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Original poster

Have you ever successfully changed your nickname/what you are called?

36 replies

MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:02

I have a pretty conventional name the isn’t known or usually shortened. It has 6 letters and I have decided on a nick name/shorter version which uses the last 3 letters.

I like the nickname and I’d like to test it out as my name, but I’m 37 and have always been known as the longer version.

If I try to introduce it I think people who know me will just think I’m weird in a Murial... Marial kind of way!... Esp my husband!

Has anyone successfully managed to change what they are called?

Thanks!

OP posts:
Original poster
MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:03

That’s supposed to be ‘isn’t known to be shortened’ it’s a common name

OP posts:
FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 11/08/2021 22:05

I have a name that has LOADS of variations - think Elizabeth that has Liz, Eliza, Beth, Lizzie etc. People try and call me by a variation all the time and I'm very forceful about "no it's Elizabeth". I did have a shortened version that only family called me as a child that I gradually shirked but still taken by surprise when family call me it, sometimes I don't answer as I forgot they mean me Grin

FlorenceNightshade · 11/08/2021 22:07

Hmm maybe just start referring to yourself by the nickname. So if you’re Nicola start saying “way to go Ola” or “nice one Ola” out loud in front of people. Start signing off emails and texts with it, write it on birthday cards etc. And if you’re worried about being seen as loopy just say someone else calls you that, tell work people it’s a family thing and vice versa.

Original poster
MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:08

The nickname I’m thinking of isn’t normal or very much heard of. So worried how it will take and whether people will just think I’m odd as if I introduce myself as the nickname they would have unlikely to have heard of it before, whereas with my full name theu would have.

Think shortening Walter to Ter.

OP posts:
CloseYourEyesAndSee · 11/08/2021 22:10

Don't do it
I know a woman in her 50s who decided to start going by a different shortened bit of her name than she had been (think first three letters to last 3) and it was cringe. It would have been ok if she'd asked to go by her full name but to change nicknames just seemed so teenage!

Original poster
MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:10

Yeah, that’s a good idea @FlorenceNightshade thanks!

Do you think I’m weird for wanting to try out a new nickname?

OP posts:
freelions · 11/08/2021 22:10

You may be ok with new people but those who have known you for years will struggle to change what they call you

My Granny managed to do this many years ago (converted from Peggy/Peg back to Margaret) but that was because they relocated after retiring so she was able to introduce herself to all new acquaintances as Margaret. Her old friends still tended to call her Peggy though

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 11/08/2021 22:10

@MsWalterMitty

The nickname I’m thinking of isn’t normal or very much heard of. So worried how it will take and whether people will just think I’m odd as if I introduce myself as the nickname they would have unlikely to have heard of it before, whereas with my full name theu would have.

Think shortening Walter to Ter.

Definitely don't. Why would you want to do this?
FlorenceNightshade · 11/08/2021 22:11

I think if you like it go for it! If it’s really just the last three letters of your name then that’s easily explained if anyone asks.

Original poster
MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:12

Ah okay @CloseYourEyesAndSee thanks. That’s interesting! I’m planning on going from my full name to a shortened version if that makes a difference?

OP posts:
Original poster
MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:13

It’s not actually Walter

OP posts:
Original poster
MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:14

@freelions

You may be ok with new people but those who have known you for years will struggle to change what they call you

My Granny managed to do this many years ago (converted from Peggy/Peg back to Margaret) but that was because they relocated after retiring so she was able to introduce herself to all new acquaintances as Margaret. Her old friends still tended to call her Peggy though

Yeah, that why I wonder whether people who have known me for a while will think I’m odd
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30degreesandmeltinghere · 11/08/2021 22:14

I have an odd name. Never been known as anything but the whole name. In 50 years!!. Never!!. Its bloody awful!! A friend of dc's once accused her of making it up and of course I wasn't really called that!!
Grin

FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 11/08/2021 22:14

@MsWalterMitty

It’s not actually Walter
🤣🤣🤣🤣
MeredithGreyishblue · 11/08/2021 22:15

I've got

Hel
Ire
Ola
Nne
Ron
Cey

Some work better than others...

Try it - what's the worst that can happen?

FlorenceNightshade · 11/08/2021 22:15

Maybe it’s because I work for the nhs and ask every single patient I have what their name is and what they like to be called that I don’t find it strange. The names some people go by often has no obvious link to their given names I’ve found.

FluffyPJs · 11/08/2021 22:16

I know a Cristina, known as Chris, who decided she wanted to be called Nina, in her mid 30s. It took a while to get used to it but it was her preference so I stuck with it. As long as you remind/ tell people, they will get used to it. You can call yourself whatever you want, so just be confident and don't make a big fuss if people get it wrong, they won't be doing it to be awkward.

Faircastle · 11/08/2021 22:18

I was known by my full name until I was about 30, when I decided that I'd prefer to be known as a well-known diminutive.

I've kept my full name on my passport, medical records etc.

I got my husband and close friends on board, and then it rolled outwards from there. The only people who use my old name these days are doctors, dentists etc, people who haven't seen me for 20 years, and my mother, who was weirdly resistant.

Kanaloa · 11/08/2021 22:18

I think if you want a nickname to be used you need to introduce yourself with it. It’s hard to make a nickname ‘take’ with people who already know you.

Kanaloa · 11/08/2021 22:20

Although having said that my ds changed his nickname last year, but his was more a natural growing up thing - like changing Teddy to Ted/Alfie to Alf type of thing, so it was easier.

I think if you have always been known as Natalie and now want people to call you Tally it would be harder to bring up/have people remember.

Original poster
MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:21

@FlorenceNightshade

Maybe it’s because I work for the nhs and ask every single patient I have what their name is and what they like to be called that I don’t find it strange. The names some people go by often has no obvious link to their given names I’ve found.
That’s interesting. I think maybe I lead a sheltered life and I’m over thinking it!
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TheUnexpectedPickle · 11/08/2021 22:22

From experience, it’s really hard to get used to calling people a new name!

When I was in year 6, a girl was formally adopted by her stepdad (well, her dad!) she decided while the new surname paperwork was going in to swap her first and middle names over as she’d always disliked her first name. So instead of say, Hannah Louise Oldsurname she was Louise Hannah Newsurname. It was really hard to get used to calling he4 Louise and it never really worked until we got to secondary school. Only about 10 of us went to that school so she became Louise there.

Same with my best friend from secondary school. She was “Charlotte” all through school (with the occasional Shaz). When she went to uni she rebranded herself as “Charlie” and it was soooo hard getting used to not calling her Charlotte. Even now, 16 years on I occasionally go to call her Charlotte. I’m almost there though, I did find it a bit odd a couple of years ago when she had to say her wedding vows as Charlotte!

Original poster
MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:22

@FluffyPJs

I know a Cristina, known as Chris, who decided she wanted to be called Nina, in her mid 30s. It took a while to get used to it but it was her preference so I stuck with it. As long as you remind/ tell people, they will get used to it. You can call yourself whatever you want, so just be confident and don't make a big fuss if people get it wrong, they won't be doing it to be awkward.
Thanks! Yeah It’s kind of like that but actually not as drastic
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BlijEi · 11/08/2021 22:22

If you dont mind it taking a while to for people to adjust, it's definitely very doable. I took on a completely different nickname which has nothing to do with my real name when I moved to a new country. It took my family about 4-5 years to not look completely baffled when they heard me called by my new name, took them another 4 to start using it. But besides close family and friends, noone else batted an eyelash.

If you're happy with it, who cares if a few people think its cringey? That's their problem, not yours.

Original poster
MsWalterMitty · 11/08/2021 22:23

@Faircastle

I was known by my full name until I was about 30, when I decided that I'd prefer to be known as a well-known diminutive.

I've kept my full name on my passport, medical records etc.

I got my husband and close friends on board, and then it rolled outwards from there. The only people who use my old name these days are doctors, dentists etc, people who haven't seen me for 20 years, and my mother, who was weirdly resistant.

Ah fab! That’s a good positive example. Thanks
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