For Jamie.. should I have James on birth certificate?

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Hello all

I quite like the name Jamie but everyone thinks I should have James on BC rather than just Jamie. What does everyone think? I don't even know any Jamie's to ask what their mums did!

Do you want your child to have the option of using James as they grow up?

Personally , if you like Jamie then I'd stick with that.

I know a few jamies from men to boys (and 1 girl) the men tend to be James and the boys are Jamie I think it is a fine standalone name these days but it really is up to you.

I would have ‘James’ on the bc.
Whilst Jamie is an adorable name for a baby/child, you might find that he would prefer a mor adult sounding name when he is older.

I have one! He is just that on his birth certificate

I can't say they men i know are cute and adorable but they still suit Jamie.

Not Jamie, but my ds has one name on the birth certificate but is referred by a different version day to day, depends entirely if you want them to have both options.

There are plenty of grown up Jamies. It does give less options but it's a perfectly acceptable adult name.

From personal experience I'd stick with the name you will use on the birth certificate. I have only had one issue which was when some helpful person at student loans incorrectly corrected my name to James.

I'm also confident that my name has not me me any less manly or adult, I know because my mum told me.

Yes have James.

My friend called her DS Charlie on the birth certificate because she didn't like Charles. Fine. Except family used Charles as an nn and she grew to love it. Her DS now prefers Charles to Charlie after being teased about having a girls name...

I think it's harder now to NOT be addressed as the name on your BC. So many places and procedures require official ID now compared to 20 or 30 years ago. "Call me Lizzie/Jamie/Daisy/Ted" was much easier back then.

So if you're happy with Jamie, use that on the BC. It's not a really cutesy name like Teddy, after all.

Yes give him the option.

I have a name that is commonly shortened and the abbreviated version is also popular in its own right. I am often glad to have the option to use the full version or short version and have never wished the short version was on my BC. I have a male family member who has a name that is often used as a standalone name on the BC in its abbreviated form and again he finds it useful to have the option. When there were three kids with the short version in his class he was able to use the long version rather than having initial or surname used.

The only person I know who has an issue with this has a different first initial for her full name and abbreviated version a bit like Kate Middleton is actually Catherine - that can cause problems with cheques and stuff.

Worth thinking about, will it annoy you if as an adult /teen, he prefers James? I do know people who have put a full name on the birth certificate to give their child 'options' as an adult, then being genuinely annoyed when their child uses that option!

I personally would put James on the birth certificate, mainly because Jamie is a bit 'little boy', but do think if you will find it hard to hear him called James.

Or Jamieson.

Go for James, it leaves him the option and looks more professional on job applications and CVs if he wants to join a conservative profession. The two Jamies I know at work are officially James. Just because they applied as “James” doesn’t mean anyone calls them that. They introduced themselves as Jamie. Also with names like James, Samantha, Charles, people often ask do you go by/prefer x or y?

As a general principle I'd go with the full name on on a birth certificate - so Frederick, or Charles or James or Jonathan or Charlotte or Elizabeth or whatever.

Some of the abbreviated versions are more suited to small children or informal situations - fine to use as family names or if the child chooses to continue them in adulthood, but it's often useful as an adult to have a more professional sounding name, even if it only goes on paperwork. Freddie, Olly etc just aren't what you want to put on your Cv in my view, even if you'll later tell your colleagues to call you that name. And having a choice to shorten or make informal is nice, whereas you can't or people never do extend their name.

My Irish maternal grandmother was known as Lizzie apparentlyand l always presumed she was an Elizabeth but researching our family tree l managed to get her original birth certificate and my mum's. She was Lizzie 'Loughlan' (not real surname but was an Irish surname beginning with L) l loved it as she was a real character by all accounts and it really suited her.

Thanks everyone, lots of good points. I can only just picture newborn baby Jamie, it's so hard to picture him as a 30 or 40 year old grown up.

Swaying towards putting James on the BC, but at the same time I want to always call him Jamie so it would be more for his choice when he's older.

Tough one!

I would just stick with James, it’s in a different league to Jamie.

My friend's brother was Jamie when I met him. He's now Jim to everyone except his sisters (still Jamie) and mum (he's always been James)

Ds is James. Will always be James to me and dh. If he chooses to be a Jim or Jamie that's his choice

I can see why James on BC makes sense, but you can put Jamie.
Most people, I expect, would assume Jamie was really James, so it might be easier. It would give him a choice of using Jamie, James, Jim or Jimmy.

You are naming a baby, but a baby will be an adult for most of his or her life.

I would put James on the BC. Jamie as a name might go out of fashion and names that seem dated nowadays, like Jim, might, and probably will, come back in.

I'd put Jamie. It's going to be the name you call him, the name he will be introduced as through his life, the name he will be at school. If you use James and give his birth Cert to school what's to say they won't call him James - child will be confused. Just stick to the one name which you want to call him - Jamie is a lovely name.

If put James on too.