To refuse to call him by his stupid nickname??

[PonyPals]

So we have a brand new staff member in my team who has a perfectly sensible name - Steven but has decided to use some ridiculously stupid nickname he made up - Sonty
And he is now constantly correcting all of us and insisting we use his nickname. I am his manager. I feel silly even uttering Sonty. Yet he corrects me every time I say Steven.
Aibi to want to take Sonty and shove it up his bum!
PS not his real name or moronic nickname but they are similar to what I said.

Yep I'm with everyone, if it's a variant of his name (first of surname) then no matter how stupid you think it is then you should use it.

If it's something like He-Man or Squigy Bum, or Fuckface McFucker then you might be onto something.

Fuckface McFucker

I know a few of those - not sure they'd answer to it thought

I used to work with someone who had a racist nickname (not the real nickname or ethnicity, but like if he was Chinese and known as 'Choppy', short for chopsticks) which everyone used, including the man himself. I called him by his name, and would judge anyone who didn't.

However, if it was just a name I didn't like or thought was silly, I would still have used it as I'm not the name police.

YABU it's what he prefers.

Call him by the name he prefers - anything else is rude and unlikely to help you build a good relationship with your team member.

You're his manager call him whatever you want. Mr surname would be OK.

I think you should call people what they like to be called, within the realms of reasonable. Sonty is OK.

i don't like my real name so when I meet people I introduce myself as my chosen abbreviation of that name. If I was to start a new job I would legally have to use my real name on paper but would never have thought a 'call me ...... please' would be a problem. It would be rude to ignore his request based on your opinion. If it was me I wouldn't answer you if you called me by my real name, I hate it.

Excuse yourself and say you are terrible with names. Then continue to call him by his nickname but with a different consonant each time.

"Yo, Konty! How's it hanging?"

All nicknames are "made up", thats kind of the point!

YABU. As PP have said, as long as its not offensive or wildly ridiculous then why does it matter?

And you may find that you have a fair amount of nicknames that you dont know about, due to being so uptight

I think if Sonty (or whatever) is the name he always goes by then that is what you should call him. You only know his full legal name because you've seen it on his CV and HR paperwork. If you had moved next door to him or joined his company as his new boss you'd have been introduced to him as Sonty and that is what you would have called him without question.

If someone was from a different ethnic background and had a 'funny' foreign name that you found daft to say, I assume you wouldn't refuse to say it? So unless Sonty actually wants to be called Bawbag or Cuntychops then please do him the same courtesy and get over yourself.

Wow thanks for the unanimous vote on how unreasonable I was being! Point taken and I will now use his preferred name from now on.
It's not as interesting as some examples you have used.
Real name Darren but wants to be called Dazza. I know it's a shortening/nickname that is often used in Australia but I'm just having trouble taking it seriously. Introducing him to our clients by saying "this is Dazza" will make me want to crack up laughing.
But, thank you all for setting me straight and I will endeavour to call him as he wishes!

As long as the nickname isn't rude what's the problem?

You should remove the stick from your arse before your colleagues give you a nickname and it won't be nice either.

Good on you OP :-)

Dazza is fine used here (not Australia either).

I suppose if you are solicitors or judges he might need to rethink.

"Is it a play on his actual name - such as Jonty to Jonathan, which is rather inoffensive, or is it something ridiculous like Sparky or Biggles?"

Biggles was a shortening of his actual name!

Actually, this is a good place for a rant. A nickname is not a shortening! It always makes my teeth itch on name threads when people get them mixed up.

A nick name is something a person is called completely unrelated to their proper name. My given name is Cathleen. I use a shortened version- Cate. I am known in my family as Google for reasons lost in the midst of time butnpredating the search engine by more than 30 years. Only Google is a nickname.

Dazza?

Doesnt come under offensive, but does sound a bit stupid tbh so I have changed my mind and I think that you are right!

Dazza/Gazza/Bazza stops in the playground doesnt it?!

Well, unless the nickname is actually offensive, then I think that you probably need to address him as he prefers to be addressed.

Quite a few don't like 'Stevie' but .... it's my name, I like it, and I'd be a bit put out if people changed it cos they thought it was silly.

S xxx

I'm all for ensuring people are comfortable but OP, I'm with you...I'd struggle to take someone seriously in business if he's introduced to me as Dazza. It's not a sports team.

Personally, I'd go with what PP have said and say "sorry, bit familiar for me, do you mind if I continue to call you Darren?"

I think Dazza sounds ridiculous and I think Id call him Darren
Dazza sounds too " matey" it's has no place in a professional setting

Oh. I thought you we being a bit unreasonable. But Dazza just makes me want to giggle.

I think Dazza is the kind of name your football teammates might call you, but is too informal for work if it's a professional environment. It sounds over-familiar and just not serious. Which in some roles and workplaces would be absolutely fine, but in others would give the wrong impression of Darren/Dazza.

For what it's worth OP, I completely understand. I'd feel a right knob introducing somebody as Dazza - it's like I'd be condoning ridiculous juvenile nicknames.

I also acknowledge that the problem is mine.

Can you ask to call him Daz rather than Dazza? Dazza sounds very over friendly