to hate this current fad for "nicknames" that bear no relation to the given name?

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Why not call them the nickname, FFS?

"We've called our daughter Annabelle but she'll be known as Elena."

Why? Why not just call her Elena - perfectly good name, IMO, from the off. Or Elena Annabelle, which goes.

I've not come across any children with nicknames that are not related to their names at all - surely this must have been a one off??

i think its a british thing! (Me being non british do notice this trend as well!

both my children have nicknames that bear no relation to their names.

but they were nicknames that arose, iyswim, not actively chosen by us at point of naming.

dd1 was known for years as Poppy - used to confuse the hell out of everyone around her whn she said "that's not my name" when eg HV or doc called her Poppy.

can't remember now how/why she got that nicknme, but it hung around for a few years.

Where did you get that teddy bear emoticon?

Nick names bearing no relation to given name isn't a current fad:-

Margaret = Peggy.....go figure!

It's not so much the names not bearing any relation, it's the ones that say, we're going to call our DD Florrie and yes we are using it as a nn for Joanna so ner. What's that about?

It's not a modern fad. My great-grandmother (American) was christened Mary Louise but always called Dinah (nobody knows why).

I havent noticed kids doing this but pensioners always do it. I dont get it I have family members that are called Elizabeth but everyone calls them Margaret or Alice but everyone calls them Bet. What the hell is that about? When you ask why they always say thats just what everyone has always called me. It used to confuse the life out of me when I was a kid.

Doodlez, here:

No, the Baby Names thread here is full of 'em.

No problem with "evolving" nicknames, DD2 is called Dot because she was small once. Just the conscious decision to name your child one thing and call them something completely different.

HOW DO YOU DO THAT?????

My granddad was called Albert but everyone called him Arnold. no idea why. My parent's have a friend called Francine who is known as Cheena (not sure that's even a real name).

I had a nickname (or two) that bore no relation to my name and so did others in my family. All the nnames had a 'reason' but this was usually quickly forgotten....... Can't see what the problem is really.

Yes, Rockbird, exactly. "We're going to call her Persephone Angelica RaaRaa Pombearlina but she will be known as Jane."

Not a new thing - my grandmother was either called Mary or Lily depending on who was talking to her; on her birth certificate was ELizabeth!

I've never heard of this in my life! unless the nn is something like fatbum (thanks family )

What about people who give children nicknames immediately upon birth? I always thought the point of nicknames was to let them evolve, not just say right, your name is Cecilia, so your nickname will be Lia.

My B and SIL did this for all 4 and it still puzzles me.

[teddy]

[teddybear]

Ha!

[I need to get a life emoticon]

My MIL is called Catherine but goes by Lynn, and her mum is called Ellen but is known as Nelly, very odd.

It's bloody strange, is what it is.

my nan was always known to everyone as 'Marrie' (no, not Marie, nor mary) - it turned out that her name was actually Victoria.

Doodlez, did you not get your PM?!

My gran was Agnes but always known as Nancy which is a common nickname for Agnes but how you get to Nancy from Agnes I've no idea.

DH had an aunt called Nancy. I knew her quite well, we visited her often. It was only at her funeral that I realised her real name was Elizabeth .

I don't know of any children like that though.

YANBU I loathe it, so false. It's fine when the name evolves over time in relation to the child's character or pronunciation of whatever, but too trytoohard for me at the register stage.