Can you politely tell people 'don't nickname my daughter'

Is it not a bit of a farking liberty to just Re-name somebody ELSE's child?

Obviously when the child is 14 they could change their name to Cleopatra or Bod. So using that arguement we shouldn't bother to put any thought into giving nice names at all!

One, two and three would do nicely.

To those who take offence at mispronunciations and name-shortening, surely you chose the name with the potential nicknames and mispronunciations into account?

If they offend you, then you only have yourself to blame for choosing the name in the first place.

Agree with other posters that it is pointless to control something as inconsequential as this. One day your child might even decide to CHANGE their name and you cannot do anything about it.

Oh yes, my Naomi gets that. Actually I do find that madly maddening

Dd2 may well have been Naomi, except that I knew I would have been driven to distraction by people saying 'Nyomi'. It's such a lovely name, it's a shame it's been spoiled (imo!) by mispronounciation.

My cousin is called Naomi and Nyomi always drives me mad! It's not that hard, is it?

One of Tink's middle names is Sara but said with the original pronunciation (Sarah). I know a lot of Sarah's and one Sara (same pronunciation) and didn't want anyone saying it was after them. One of the Sarah's keeps saying the hard "Sara" which doesn't work with the flow of her name and isn't her name. I think she's just jealous as she and Sara are godmothers

yes lots of did and still do call her nyomi.

i don't get why it's so hard!

What's hard about Naomi? Or is it that horrid Nyomi?

seeker, that's the point I was making really, because a baby can't decide what they want to be called I think we should respect the child/adult who can decide what they want to be called. If everyone called our hypothetical Elizabeth "Lizzie" from when she was born and she turned out to hate it then you have the problem of getting people out of that habit and into the one of calling her "Beth". Call her Elizabeth until she can say "well actually, I'd prefer to be called Beth". It should be up to a person what they are called not random relatives and strangers.

As a side issue what about mispronunciation.

All the dcs and my dds nursery are able to prononuce her name Maia as it should sound i.e. My-ahh.

However a lot of educated adults I know insist on saying Mee-ah or May-ah.

Why is it so difficult?!? My little sister had this for years with naomi too.

I think that a name belongs to the person, not the person who called them it. And if the person who's name it is doesn't mind, then surely it's up to them? Even if they are 3 years old? Most 3 year olds I know are more than capable of letting somebody know they don't want to be called Lizzie.

You can control it when they are little but once they start school there is nothing you can do!! My eldest DS has a long name, I ALWAYS call him by it, so do DH and grandparents-everyone else shortens it! Second DS has a name that can't really be shortened so all his friends call him by his surname! You also have to allow for the fact that your DD might prefer the shortened form.

TinkerbellesMum - there's an Isabel in my family and she's always been Isabel Well, I have various daft nicknames for her but I still refer to her generally as Isabel.

I was a bit precious about my name when I was younger, although it was mostly because I hated having such a common name.

You can do it and you can do it without offence but you will look less easy going than if you didn't say a word.

Weegiemum and eddas - well said.

And what do you do when its their father shortening their name? I despise the shortened version of dd's name that dh calls her. She's called Alexa, we call her Alexa or Lexie, but dh calls her Lex. I hate it.

well re my name my parents considered the shortening and didn't mind it but I do. Not precious, just don't like it.

I do find it odd that people just assume that they can call you/dc by a shortened version without seeing if others call them it. For a child it only takes listening to realise that the parents always cal then x not y so it's not hard, just curteous. And with my own name no-one i know calls me the shortening i hate but when i met dh his entire family took to using it until dh said that i hate it

Strangers it's rude.

People who know you, it's affectionate, familiar and relaxed and will happen.

If you tell some one you don't like it,and they still persist however, they are rude.

But you can't tell everyone all the time, withou apperaing uptight i'm afraid. Particuarly if it's not you but your child.

Enid was right, if you call some one Isabel you have to consider they are likley to get called Izzy at some point.

If you call some one Elizabeth, they are likley to get called Lizzy/liz at some piont.

if you call some one Benjamin they are likley to get called Ben by someone.

If you call some one Abigail they are going to be called Abby at some point.

etc etc etc

This shouldn't really be news to anyone.

I am Susan and hate Sue, which my family call me , but somehow havent ever been able to say.

So have kind of put my foot down over our dd1, Katherine, which every one calls her - FIL was the bother to begin with. Other kids dont have a shorten-able name really.

Her schoolfriends call her Kathy, which I also like, and I think it will catch on in time. But I want HER to like it, not me.

... and heffagooddays family too!

I'm sure I just said exactly the same to you in response to your question as what was in the post you were questioning. Did you read the whole post?

Not necessarily, I know a lot of people who use their name in full, most of my family for example. If she wants to be called that she can, but it is rude of strangers to just make the assumption that they can shorten it. I don't really care what she wants to call herself, it is her name.

I think differently about this. I call one of my children by his full name and the other by a nickname of my choosing. But I think that other people have different relationships with them - and therefore call them different things. For example, my ds is Patrick - and that's what I call him. His irish uncles call him the Irish version of his name which I can't spell, his football coach calls him Pat, his big boy cousins call him PJ and a lot of the rest of the family call him Patch. I don't see a problem with this as long as he doesn't. He's part of a wider community and has his own place in it. Does that make sense?

I always used to correct people on my name. I find it really strange when I introduce myself as 'Rebecca' and people immediately start using 'Becky' instead. If friends/family give me a nickname or shorten it, I don't mind. Surely the same applies to kids? I wouldn't just randomly shorten the name of a child I met, but if I knew them well I might do so affectionately. If they (or parents) asked me not to, I'd respect that. I don't bother to correct people now, but interestingly I've found that people don't tend to automatically shorten my name now I'm older.

All my family have names that are normally shortened and we're all most commonly known by the 'long' version so I don't think it's inevitable that a name will end up being shortened.

tinkerbelle - she will be called Izzy

everyone called Isabelle is.

Did you not take that into account?

I think all you no-shorteners are precious beyond belief

come on, folks you cannot control every aspect of your child's life

But people do do it to children.

I was on a course with a Genevieve and she was saying people she doesn't know will call her Gen after she's told them her name. I have the same thing when I tell new people Tink's name, they immediately say "hello Izzy!" 'I don't remember saying her name was Izzy...'

She might like Izzy when she's older but she may hate it - right now it reminds me of Neighbours! She may prefer to take an Elizabeth shortening as Isobel is a corruption of Elizabeth, out of respect for her future preferences she will be called by her name till she's at an age when she can choose her own name. And people do nickname her, everyone calls her Tink and variations.

have only read op but people shorten my name without asking all the time. I always use the full name when asked my name but people then take it upon themselves to shorten which to me is odd. I correct them and a lot of the time they think i'm getting shirty but i don't like the shortened version for me fine for other people

i don't understand why anyone would shorten a name without checking first but it's quite common. I would just correct it