To think that deciding on a shortening/nickname for a DC's name is actually quite common?

[Thurlow]

Apologies, this is half a thread about a thread. Or lots of threads.

I feel like I read loads on times on Baby Names comments that 'nicknames develop over time', or how you shouldn't start with a shortened version and work out to a longer name.

Obviously this applies when your child is still known as Moo because she made a noise like a cow when she was a baby... But not when you're thinking that you want to call your daughter Katie, and then work out to decide of they should be a Katherine, Kathryn etc.

Is it just me, or is it actually quite common in RL to decide at the start that you want a Benjamin nn Ben, William nn Billy, Elizabeth nn Libby etc?

(I should qualify that this isn't exactly bothering me. I'm slightly bored this afternoon...)

I have a Charlotte. Called Charlie by family (grandfather's name), Lottie by my Mum and Bear by others, as that was her nn at nursery (for being cuddly). She's 17! It's funny watching faces when I shout 'Bear' in public places!
We have moved areas at different times during her school life, she has told teachers her 'name' at different schools, at each she wanted to be known as a different version of her name - guess she has been giving it test runs!
She will always be Bear to me!

I love love love shortened names/nicknames.

All mine have long names which are shortened. It was my main criteria.

Much more interesting than a boring name which can't be shortened. Like mine!

DH has a variety of short names and nicknames depending on which group of friends/colleagues/relatives we are with. I think it's really cool.

Wow PrincessPotsie, bet they love you if you did that to my DD I'd reply with the MN favourite, 'Did you mean to be so rude?".

I chose the full name first then thought of possible nicknames.

All the nicknames I thought of for my dd have gone out of the window at the minute. We call her by how she says her own name. Deedee (Phoebe) I was going to go for Phoebs or Bee, but no she's a Deedee at the minute! She's 14 months and sounds so cute when she says it.

My sister and I both have quite traditional names with a variety of possible nicknames.

My mum had a specific idea of what she wanted me to be known as but as soon as I could talk I referred to myself as another version of the name (although as an adult I've reverted to her choice).

My sister has always been known by a relatively uncommon version of her name, also not my Mum's choice.

In conclusion I would say it's a dangerous game to have a set idea of your child's nickname!

Options, exactly. I've got a long name and have used three different shortenings plus the whole thing at different times. Parents and family have always used the whole thing which is fine.
There's one shortening I loathe because it's too cutesy. If I'd been given the long name and they'd used that shortening I could have sorted that easily enough. If I'd been given that shortening as a full name and constantly had to say "No, it's not short for longname" I'd have been furious.

I don't think there's anything wrong with deciding you want your child to be called Kitty or Tommy and only putting that on a birth certificate. It's just personal choice. This wasn't an OP about whether it's right or wrong.

I just reckon it's actually incredibly common for parents to think 'I like Joseph, and I like the shortening Joe'. Thinking you like both names is perfectly normal and very common. And Tom, Joe, Kate, Lizzy, Alex are not nicknames, they're just shortenings.

Agree, fingers, I love DD's full name but I equally love the shortened version we use day to day.

Yes, when I think of nicknames I think of the names DH lists from his school days, which were always names like 'Skiddy, Pothead, Knobber' etc, and definitely not Tommy or Joe

Nicknames are silly names that suddenly evolve out of nowhere. They would be quite strange to come up with beforehand, unless I suppose it was a nickname for your bump that you kind of carried over. Shortenings are Jamie, Lizzy, Dan.

Ps - your DH sounds a treat

I have to state that my children have quite unusual names and loads of silly nicknames, some which they've chosen themselves, but I still think you should call your child the name you want to call them.

If DC was a boy (s)he would have been called Mikey and that is the name that would have been in his birth certificate, not mike or Michael.

I taught in a high school for 10 years and when I first took the register nearly every pupil told me that they were known by another name so I'm sure that my children will eventually, unfortunately, abbreviate their long thought about names!

DC3

The thing is princesspotsie - if you introduced me to your Mikey I'd wonder why you didn't give him a proper name, but the difference is I wouldn't be remotely bothered enough by it to consider it a 'pet hate', and I certainly wouldn't 'insist' on calling him something else.

Because, well, you know life is a bit too short for that. You named your children your way, does it really matter enough to get annoyed by it and insist on doing something annoying just because someone doesn't think exactly like you do?

My personal preference is to have a full name (e.g., Elizabeth or Edward) as the official name, then to use whatever nicknames you like. I wouldn't put a name like Liz or Eddie on the birth certificate, but I know it's a very popular trend these days.

I also think it's quite typical for parents to choose the first nicknames, though at a later date the child or his/her friends may choose other nicknames. I do find it eyeroll-worthy when parents insist everyone call their child by a particular name, especially after the child is old enough to state a preference.

Common as muck, me. Both mine are known by the short forms of their name. Both their names (vair posh, I'll have you know) have several short forms so I even made my preferred nicknames known on their birth announcements.

I'm off to put ice in my wine now, if that helps.

WhoKnowsWhere if an adult had chosen to abbreviate their name I would of course call them the abbreviated name. It's when parents choose abbreviated names for their children but they're not quite good enough for the birth certificates and 'grown up life' that riles me....

Ahh I suppose Callie would be considered a shortening for DD rather than a nickname, but it's longer than her actual name so I feel weird calling it a shortening.

She has many nicknames. Mostly spud-related.

FingersOnBuzzers is life not ' too short' to wonder why my Mikey didn't have a proper name too??

Hey princess potsie, I'm only human - it would be a fleeting thought that passed through my head...probably followed shortly by something like "I'm hungry, where can I get some food"

It certainly wouldn't become a 'pet hate' that I insisted on challenging every time it came up.

When my Dd was younger (5-6ish) she much preferred the short version of her name so that's what I asked people to call her, she really disliked being called the full version. Now she's older she prefers the long version. I find sad that an adult would have insisted on the long version that a 5 year old didn't like just to make a point about my choice of name.

My favourite name story involves President Obama's younger daughter. The name on her birth certificate is Natasha. She has always been known as Sasha. For Russian speakers, this choice is utterly baffling. For one thing, Russian naming rules are very strict and it would be impossible to put either name on a birth certificate because they are both diminutives. But what makes it even more baffling is that these two names are in no way connected to each other in Russian (Natasha is short for Natalia, Sasha for Alexandra). It would be a bit like saying that a child's official name is Bobby but you call him Billy for short.

Nothing against the Obamas, of course. Sasha seems like a lovely young girl. :)

Back to a question earlier in the thread, the word you needed is commonplace, Thurlow.

Quite apt in the context of the thread :o

Yes! That's the word!

I agree with you OP

I went through a phase of liking the name Joey and people said, "Are you going to put Joseph on the birth certificate?"

I was like, "No, because I want to call him Joey"

Just call them the name you like - why do they need another one that you're never going to call them?

That is missing the point though Writer. I like both the long and short versions of my DCs names. They have the choice. I will call them whichever they prefer. So they haven't got a name that I'm never going to call them.