Going to register the birth tomorrow and.....

[charlatan]

would appreciate opinions please as our baby brains will not think clearly!!

We've named our DD Edie and are still wondering whether to put Edie or Edith on the birth certificate (which we love too but can't see us using very much).

Is there any point in putting a name on there that we may never use? or is it good for her to have the choice of the full name instead of the shortened Edie when she is older?

What are the pros and cons?

Thanks in advance

Um, the OP may not ever intend to use Edith but the owner of the name might have every intention. Once you've registered the name, it no longer becomes any of your business, it's the child's.

I agree with putting Edith on the birth certificate. My name is one that everyone uses the shortened version Phillippa to Pippa - I don't ever use the 'proper' name but I like having it.

Bank accounts have to be opened in the name on the birth certifcate now (along with about another hundred forms of ID ). I haven't been allowed to pay in cheques in nick name.

It's more for work purposes I find it hard...on courses I generally use my shortened name and then sometimes certificates are sent in that name too. Have also had colleagues say 'we haven't got anyone called (my real name) working here' when other departments have rung using my name from intranet.

I just don't get the 'proper' name thing. My DS is Jamie, drives me mad when people ask if his 'real' name is James, like his is a 'fake' name!

Edith it is an elegant grown up name and Edie is a gorgeous girl name-Edith gives her choices.No one ever uses my proper name but I am glad I have it all the same.

My bank accounts are all Ms H O T Elephants so I suspect I could pay in cheques made payable to Hilary, Honor or Helen with no problems. It's not as if you're naming her Margaret but she'll always be known as Pixie Frou-Frou, the connection between Edie and Edith is obvious.

Both my brothers have only ever been known by the short forms of their names within the family. Both of them still use the short forms socially but have opted to use the longer forms professionally (one of them also spent several years living and working in a country in which the short form of his name really didn't work as a name). If they'd been given only the short forms on the basis that my parents didn't intend to use the long forms they wouldn't have had that option.

@ Ballstoit: why not change the name that appears on the intranet so that it shows the name you're known by?

Definitely Edith.

When she gets older she can call herself whatever she wants regardless of what's on the birth certficate.

i would def put full name on birth certificate. all my girls are called by shortened names but have the choice when they older to use the full version of their individual names....Edith and Edie are both lovely names by the way

You could call her Eden and then shorten it.

If you decided on Edith but tend to call her Edie, register Edith. If you chose Edie but think it's not formal enough for a birth certificate, it is a name in itself too so register Edie. Depends how you chose the name initially.

Depends on whether you see Edie as a name in its own right. e.g my name for a girl baby is Meg. DH asked if we could put Megan on the BC, but to me, it's a totally different name, conjurs up different images, and I dont really like the name megan.

If you intend to always use a NN, just register DD as that NN. Then it wont be a NN as such, but her proper name.

I was under the impression that school registers are a legal document and therefore require full names. However, I always make a note in the margin if there's a child in my class that goes by another name. At least 2 a year!

BTW, my name is a shortened version of another name and (although seen as a name in its own right generally) I've never had problems with it.

I would use Edith.

Can we ask what you went for in the end? (Well I've asked, but will you tell us?!?)

Thanks everyone for all your comments. They were much appreciated.

frutilla's post helped us decide in the end as we initially chose Edie as her name and not Edith. Although we like both names, Edie tipped the balance so to keep things simple we went with that.

I just read this thread from the start and so glad you stuck with Edie!

It's fab

Thanks foxy :)

I'm really glad you got to a point where you could make a final decision and be happy with that. It doesn't matter that it wasn't what most of the thread would have done, it matters that you found an answer that suited you. Job done.

Edith. Gives her the option later on and it's not as though it's a horrid name you don't like! It's lovely and congrats by the way! X