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Original poster

Do any of you (or your DC) have a nickname which has overtaken their actual name

27 replies

Cutitour · 11/09/2021 22:15

DD does. And it was cute when she was a toddler but I can’t help think she’ll hate it when she’s older. Nobody uses her name, even her teachers use the nickname and she introduces herself as the nickname. If I call her her actual name she doesn’t answer

Do you have a nickname? Do you hate it or love it?

OP posts:
Original poster
Cutitour · 11/09/2021 22:16

Nickname is not a shortened version of her name. It’s completely different

OP posts:
TheCanyon · 11/09/2021 22:26

Dd3 is called yaya, she was a cry baby, so the dds called her wahwah and her twin that spoke first picked it up but couldn't say it so called her yaya... It seems to have stuck.

My name is unique but not outrageously so iyswim I have always been called by a nickname by everyone, I KNOW I'm in trouble if someone calls me by my proper name.

I prefer my nickname as I'm a bit shy/awkward so hate having to correct or tell folks repeatedly.

cestunestilo · 11/09/2021 22:37

Yes I have a Nick Name that's totally different from my actual name . When I got married all of my friends thought the vicar made an error. My Nick name is an actual name rather than something childlike or cute etc .

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Families
FunnysInLaJardin · 11/09/2021 22:40

Yes, DS2 is Raphael but is always called Rafe. In fact we now wish we had just called him Rafe!

HerRoyalRisesAgain · 11/09/2021 22:43

My 3 kids all have nicknames that have nothing to do with their names
DS1 is Boris
DD is demon
DS2 is squidge

I think DS2 will hate me as he gets older Grin. DD rolls with it, she does not care a bit.
DS1 introduces himself as Boris Grin

LittleGreenGoblin · 11/09/2021 22:44

My friend and her DH both have nicknames that are different from their actual names. When they got married, some of their guests thought they'd turned up to the wrong wedding Grin

SisterMonicaJoansHabit · 11/09/2021 22:49

My youngest has several nicknames, actually they both do, but my youngest will actually respond to Dinky, and uses it in part of her usernames etc.

I never use my real name online, and people call me whatever my facebook name is. It's changed over the years but even folk who have known me for years, and who know my real name too, do it.

We called my eldest Brian for a year, they weren't that keen on it so we stopped. I can't remember what started it.

barskits · 11/09/2021 22:56

DH does, nearly everyone except his immediate family calls him his nickname, but I'm not going to tell you what it is because it's too outing... Grin Grin

CallMeRisley · 11/09/2021 23:00

A bit like Freddie Flintoff whose name is actually Andrew… I know someone called Jack, only he isn’t called Jack at all, his name is Nicholas and his friends at school called him Jack Nikaus after the golfer, and it stuck and now he’s just Jack expect to his sister who calls him Nick!
I know a little Mimi whose name is Amelia but her older sister who was a toddler when she was born couldn’t pronounce Amelia and it became Mimi, their Mum admitted she’d never have chosen it.

bettertimesarecomingnow · 11/09/2021 23:02

Yes dd is called a totally different name which related to how she wore her hair once.

Dh and ds call her this - they never use her real name. Don't think it will catch on outside of the home tho!!

TheLovelinessOfDemons · 11/09/2021 23:06

My stepfather was always called by a nickname, also I have a friend who's called by his nickname Benny, because he smiles exactly like Benny from Top Cat.

margotnotrobbie · 11/09/2021 23:13

DS went by Yaya but only to us and not at school or anyone else. He was a late talker and Yaya was one of the first words he said and responded to. Now at almost 9 he has said his name is what his birth name is and doesn't want to be called that anymore which we respect me acknowledge.

Gilead · 11/09/2021 23:21

DS is 36, is called nickname by everyone, it’s not a real name, friends couldn’t pronounce real name when toddlers so this is what it became. Too outing to say it though!

Theworldisquiethere · 11/09/2021 23:23

My sister’s had the same nickname since she was quite young, a mispronunciation of her name and not a ‘real’ name or normal nickname at all. Most people who know her now don’t know her real name and just think she’s got a very unusual name.

TheTempest · 11/09/2021 23:51

DD decided when she was around 3/4 that she wanted to be known as a shortened version of her name. And it’s stuck really, she prefers it and most of the family/ friends/school call her it. I figured she can change it when she gets older if she wants to, it’s her name after all!

Forestcantrun · 12/09/2021 00:03

My mum calls my brother (mid forties) what he mispronounced his own name as when he was wee.
She calls me a random name from a TV add when I was a child. Absolutely nothing to do with my actual name.
No one outside our families would know those names though.
At work my name is commonly mispronounced and I get a half version of my name 🤣 Sometimes I just don't know who I am anymore 🤣

Piemam · 12/09/2021 00:31

Yes! My baby calls his older brother a completely different name, something he said when first talking that sounds like the nickname, so older son has nickname ever since. At home and grandparents' house too.

justasking111 · 12/09/2021 00:48

OH family all have nicknames except mum. My second DC has one older DC has always used it so it followed them through school and university. It's so odd to hear the real name whenever non family use it

WearingMyBestMardyPants · 12/09/2021 07:36

@TheLovelinessOfDemons

My stepfather was always called by a nickname, also I have a friend who's called by his nickname Benny, because he smiles exactly like Benny from Top Cat.
There's either two of them called Benny from topcat or your mate is my Dad Grin
LookAtMoiPloise · 12/09/2021 08:22

My family (including DH and in-laws) always call me by my nickname (started by my granddad when I was born).

It's rare for anyone to call me my proper name Grin

Durbeyfield · 12/09/2021 08:25

FunnysInLaJardin can I just say - Raphael is a really wonderful name. If I’d heard that whilst pregnant I would have wanted it for one of my boys!

PaperMonster · 12/09/2021 09:07

My Aunty was given a nickname by her many older siblings when she was a baby. She is now in her nineties and is still known by that name! I was in my 20s before I realised that wasn’t her real name!!

darumafan · 12/09/2021 11:04

When I was very small I couldn't say my name and came up with something that stuck for years. It eventually got shortened to the version I still get called.
The shortened version is actually a nickname for a completely different name to my real name which has led to confusion over the years as to.what my real name is.

TidyDancer · 12/09/2021 11:20

One of my siblings has a totally different nickname, based on what another one of us mispronounced her name as when she was born. It's stuck and it's over 30 years later. I think only one or two family members call her anything else and some friends use the name too. It doesn't seem to bother her.

DemDem94 · 12/09/2021 11:27

Yes my older DD is 18 and she's had a nickname for years. Friends and teachers called her it.
And my youngest dd gets called monkey..
She has done since she was a baby. Got to the point when younger if we even called her by her name she sometimes says no mummy, call me monkey or sometimes its no its monkey-rose and not (Name)-Rose. She is now just turned 10.

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