Will Madeleine inevitably become Maddie?

[Heatherbell1978]

DD1 due in February. I have a DS1, Charlie. Think we're set on Heidi but I've always loved Madeleine and can't shake it off. We discounted it as we're not fans of names that are easily shortened and would prefer child to go by the name we give.
DH thinks it will inevitably be shortened as it's a long name but then it's 3 syllables the same as Emily, Olivia etc which don't tend to be shortened......
Any thoughts?

Not always. My Madeline is never called Maddie.

Whilst Ds is a child I can correct them
You can correct them all you like, but you can't make them use his full name. You can influence family and your friends but if his friends shorten his name, you won't even get a say.
Can you imagine him having a few friends round when he is 7 or more and correcting his friends? If your DS doesn't mind, it's not up to you to tell them they are wrong. As a teen, he'll decide for himself how he introduces himself.
I had a friend at school who got so fed up with her mum continuing to call her Deborah, that she ended up refusing to answer to it. She was Debbie and that's all there was to it. Mum fought it for a long time before she gave in.

Never mind will other people call her Maddie. What if she wants to be known as Maddie herself. You won't be able to stop her. Itll be her name. She can use whatever version she likes. Everyone is entitled to a name or a preferred name, so. To cut a long story short. If you dislike Maddie. Steer clear of Madeleine

DD had a friend at school who was a Madeleine, never a Maddie so it can work if you introduce her as Madeleine etc.

However your dd may choose to call herself Maddie therefor you will have no control.

if the child wants to be called Maddie, she will be. You won't be able to control her.

If she prefers Madeleine, then that is what people will call her. DD2 has a good friend who is never called anything other than the full name Madeleine.

*I had a friend at school whose real name was Jenny-Mae. As soon as she hit high school she started introducing herself as Jen.

Her parents hate "Jen" and determinedly use her full name even though she personally hasn't used it for 30 years.*

That would piss me right off if I were your friend. My older daughter has a beautiful name But it is very unusual and she spent her life explaning pronounciation of it when people meet her first - it isn't hard just not instinctive. There is a very easy nice shortening of it (think something like Ana) and at age 14 she told us that is what she wanted to be called. Everyone in our family loved her original name. We all found it hard to change initially. But change we did because surely you are entitled to be called by the name you prefer.

So OP, I also wouldn't use the long form of a name where you hated one of the usual shortened versions.

Honestly, yes. Unless you want to be constantly correcting people, and even then, if you force it - your DD may end up using it as a teen as a little rebellion anyway. I know a couple of Madeleine's. I think they are all called both Madeleine and Maddy.

As with Emily and Olivia, I know MANY girls with these names and ALL of them are known by Em, Emmy, Liv or Livvy.

I agree with Pallisers. It always strikes me as ludicrously controlling and precious when people try to micromanage their (teenaged+) child's name.

I know the mother of a 38-year-old Elizabeth who still gets the hump about it being shortened. 'I named her that because that's what I wanted her to be called'. Well, if you hate nicknames, Elizabeth is possibly the worst name you could have chosen for your daughter, you daft mare.

My friend's daughter is Madison. She hates it, and has insisted on Maddi since she was a teen. Her choice.

Koala My grandfather was that kind of person. Refused to use the chosen nicknames for any of his children/grandchildren. Pure disrespect (but he was a nobscrot in general), IMO.

I'm still not sure where all of these "only ever Madeleines" are hiding because they sure as shit aren't around here! Maddie is the equivalent of Liz to Elizabeth. So common and widely used, that people will assume to shorten it.

Pallisters but that poster didn't say whether or not Jenny-Mae minded her family sticking to the full version. DH has a longish name which has a well-known short (think something like Matthew and Matt). The short is how he introduces himself, it's on his CV , but family and certain very old friends use the full version, and he likes that, even though he actively dislikes other people using it.

So you could say exactly the same for DH as for Jenny-Mae, but without having that piece of info you'd be getting all pissed off in his behalf for no reason at all.

Actually, now I think about it, you could say the same for me. I have my proper name but it's one with loads of different shorts. My family use one but I use another. Even though I'm not keen on the one my family use I don't mind them using it (they'd already been using it for years before I decided I really didn't like it) but I would never ever use it myself to anyone else.

I kind of hate the common shortening of my child's name, but I've taken a gamble...!

I wouldn't risk the possibility of a beautiful name like Madeleine being shortened to (what I find ugly) nickname Maddie.

Perhaps find another name, one whose nicknames you actually like.

I grew up as Rebecca and my family and friends never shortened it. As a teen, however, I wanted a change and became Bec or Bex (I was never a Becky!) - now I am older I much prefer my full name but there are many people from that stage in my life (DH included) who use the shortened form and, whilst I really don't like it now, I wouldn't correct them but would insist on the full name from someone new.

So, I can only echo other posters, you can insist on Madeline for quite some time but your DD will choose for herself. (My DD has a nickname that I never envisaged and wouldn't have chosen but it suits her).

That might mean a lot of correcting people!

But then my dd has a 3 syllable name and it never really gets shortened ( I love the potential nicknames, but dd prefers her full name).

You lose control pretty quickly if your child is fairly headstrong and opinionated. Ds2 has a name with a few shortening like (but not) Matthew, Matt, Matty. He is 6 and I have no idea where it started but he is Matty. He will answer to Matt and Matthew but if asked says he likes Matty better. He gets called it at school, it goes on school certificates etc. Everyone uses it including me now because he likes it better. It's so ubiquitous that people have thought it was his actual name. Not my preference but it's his name and it is his preference.

I know a 17 year old Madalaine and she isn't called Maddie, not even at school

Why control your child's name. If you like the name use it. She could be called Madeline But always known by a surname nickname. She may also not like her name. She will become an adult one day and if she wants you to call her maddie I think you should!

"and would prefer child to go by the name we give."

Good luck with that!

It is controlling to dictate that your child will be called X even if they prefer Y. It's their name, not yours.

As others have said, you lose control as they get older. Charlie could end up as Chaz!

I mean, cool, but most people will assume it's fine to call a Madeleine Maddie, in the same way most people assume it's fine to call a Charles Charlie. You can protest as much as you want, but the shortenings are so common that you'll be fighting a losing battle.

We have a Charlotte in the family who gets called Chuck. Don't think her parents foresaw that when they named her.