Do you see James and Jamie as separate names?

[ThatllDoPig]

Or Jamie as NN? Just wondering

I would assume Jamie was a nn for James.

Have know adults with Jamie as a nn and it has been fine and worked well. But I don't tend to discriminate on name tbh and take people for who they are.

usualsuspect - you've never heard of nicknames or shortened forms of names outside of MN?????? Really??? No Daniel / Dan or Rebecca / Becky or Catherine / Cathy / Katie / Kate or . . . or . . . or . . . ? in your world? How very extraordinary if I may say so

Mine is a shortened form, my sister, her DP, my DH, god, off the top of my head I can think of so many people who have a full name and a shortened one. DH's friends mainly use his nickname, his family his full name. He likes having 2. I hate my full name and am never called by it, but there's another short for it I can't bear and never use myself though my bloody family use it grrrrrr!

I see Jamie as a short for James and I think if you do name a child a shortened form they are probably going to have to explain that it isn't a nickname quite a lot, which for me would put me off using it.

Like Prince Henry (to be known as Harry).

Same name, definitely. What really confuses me is the female version Jaime, which I read as 'Jaim' not 'Jai-mee' and was surprised to hear pronounced so!

Did you read my posts at all. I never said that

actual it would have been quite common many years ago to have a name on the birth cert and use another completely different name (or a quite tangential derivative of the given name) in everyday life, right from the start.

sorry. x-post there - I see what you're saying, that it's odd to name with one name but use another name right from the start - yes, that is a bit odd and I guess it's people who don't consider (for example) Jamie to be a 'real' name that appears on a birth certificate, but want their child to be called it, not James.

I know quite a lot of Alfies, they all have Alfie not Alfred on their BC

Thats what I meant, on MN people would say you must use the full name on his BC

Other than Prince Harry, I do know what usualsuspect means. It's the idea that you can decide what your child's nickname will be, which I see expressed a lot here. Whereas I always thought the point of nicknames was that they evolved out of familiarity and affection, often reflecting the personality of the person bestowing them as much as the one on whom they are bestowed, so you can be a different nickname to different people.

usual - your OP (I hadn't read the others when I OP'd) said 'Only on MN have I heard the one name on the birth certificate and another for everyday use thing.' - which I understood (as others did) to mean that you'd never heard of someone being named James but called Jamie. Apologies for the misunderstanding.

Sorry I never put it across very well . I knew what I meant

Oh ok, it isn't! That's what I find odd about it then. I'm with the 'proper name on birth certificate' camp. I'd find being given only a nickname a bit limiting.

I just find it odd to give a child 2 names tbh.

in Ireland it's common for the everyday name to be completely different to the given one, not a shortened nn but a totally different name, often the middle name is the everyday name and the given first name is never used!

I know lots of Pauls that you know for years before you find out that their name is John Paul etc. Often the first name (particularly for men) is also their father's name so the middle name is deliberately used instead

Both of my grandmothers used names that weren't anywhere in their given names and weren't NNs or shortened versions. I work with the elderly occassionally and you often get things like "Doris Smith, known as Mary" etc

When my friend had I Jamie I did confess I asked "short for James?" -they answer was "no, ust Jamie" and she seemed peeved that I asked!

I know an adult Jamie (Scottish) short for Jamieson, which I quite like too.

I certainly wouldn't name a James and a Jamie in the same family, put it that way.

Prefer Jimmy myself as a nn for James but that's just because I'm a vintage name nut and Jamie is more modern.

My James has always been known as Jamie. Very standard.

usualsuspect do you also find middle names strange unless they're used?

I went down the "proper" full version route with my Tom and tbh I wish I'd just gone for Tom instead of Thomas. So if anyone is pondering on giving one name but calling the shortened/nn version it might be worth thinking about that. That said I believe Tom stands up as an adult name iykwim.

To answer the question, that can be seperate names but as said before you couldn't have one of each in a family. I quite Jamieson if you adore Jamie but want a long name

No I find using a different name to the one on the BC strange.

But each to their own.

so do your children have middle names on their BCs and do you use them?

To me it's about options - the name has to last a lifetime. I like longer versions because it gives the child more options. They can have a baby/toddler name, a teenage name, an adult name etc. What nicknames can Jamie have? J (Jay) I suppose. James can be Jamie, Jim, Jimmy, J and James. It is a bit odd when parents seem to think they'll get to dictate what their DC is known as at senior school though.

The same.. Sometimes i call lo James, othertimes Jamie!! He answers to both!!

I agree with Narked

give them the long name and they can make the name grow into their personality. Give them a NN as a given name and they are stuck with a NNey sounding name forever!

DH didn't use his full name till his mid twenties! now he loves it and thinks it sounds great for work!

I think if you use the longer version on the BC you shouldn't then dictate the NN thats all.

I have a James who is Jamie at home ( or Jimbob jiminy etc) and James at school. So to me it's the same name.

but if you give a first and second name on the BC and then dictate that only the Mary out of Mary Jane is used every day its no different?