To call my grandchild the name he has just been given.

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My daughter has just had her first child, our first grandchild, mother and baby
doing fine,very exciting time for all of us.However she has given the little boy
two perfectly nice ordinary names, say David Charles, but the plan is
obviously to call him by his initials,so a conversation could go
'Hi Mum Deecee has put on another 2ozs'
'Lovely darling, glad David is feeding well , Aunt Matilda has rang to ask if
you could put some pictures of David in the post'
'Yes, I've got some lovely pictures of Deecee on the computer' etc etc
So far by calling him the baby a lot tensions have been avoided, but this is obviously a short term solution, but I just refuse to call him Deecee for the
next twenty years

It'd be different if you decided you didn't like the name David, so would call him Simon instead

About 5 years ago, I had a neighbour whose grandmother did just that when her DD was born. The baby did have a very unusual name - a bit like Storm or Rainbow. Neighbours' GM sent her a congratulations card saying "welcome to the family baby Emily". Neighbour phoned her mum to ask whether grandma had been given the wrong name or was she maybe confusing her with someone else? Mum replies "oh no, she knows the right name but says that Rainbow isn't a name to she'll call her Emily" .

Neighbour thought it was quite funny & just let her GM get on with it!

OP, I agree with the poster who said that the actual first name (so David from your example) may well come into use over the years. A nursery school will happily use the initials DJ, a primary school maybe - but communications would probably still be addressed to David. From my experience though, secondary schools tend to use "proper" names. He will have to be David on all of his official paperwork, if that is how he has been registered, so the name can't disappear completely. However, he may always be DJ to his family - he might not - but he might and, in the kindest possible way, that's nothing to do with you. The best you can do is keep your fingers crossed that he will grow up to prefer David himself .

Congratulations on your new grandchild .

I feel your pain OP but it's not really your call. However, GPs often get to call their GCs special names, so I'd just call him David UNLESS your DD specifically asks you to use DC.

But do they definitely want everyone using his initials, or is it just something they do? Ask if you can use his actual first name, it shouldn't start a war!

At least he has normal names - they could have called him deejay, PJ or emcee (all kids I have met)

My DM hates unusual names... During my pregnancy I declared I loved the tv show Spartacus and was going to call my ds "ganicus " after my fave character.

Of course I had no such intention but it was most amusing watching her try to act okay with it. (Ds has a popular, traditional name dm loves and is also named after my dad so I am not a total bitch...)

My cousin had a child 8 years ago and named her Elizabeth (not real name) she has always been referred to as Beth (so basically her name can be shortened in 2 ways but it was the least common way) however my grandmother (the babies great gran) would always always call her Elizabeth, on every card and present etc... until about 2 years ago when she realised that the child really isn't known as Elizabeth. None of us minded at all :) it was just unnatural to her to shorten names.

All my kids have Sunday best names and shortened versions which they use everyday and are known by in school.

Mostly I have just let people call them what they like, except one when FiL started using a shortening I really didn't like, (think Our Jimmy for James). To his credit he stopped immeadiately, which is what any well mannered person would do.

I have noticed my DD's boyfriend calls her by a name we have never used, (think Kitty for Katherine when we have always used Kate) but I think it's quite sweet to have a pet name in a relationship. DH and I have one for each other.

I think people are being a bit harsh - your Grandson's name is actually what you are calling him! I call one of mine ' Bear', sometimes in front of people, but would think it weird if someone else did. Just call him David, you like it, its his name, your DD clearly likes it as she named her son that and don't over think it! By the way, I would also CRINGE at an affected nickname like DC or TJ being given to a baby..its feels very try too hard to me as it is not a shortening like James to Jimmy or Millicent to Millie. I think nicknames should evolve naturally, but I think I am in a minority!

Op, I see this is your first grandchild. Can I give you a hint ?

Butt out . Call the baby what your daughter and her husband want . Perhaps direct your energies in supporting them , not picking a fight over such a small issue.

The child has two perfectly respectable names on his birth certificate. It really doesn't matter what the nick names are , they will change over time.

Gosh, you'd hate me and mine.

My aunt is never reffered to by her real name, everyone calls her by her nickname. One that isn't remotely like her name. Even her late mother did.

And my youngest has a beautiful name.

But to us she will forever be Piggle, because when I was a sleep deprived mum of a baby with an undiagnosed allergy I called her it once. And it's stuck.

My mum hates it, and the more she has a go at me about it, the more it gets my back up.

So stop being so overbearing.

Just keep the teeth gritted, you may even grow to like it?

Seems popular in military/wealthy families.

YES! All the adult male JP/PJ/TJ etc I know went through Sandhurst following in their Dad's footsteps.

They are just experimenting with pet names.We did this with out first son. Thought AJ would be a really cute nickname. It lasted about a week, then everyone called him by his name. Leave them be. Do they actually mind you calling him David, or are you just objecting to your daughter calling her son DC?

'is it okay if I call him the 'longer version' of his name, ie David?'

"D" is not the shortened version of David - that's Dave. D is the child's initial.

Im looking forward to my first gc in December.

I will call the baby whatever my ds & dil want.

Seriously why would you want to upset your dd? Why do you feel the right to ignore their wishes?

I find it very strange?

Talk to your daughter about it and try not to be a knob. She's just had a baby and can do without stress over nothing.

Ask the parents, then if they say DJ, or whatever it is, then smile and use that name. There would be no gain at all in pursuing it, unless you want a short term look I won moment.

Maybe they like the way DJ sounds but know that when it comes to writing a CV and working life Daniel James would be better.

I think you need to suck it up and call him the name his parents gave him, I'm afraid.

My friend's brother is known by his initials, BJ, which has led to some teasing by the under 40s.

This is where endearments come in very handy. 'Hi, gorgeous! Here's my little treasure. Do you want milk, sweetheart?' That's the way I'd be going with it.

We are hoping to see our grandchild soon too and will call him/her by whatever name that parents want.

Life's too short to worry about a name and inevitable it will get shortened or turned into a nickname over time.

Don't risk upsetting your dd. not worth it.

As long as it's not Chardonnay or Kianu though!

Congratulations OP. I don't think you'll care about this this time next year

Well that's the thing-we don't yet know if OP's daughter is upset, do we?

OP, did your daughter specifically say that he was to be called DC?

I went through a version of this with my mum in the first few days after my ds was born. She made it clear she wasn't happy with his very nice traditional name because we hadn't named him after her brother. That was his second name.

I was exhausted sore and upset and started crying. She left and on her way out my dh advised her, in a kind but firm way, that she needed to keep her opinions to herself.

She did just that and was a fab grandma to my son who is 18 now.

She died in 2013 and I miss her terribly. I have many wonderful memories of her but as you can see I can still remember that day and her having a nag at me when I was feeling so vulnerable.

I hope you manage to get it right op.