personality of names?

Friends of ours have a Max and he lives up to his name so much that the father says he will call his next child Minnie in order to ensure life is a bit calmer

Although Matilda Alice is a gorgeous name, the initials with your surname spell MAN!

Haven't read whole thread but I think Matilda Rose (with your surname) is completely gorgeous FWIW

Thanks for the good advice and I agree that we should just call her what we want to at home and not worry about school! So Charlotte it is!

We have a Theo and a Lottie and could not agree more with Sniffy Hock Theo-lovable tearaway-exactly and we also notice that at any playground or anywhere else you hear a lot of theeeeo s as in theeo come here, theeo stop that. So I think in that case is a real name thing.Our Theo was named for his great uncle who also fulfilled that role. Think both Lucy and Tilly are lovely prefer Tilly cause I like children to have a "proper grown up name" as well as a sweet one but thats just me.

Her middle name's Elizabeth so I sometimes call her Lottie Liz.

Lottie is nice !

love Matilda, and the shortened Tilly or Matty actually

I've got a sister called Charlotte and I call her Lottie, I think I it started to annoy her but it stuck. I think she quite likes it now!

Just call her what you call her, sazzlesb - she might get a different version at school, she might not, she might object to it vociferously, she might suffer in silence, she might like it, she might suggest a short form or nickname herself ... anything!

I know full well that DD's name is shortened at nursery, she is nonetheless known by nothing other than her full name at home (first forename that is, not the whole lot!) I doubt I will ever use a shortened form, unless she insists, and DH would have to have a gun to his head before he used the particular form they use at nursery (he hates it).

I certainly wouldn't think 'they're bound to call her this at school, better start using it'.

Love Matilda , very sweet go for it !!!

My friend Charlotte?s name is shortened many ways, depending on mood. Charlotte, Charlie, Char. Never Lottie though? never thought of that one. Gonna try it next time.

I don't know...I've got a friend called Charlotte and I've never known anyone shorten her name at all. Admittedly we met at university, so she had more say over things - she made it clear when asked that she doesn't like being called Charlie - but it's more just that she's a Charlotte, not anything else, if that makes any sense - there is no compulsion to shorten her name. I don't think other kids will necessarily call your kid Charlie, so I wouldn't shorten it yourself unless you want to.

I, like Eleta, also have a Charlotte and likewise, she is strong-willed which is actually a characteristic I associate with the name. Would be interetsed in thoughts on shortening names - if Charlotte is to be shortened, I would prefer Lottie to Charlie, but neither seem natural to us - she's just Charlotte. What I'm worried about is when she starts school - will other kids automatically call her Charlie in which case, should we jump the gun and start "Lottie" at home or hope she just sticks to "Charlotte". What do people think?

I think it might. I?ve heard time and time again that when people have met women with the other way to spell my name, they never liked them. Matilda is lovely.

Matilda is totally beautiful in my opinion and was (still is) my fave for my imminent dd2.

to my mind Matilda is noble, independent thinking, strong willed and beautiful in a non-conventional way.

sadly when combined with our surname (german surname with a strong t) it does sound like an old mustachioed spinster so we are not going for it...

RE original question... i am not sure there is a link as such- i think we tend to interpret these things a posteriori. we have a Clara and everyone agrees she is "such a Clara", but tbh i have no idea what that means!

I used to teach and certain names certainly seem to fit certain types of children -

Grace - All of the Grace's I've taught have been lovely, lovely girls.

Lucy - as above. It means 'light' and that seemed really apt for the Lucys that I knew.

Jessica - more of the above. Sparky, fun and thoughtful.

Hannah - very gentle.

William - Mischevious but very likable

Thomas - a bit dippy but very loving!

Theo - lovable tearaway!!

I could go on but don't want to offend anyone...

Saying that, I lobbied hard for Grace or Lucy but DH didn't like either

I love the name Matilda and the shortening Tilly.

Sorry mimitherabbit - i wasn't implying that matilda was a modern name, sorry if thats how it came across. What i meant was that names tend to come back around and that its Matilda's (and names like this, martha, evelyn etc) turn to come round iykwim.

Didn't mean to offend, sorry

Matilda was one of our favourites too. I think everyone already knows an our age Lucy, so although it's pretty, peoples opinion of the name will be tainted by people they've known.

Tilda Swinton! She is pretty feisty and prob doesn't worry about rice associations.

We know a number, they are tilly or tilda, it's always shortened.

My great grandmother's middle name was Matilda and she was born in the 19th century; the poem by Hilaire Belloc "Matilda" was published in 1907, so Matilda is not a modern name!! That was one of the reasons why we chose it for our daughter!

I think both names are lovely.

Lucy is beautiful, timeless and classic. Mathilda is more 'trendy' imo - a name that would have been unheard of almost not too long ago and yet i know lots and lots now. Theres nothing wrong with that btw ...its just an observation.

I think that Lucy goes better with your other girls names and actually quite like it with your surname. I'm also slightly biased as i have a Lucy as far as personalities go she is a sensitive child, very responsible and kind hearted and very very beautiful

I never thought my name could be changed, then Skoda Cars came out, and Skona Beer, and that bloody song Mt sharona, all near enough for my name to be changed too!

cyteen behave yourself lol

at least NOW you can understand why I take it soooooooo seriously trying to find decent names for my offspring