AIBU to hate name shortening.

[starzig]

Probably just me. I see posts of people saying for example 'I am naming my daughter Abigail to be called Abi'. Why not name her Abi then. So common place that people think they have the right to shorten my name too.

The reverse is also true. We had a girl at school called Kate. That was her name, on her birth certificate. So many teachers tried to call her Katherine. She was a bolshy little madam and so just ignored them until they used Kate. When they challenged her for being rude, her stock response was that Kate was her name and she didn't realise they were talking to her when they used Katherine. Even though there was no other Katherine in the class.

I also know two Jenny's - not Jennifer- and a Sue - not Susan. Everyone always tries to lengthen their names.

As a pp has implied,, the point of a shortening/nickname is that it expresses a different relationship with the person. Other languages/cultures have the same or different ways of doing this. Using a nickname for a child is a bit like using an endearment - it's a sign of familiarity and affection. I think having one name that everyone calls you is really restricted.

As a pp has implied, the point of a shortening/nickname is that it expresses a different relationship with the person.

This. I have a full first name, which people who don't know me use. I also use it professionally. Then I have a short version, which tends to be used by family and friends. And I have a nickname, derived from my first name, which is used by my closest friends. (I also have a couple of short versions of my name which absolutely no one is allowed to use, on pain of a Good Hard Stare. )

I like having the options of the shortened version and the nickname, but only as long as I get to decide who calls me what. It's my name, after all.

I expect my clients to use my full name, and I will correct them if they shorten it. I get particularly formal with those annoying calls from O2 after you've used wifi in Costa and they think it's perfectly acceptable to ring you up to flog you a tablet.
'Can I call you Plausy?'
'No, you can call me MR SUIT, thanks very much.'

I have a name like Elizabeth which I don't mind being shortened to the equivalent of Lizzie - but I do object when people then take it upon themselves to shorten it again to Liz (equivalent) - which I don't like. It annoys me because it presumes an intimacy that isn't there, and then if you object it just makes you look full of yourself. I have had to just give up with some people and let them get on with it, but then of course everyone else joins in too. I'll have to emigrate.

But Abi isn't really a proper name. It won't look good on paper, won't age well (how many 70 year old Abis do you know?), doesn't sound very professional because it sounds like a nick name etc.