to a small minded person who would stigmatise a child and their family. All for their belief that a name is somewhat less. shame on any so called adult who thinks this way.

Dignified or not, I much prefer Jacob!

Dignified : controlled, serious, and calm, and therefore deserving respect:

The snobbery on here is stomach turning. Anyone implying that a diminutive name (that may have also been around for hundreds of years in its own right), is less dignified, should be ashamed. If you would judge, for example, Jake and his parents, to be less dignified, and worthy of your respect than Jacob and his parents, then shame on you.
The only people I would consider undignified, are those with such a small mind.

Name your kid what you want to call them.

Truth is there are probably more people with the same preference and over time standards change - my friend names her boy Liam, she didn't even know it used to be a nickname for William.

A better current example is probably Charlie. 40 years ago, I would have said 90% were Charles. Today, I would say it's 50/50 between kids whose full names are Charlie and whose birth certificate says Charles/Charlotte

The argument of “well I’m only ever going to use Hattie” falls short for me because it’s not just about what the parent thinks they want to call the child is it? It’s about the child and then having a name that will work whatever the situation and whatever kind of person they turn out to be.

Exactly. It's not about whether parents prefer a certain nickname (Alfie, Teddie, Izzy) but about what their child might prefer growing up. They may well prefer to introduce themselves as Alfred, Edward or Isabel - I certainly would!

I suppose it depends on whether you have a longer name with a cute/ familiar shortening or not.
I do have a longer name - one that wasn’t really used as a child but one that I increasingly use as an adult. Something along the lines of Evelyn - so I am Evelyn in work or any formal settings, Evie to my parents and childhood friends and Eve to my DH.
My DH is the opposite and his parents are the only ones who have ever uses his long name - something like Benedict to his parents and Ben to everyone else.

I do find the idea of taking that choice away from a child a little odd. Just because I can only imagine using Hattie, say, I wouldn’t call DD that - I wouldn’t want to take away her right to be Harriet when she is older.
The argument of “well I’m only ever going to use Hattie” falls short for me because it’s not just about what the parent thinks they want to call the child is it? It’s about the child and then having a name that will work whatever the situation and whatever kind of person they turn out to be.

The other point is that most nicknames as first names are very cutesy - Alfie, Evie, Freddie etc. What if your cute baby doesn’t turn out to be like that when they are older? People often make the point that you should consider if the Wren or Willow that you’re naming will look like a Wren or a Willow - what if they look anything but and feel saddled with the name? The same applies surely to a Tilly or Evie or Katie?
As I said, I personally am not an “-ie” to anyone other than those that know me from childhood (and you can’t really change what they call you). It’s not me and I’m glad I had a more serious name to transition into.

Not bizarre, surely?

Same here - it would be very embarrassing if my boss called me the nickname my dh uses!

I prefer to use my full name at work and when I meet new clients.

Dear @WimpoleHat you have no idea how my husband adapts my name, surely?

*My boss certainly doesn't call me the name my husband does.

Now that WOULD BE bizarre.*

Not bizarre, surely? My boss doesn’t call me “darling” or other affectionate little names like that - but both he and my DH call me “Wimpole” as that’s my name…,.

No my name is not like Anne or Emma (which I wouldn’t categorise as nickname proof from the fact they have obvious diminutives as you pointed out). My name doesn’t have diminutives. That’s not a problem for me, as I pointed out in my earlier post nicknames and and affectionate names doesn’t have to be derived from names. A name like Katie still has more options for nicknames if the wearer wants it than a classic, full name which doesn’t shorten easily/at all.

my name, no one complains about lack of options, they say it’s lovely and classic.

Even short names can be 'nicknamed' eg Anne becomes Annie, Emma Emmie etc among friends and family.

But affectionate names don’t have to be derived from your actual name. My name isn’t a diminutive and it’s rather nickname-proof. That’s very common. I actually think a name like Katie is more flexible than my name, as the option to be Kate is obvious, or Kitty/Katherine aren’t a huge stretch either. But when posts come up about my name, no one complains about lack of options, they say it’s lovely and classic.

Well it's certainly bizarre to me. Especially needing different family members to call you by different names.

crack on. takes all types.

I love the endearment and familiarity of a nick name. My boss certainly doesn't call me the name my husband does.

Now that WOULD BE bizarre.

Yes really.

How bizarre.

Not really. Work colleagues and customers call me by my proper name, whereas my parents use a diminutive and my husband uses an affectionate personal version. I really like it!

Well it's certainly bizarre to me. Especially needing different family members to call you by different names.

How bizarre.

Not really. Totally get that. I enjoy the personalisation of my name that familiarity brings.

Like someone already said, I don’t want my mother, my husband and my boss to use the same name for me.

How bizarre.

I find most diminutives quite cutesy and the kind of name you’d expect to be used by family / close friends and there will be a time that they won’t want that. Like someone already said, I don’t want my mother, my husband and my boss to use the same name for me.

My daughter has a very cutesy nickname and a long name. I find the idea that she could go through life with her cutesy nickname (think something like Tilly) kind of ridiculous. Perhaps if it was a less cutesy name I suppose, but cutesy works on young kids. My DS’s name doesn’t even have a default cute nickname but he has one anyway - it just seems to be what we do, to make children’s names sound cuter and end in “y” or “sy”. I would very much hope he won’t be known as this forever! (Think Ozzie for Oscar, that sort of thing).

The Katherine example upthread is interesting though because it’s unlikely you’d not like ANY of the diminutives for Katherine - you could be Kate, Katy, Kitty, Kath, Kathy, Kay etc. it’s like Elizabeth that way in that there is surely a name for everyone in there. Who would mind being Katherine that much? (I’ve always thought I’d be a Kathy!)

It's because all children of MNs are destined to be High Court judges or have an outside chance of being PM.

And it's really not about giving children choice for lots of people. It's really about being judgey of parents who use diminutives on birth certificates.

Honestly, a birth certificate means arse all anyway. If birth certificate Will wants to be known as William he can just introduce himself as William to all the other High Court judges!😉They're not going to ask to see the paperwork.

Using a diminutive in professional life also hasn't done Andy Burnham, Katie Derham, Beth Rigby any harm. I could go on.

Snobbery pure and simple!

Having said that it did give Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson options😆

I'm weirdly snobby about diminutives used on birth certificates. But I don't know why. Must come from my parents who were also snobby. Now I think about it, who cares?

But Harry is originally a nickname for Henry.

You can lengthen name just as easy as shorten.

I'm not sure... I think it's much easier to be Isabel and sometimes shorten to Izzy than the other way round

@pinklavenders , I agree.

I can think of some people who hated their given names, or a middle name, and they changed them, either while at school or at 18+

Often the names were fine or very popular, or they were changed to something very popular.

I know some with problematic names (ones that are spelt differently to how you'd expect or that are difficult to pronounce) now go by their other/middle name.