to be mildly irritated at childminder shortening my dc's name

[nicknameshame]

not the biggest crime in the world i know but annoying me!

It would annoy me too, YANBU. I'd politely point out to her that my DC's name is X, not Y.

It depends. How massive is the name?
I always wondered why parents of Jennifers or Jessicas get uptight when their names are shortened. It's inevitable. It's like setting yourself up for cringing the rest of your life. We didn't choose the name Christian for that reason (Love that name, hate the name Chris.)

Someone managed to shorten my DDs unshortenable name for a while. After a couple of times I said 'Gosh, it's really weird to hear her being called that. It just doesn't sound like her." It worked.

it's a common name, commonly shortened and when my dc is old enough to decide for himself i don't mind but for now the decision is ours i think. love the full name, hate the shortened version! as you say we knew all this when we chose it but thought he might at least get to his second birthday before people started using the abbreviated version!

It depends..
You can't really control other people shortening her name in the long term , but then if she is still v young I suppose yanbu and it is a bit insensitive of the childminder to suddenly make a new version up

matthew, mat ?
James, Jim

sorry am < bored >

Oh nicknameshame - you've set yourself up for a whole world of pain...

Just come out and say it to her and anyone else in which case, the very first time they do it. It's easy to be done gently and with tact. "If it's ok, we'd prefer him to be called XYZ"

yeah i have no problem actually mentioning it and getting it sorted but just wondered if it would wind anyone else up! as i said at the start - no huge crime.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch? YABU

The decision is yours - for you.

But people will have different relationships with your DC and you're setting yourself up for a lot of hassle if you're going to get annoyed with a common shortening of a name you knew could be used on the name you've chosen for them.

I think it's nice when a person feels they have such a close relationship with a child that they have an informal 'pet' for them.

(Seb - Sebastian
Chris -Christian/Christopher? )

YANBU.

My mother reads a multitude of western smut novels and loves all the southern American names. She has been trying to call my son "Nate" for a while now.

Our nanny shortens my DDs name and I think it's adorable. Three reasons. The nanny has a lovely accent and it sounds nice. I picked a name I liked the short versions of. It sounds like our nanny uses it as an endearment.

BTW in RL I call the nanny by her name.

YANBU. My DS came home from his first day at his new day nursery a little perturbed that they had shortened his name. He learned by the time he started school to just say "actually, I prefer x". Annoys me a bit too, especially as they often ask on a form how he prefers to be known.
When he started school all of his paperwork (despite us filling in forms mentioning his preference) and his name sticker all had the shortened version. They had changed it all by day 2 though to be fair.

In fairness, we named our DD a long name which we had no intention of ever using it. We have always used the shortened version (kind of like Kitty/Catherine). We've never had a problem, except at this school they do keep threatening to use her long name. All I ever say is 'Blimey, I'm always amazed hearing her called that. Lucky people know she's Kitty, not Catherine'. Lucky the shortened name is really really different to the long version. Otherwise I really would be irritated about it permenantly.

Hope you have lots of Rescue Remedy on hand!

I have the opposite. Everyone lengthens DD2's name. We've called her by a shortened version since birth (should have put it on birth cert but that's another story). She loves what she is called in everyday life and hates the lengthened version.

People who don't even know she has a lengthened version sometimes come out with it. So do people who have copies of her birth cert with "KNOWN AS" written on it in red, or have been given a letter saying she is "known as".

We need to sort out getting it officially changed, but in the meantime, it's a sure fire way to make her very annoyed .

I just tell people "We don't like that." and they stop. No point pussy footing around.

1950s sounds just like us. It seemed like a good idea at birth to give her the choice but she hates the long name and it has just turned out to be a massive pain in the arse.

Mind you, I suspect some people may have called her long name even so.

OP, I would just state calmly the name you prefer. In later years your son might state it less calmly!

YANBU. I think it's really rude for your CM to unilaterally change your DC's name. If she has never heard him called anything else, she should stick with the name you use.

I have a double-barrelled first name and that is how I introduce myself. Without exception, new people immediately shorten it to the first half only. Why would you do that - when I say "hi, I'm Namey-name, they respond with "hi Namey, pleased to meet you". .

Just tell her if you don't like it, I'm sure she wouldn't do it if she thought you had a problem with it.
Although it's annoying I think it's a sign that your CM has a good bond to your DC because people usually use shortened or pet names as a term of endearment.

When dd2 started nursery, they used her full name and she had no idea who they were on about as we always use the shortened version

We prefer the shortened version but named her the full version so that she had the choice when she's older

YANBU.
Two couple's were were friends with always referred to our son as (pretend name) "Young William" . There were no other "William's" in the family or circle of friends...who is OLD William?
Made them sound like a bunch of old fogey s saying it.

But choosing a name you hate the common shortening of is a bit bonkers, you have to admit!

The point is, does your child mind? If so, say something. If not, not.

"Childminder, please don't call ds x. His name is X" Then smile nicely.

"We need to sort out getting it officially changed, but in the meantime, it's a sure fire way to make her very annoyed"

No you don't! When do you ever show your birth certificate? And how would changing the name officially stop people using a different version? And sod's law says that when she's a teenager, she'll want to go back to the old name anyway!