Do you call your DC by their full name or a shortened version?

[Lexiesgirl]

I'm just interested, as I've recently had DC1 and have since discovered that giving your child a longer name but calling them by a short version seems to be a little contentious! Some people like it, but other people seem to think it is strange to register/christen your child with a name you won't actually call them.

So, DD is Alexandria but she is always known as Alex, and that has always been the plan.

Did you go for/are you planning a longer name but call your child by shorter version?

(And don't get me started on how giving your child two middle names is apparently 'overkill'!!)

Interestingly my mum gave my DB a long name that is often shortened and, unsurprisingly, when he went to secondary school everyone started shortening it. My mother was furious - she was not above saying on the phone to his friends "his name is 'xx', if I had wanted him to be called 'x' I would have christened him 'x' but I didn't!" I always thought that meant mum was a bit of a stickler for principle, as she also calls my oldest friend by her full name when no one else ever does.

Yet weirdly she's always called DP by his shortened version, and is now doing the same thing with DD - but refuses to do the same with my nephew and always calls him his full name (especially weird as she hates the full name!)

Anyone else have a family member who refuses to use a nickname or insists on using one?

Yes, always a shortening. We specifically chose a name with several alternative shortenings - I suspect she may shorten further to one of these as she gets older. I sometimes use the full name though to get her attention - similarly I only ever got my full name growing up if I was being naughty

A mixture. Our ds's name is hard-ish to shorten but we have little versions we call him within the family. Dd is often called by her full name, but friends and teachers call her a shortened form, and sometimes i do so for speed. We chose her name because we liked the long version and all the short ones too!

DH and I love Xander but don't overly like Alexander, and (no offense to those with Alex-es!) really dont like Alex. After much umm-ing and ah-ing we realised that it would be infinitely easier to just put Xander on his birth certificate - that way there's no risk of Alex-ing!

I always loved Charlotte for a girl but hate Charlie, so I have relegated it to middle-name status ;)