to change her name to Doris...

[bertieatemybisqui]

Hello I'm new to all of this so please go easy on me!

My dd is 13 months and called Emma. Only somehow Doris has evolved.

It started off as a nickname but in the last six months it became the default choice. Now she seems like a Doris. We bizarrely answers to both. She also answers to Monkey!

Now I know I'm probably giving her an identity crisis and I know Doris is a marmite name but it seems to have evolved...

So much so that in a few years the change could be made by deed poll.

Is this nuts?

Katherina are her parents nuts? Hipsters? Day fans?

They are quite cool East Asians. Mum 40+ I think. Probably in the hipster category.

It's fine to have a random nickname you know. Doris is her nickname.

My family call me Nancy half the time, always have done, nobody remembers why.

My daughter is 22 and I always call her polly.her dad calls her pip and her brothers sometimes call her all sorts !!!none of these are similar to her real name, she is called her real name by her friends. She's never had a problem and still answers to all her different names.

Ds was affectionately called Bert from a toddler. By 16 most of his mates call him that too. Dd on the other hand has been bells or belle since birth, again a nickname.

I wouldn't have changed them by deed poll, you can tell who their closest friends are actually by what they call them

To those who've given a nn to dcs do you prefer nn to real name?

I have been called "lainey"my whole life by my family but nobody else calls me it.

My dd is Lucy but has been called "cookie" by her older brother since she was born, she answers to both:)
Though I can't imagine her starting school next year and being a cookie!
If I were you, I would wait until your dd is old enough to have a say and make an informed decision purely based on the name sorry.

My two year old dd Is known as Minnie by family and close friends but she has a long name on the birth certificate and that's what she'll be registered as at school. I worried about causing confusion but she answers to both and chops and changes as to what she wants us to call her. OP, I wouldn't worry too much at this stage and certainly wouldn't go to the trouble of changing the birth cert. She'll decide what she wants to be known as when she's ready.

Nothing wrong with Doris
Actually, Doris is my nickname and has been for years because that was what my dad wanted to name me when I was born. I'm very glad that my aunt stepped in and suggested a different name. I have told people that I've worked with in the past and they have all said that if they saw that name on a job application it would have affected how they viewed me. Although this was a long time ago when traditional names weren't as acceptable as they are now.

Emma is a lovely name. Doris is awful, sorry. Lots of old womeny names are cute i.e Freda, Josie, Winnie, Patsy but Doris is just ugly.
However even if it was the other way around and you were saying should I change her name from Doris to Emma I'd still say no.
You don't change your child's name at 13 months fgs, they know their name by then.

Cute nickname, no problem if she gets called it. Few people respond to what is on the birth certificate.

Both my kids are known by their nicknames. The school use them too. There's a box on the enrolment form to add their preferred name.

I'm in Scotland so wouldn't have to use deed poll anyway, but still wouldn't even if I lived in another UK country.

I know a Doris who isn't old or ugly, in fact she's quite lovely. I'm a bit at people saying it's an ugly name. It isn't.

Is it a regional thing that people say 'Oh don't be a Doris!' ??

Have you ever noticed how many pigs at petting zoo/farms are called Doris

QTPie missed your post!

I'm afraid I don't quite understand why anyone would spend a long time deliberating over a name for their child, take the plunge and register the name, only to call them them something else on a daily basis.

Why did you not just choose the name you wanted in the first place?

Please dont change her name to the nickname. Keep it as her family pet name.....when she is older she could choose, should she want to, or she could keep her birth name.

I have my birth name. Growing up was called a nickname. NOW, I hate the nickname and use my given name all the time.

Well, except I fail to answer to it a lot of the time. I also fail to answer to my childhood nickname. My DH has started calling me 'Doris' !

I actually answer to it, but it is a name ONLY he can get away with, and is now kind of funny......but god, I would still NOT want to be known by it as my given name.

Keep Emma. It is lovely.
Doris is cute, and can be used when she is older as a fun family name.

Doris is clunky and finite. It ends on a consonant and starts with a consonant.

It rhymes with Horace and Boris.its heavy and solid.

Emma is a well regarded classic name, because it has the opposite set of qualities, which people prefer, generally, and feel more inspired by.

Agree with Riverland - Gladys is another one in this vein. Clumpy, unmusical names all.

Thanks for all your posts! Very helpful!

Its funny how there seems to be a lot of people nn Doris!

sheitguist this wasn't intentional! Just organic. I think its because Doris isn't a nn like Monkey but a proper name that I'm having this wobble. I don't have this situation at all with my eldest dc.

I will leave it up to her to decide. When she's 20 she'll probably say no to Doris as it will be the mist popular name in the charts

Doris is the female equivalent of Wally.

I thought that would be Dorian, wrecking?

And whats wrong with Walter! Wally, anyway?