To wonder why people pick a nickname for their child?

[HackerFucker22]

As in "baby is called Alexander, nn John" facetious example

I see it all the time here. You give your baby a name and any nn develop organically I'm sure?

If you want to call your child Eliza then name her that. Not Elizabeth nn Eliza.

Sorry to the poster whom I am dissing, I love Eliza and I love Elizabeth but baby only really needs one name.

[VoldysGoneMouldy]

My exMIL tried to persuade me to do this. Actually said to us, "well you know they can be called something completely different as a nickname... If you're going to call DC Franklin, I can still call them Bob!" I stamped on that, must admit.

[BathshebaDarkstone]

YANBU. I told people their names, that was it.

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

Amendment in line 3. I don't want to be known as Thomas, anymore.
Please MNHQ we need an edit button. . Erm not that I'm bribing or anything. Would I do that.

[startrek90]

Yabu. I have done this. The main reason being that Ds has a German name and my family would struggle to pronounce it. Giving him a nickname that both sides could say seemed a good idea. I wanted him to have a proper name for when he is older and that way he would have a choice.

[Scholes34]

Are they nicknames, or just shortened versions of the child's name? I know someone called David, who goes by the name of Spike, and an Alex, who calls himself Bod - they're what I think of as nicknames.

Perfectly reasonable to name someone James, David, Alexander, Robert, Henry and refer to them as Jim, Dave, Alex (or Sandy), Rob (or Bob), Harry (or Haz).

[Sparklingbrook]

I don't see the issue. It doesn't matter what's on their birth certificate, nobody ever sees it.

[ZiggyFartdust]

Because they want to. You must be lacking in imagination to not have an inkling.
I gave my DD a rather big, grand name. And then a more cute, easy going nick name. Her name is her name, but we mostly call her the nickname for now, as the name seems rather large for such a little scrap of a girl. She will likely grow into it. The older children all have full names and nicknames that are interchangeable.

This is not a new thing. Catholic families, for example, always gave their children saints names but often called them by middle names, pet names, diminutives.


This is another one of those complaints when I wonder why anyone could possibly care. What could it matter to you if my children, or anyones, has full names and nicknames? PP's have said they find it irritating, or it "really bothers them". Are you really that bored/dull that strangers childrens names really actually bother you?

[expatinscotland]

YANBU

[Sparklingbrook]

You wouldn't know unless I told you whether what we call the DC is what's on their birth certificate.

[FeliciaJollygoodfellow]

I agree on a shortened name - if you like Archie, register the kid's name as Archie, not Archibald.

A nickname is different.

[scrivette]

My children's nicknames are Cheesy and Friendly, completely different to their names.

I think of 'Georgie' for Georgina as a shortened version of the full name rather than a nickname.

I think it's good to have an option to shorten your name but have the longer version on the birth certificate as they then have the option of reverting to the full name when older.

[AKissACuddleAndACheekyFinger]

Crikey, you would hate it at CheekyFinger HQ! Six children and four of them have shortened names-two just shortenings, one is known by his initials and another has a universally accepted nickname of his formal name. I don't know why we like it really, we just do! That's the least helpful post ever ha ha. Now I think about it, it's interesting that the two we do not do this with are both girls....

[Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost]

My DD hates her full title, she's Molly, but is strictly known as Mol. If anyone calls her Molly, she thinks, they're upset with her.

[StarkyTheDirewolf]

I was discussing this with my grandma a few weeks ago. My dad has one name, but has been called by his nickname most of his life, because there were already two with his name in the family when he was born (first and second name) I didn't even know his nickname wasn't his proper name until I was about 11, the names bear no resemblance to each other

But I don't think it's a bad thing. A "proper" name (or a 'Sunday name" as my grandma calls it) and an intended nickname. People will call you all sorts anyway. I have a long name which can be shortened in a few ways. Different people call me different things.

plus, I know I'm in trouble if I get full named

[nattyknitter]

The trouble is, if youu do go with the shorter version as the name then others will lengthen it. I have a friend who is just Jen and gets really annoyed at people who insist on calling her Jennifer or Jenny.

Another friend goes by Chris and he is often called Christopher, only in his case his name is Christian.

I know a lot of people who have firstname middlename and are called by middlename as a deliberate choice. Why not just flip them if that's what you always intended to do.

People are strange.

[DreamingOfADifferentMe]

Do you know, I like nicknames. I don't get the whole 'their official name is Jennifer but we'll call her Sally' approach, obviously, but I love the nicknames that emerge over time.

My daughters both have beautiful names. Their nicknames bear no resemblance to their names, but instead are born out how they used to refer to each other (and still do). They sound like Tellytubbies, but I find it adorable and I know the time will undoubtedly come where they announce very primly that that IS not their name.

wanders off singing The Ting Tings That's Not My Name

[IlPorcupinoNilSodomyEst]

Ds and do are known as Big and Noodle ... Want to guess their proper names?!!

[Ditsy4]

My kids names were shortened by their friends. Middle child had his shortened because he had a good friend with the same name that he played with everyday when we moved here. It was confusing for the village kids so they shortened it and I do too but when he is out of line he gets the full version!
My friend has family nicknames and her grandson let slip when I arrived one day by calling me by it! I've had it for years apparently. We have six boys between us and referred to the younger two as the smalls. We sometimes still refer to them as that as they are still best friends.
It does seem a bit weird chosing one at birth. I always think they emerge as children grow although our daughter gave herself one and insisted we all call her by it. When she was looking for a business name and asked me I suggested it...she wasn't amused.

[Sparklingbrook]

We have 'Big 'un' and 'Little 'un' when DH and I talk about the DC. Not so good now they are 16 and 14.

[Canyouforgiveher]

A bit of point and more musing about nicknames but I think the world is divided into people who automatically shorten/make nicknames/pet names and those who don't. Dh and I are t"hose who don't". The entire of the US is "those who do". So we are routinely called by shortened versions of our names (not obvious ones like Thomas/Tom - more like Harriet/Harry) here by people we have met for the first time. We are always a bit startled by what seems like a very fast intimacy!

My sister shortens/uses pet names all the time - on her children and my children. We never do.


I do think some nicknames/pet names are very cute - especially ones that aren't anything to do with the name but it seems very forced to decide you want to call a child the nickname Boo so what name can you use to achieve this. Those kind of nns feel to me like they should arise by happenstance.

That said, I believe strongly that people should be able to call their children what they want and people in general should be called what they want. My dd decided she couldn't take her unusual name any more (I LOVE it) because of mispronounciations and at age 14 shortened it to its first syllable which happened to be a more usual name. We had never used that shortening ever. But in a few weeks we got very used to it.

[ZiggyFartdust]

I agree on a shortened name - if you like Archie, register the kid's name as Archie, not Archibald

Maybe I like both. And maybe its none of your bloody business?

[Alisvolatpropiis]

I mean more the posts about names which are traditionally shortenings for a particular name.

Example -

We want Freddie as a nickname, what can it be short for?

Responses - Frederick?

Op - no we don't like that

[grumpysquash3]

My youngest is known as Mr Pickle, which is nothing like his name, but at least is an 'organic' nn.
Most annoyingly I knew a family who named their daughter Helena (lovely name IMO) nn Ellie

[grumpysquash3]

Also, very brilliantly, I have a colleague called Nikki and it isn't short for anything.
(her mum was dyslexic and chose something easy to spell. Her brother is called Lee)