Am I alone in hating this trend?

[Jossina]

Am I the only person who doesn't like the trend of giving children a nickname as their proper name? For instance Tom instead of Thomas or Billy instead of William, Kate instead of Katharine. Aren't these children going to spend the rest of their lives saying, over and over and over, "No, it's just ___. Not short for anything." ?

No, it's just _. Not short for anything." ?

I think you are overthinking it, I don't think most people think that way? Growing up, if someone said their name was Kate/Ellie/Tom, their peers just accepted it. I think older generations struggle more.

I don't entirely disagree but Kate isn't a nickname.

Also, why are names like Sophie OK for a professional, but not a Katie? Should Sophie's all be Sophia's because "ie" names all look like a nickname?

frankie, Billy, Charlie, Freddie,

See, to me, none of those names seem any different to Ruby/Poppy/Lucy/Hattie/Zoe. All two-syllable -ee ending names, but these names are usually deemed proper names. But not Alfie. Henry is fine though.

I'm on the other side of this, I'm always called by the shortened version but have the long version on my birth cert. I find it really irritating. Would have been much better to just name me what I was going to be called.

It's always been like this hasn't it?

I'm Katherine, 40 and always been known as Kate. Never been any problem.

We have family friends aged 60 and 30 who are Jenny, short for Jennifer. My Great aunt (would be over 90 now) was known as Connie, short for Constance.

I know loads called Tom, Ben, Ellie, Vicky, Jon, Tim - all short for the longer version and all aged over 40 and again no problem.

I'm not sure how long something has to be happening for it to be a trend, but looking back through our family tree briefly (my cousin has done a huge amount of research and all names are as per BC or other birth records) we had several Annies in the 1800's, a Lottie in 1860, a Bessie in the 1904, and a Betty in 1800. Also several Freds from the 1800's onwards.

I did this with both my sons, because those are the names we picked for them, not the long versions.
As for 'having options' , they can call themselves whatever they want , including changing their names by deed poll, but neither of them have done so. It would seem they're both quite happy to have shortened versions on their birth certificates.

I had a Great Aunt Carrie, born in 1902, and my Grandmother named my mother after her (Carrie was her sister in law) by giving her Caroline as her middle name. It was a few years later when she found out that Carrie was her sister in law's given name, not Caroline.

Personally I love having a beautiful 'long' name. Close family and friends have been calling me by various 'cute' nicknames, which i also like. But I wouldn't ever introduce myself in a work environment with any of those .

Also, names like Caroline, Victoria or Alfred not only sound more elegant imo but they also travel much better into other languages than say, Carrie, Vikky or Alfie.

It's something I don't like either. I think the one I hate the most is Teddy. It's a lovely nickname for Edward or Theodore but as it's own name it's ridiculous

I agree, Teddy 🧸 might be cute for a baby or toddler. But for a grown man Theodore or Edward is so so much more suitable!

Can't stand it personally, but it is a lot more popular now than it used to be.

I wouldn't ever choose a nickname as a first name for my DC but then there are lots of names I would never consider for my future DC, so I suppose that's the same.

But surely if you're called Teddy you can when you grow up choose to call yourself Edward in the same way as my friend Susannah calls herself Susie? She hasn't changed her name on her birth certificate so Teddy wouldn't need to either.

I have a lot of friends who still use their diminutive in their professional and personal lives into their 40s and 50s without it seeming childish - Jenny, Jo, Susie, Mel, Jess, Ed, Rick. Nothing wrong with it.

But surely if you're called Teddy you can when you grow up choose to call yourself Edward in the same way as my friend Susannah calls herself Susie? She hasn't changed her name on her birth certificate so Teddy wouldn't need to either.

A Susannah may well be called Susie, Suz or Sue by her friends and family. It's a natural short form. Her passport and airline tickets etc will still have her full name, Susannah. She will probaly use her full name for her bank accounts etc.

A Teddy calling himself Edward or Thomas would be odd, especially as all his official documents state his name as Teddy?

My son is called Albie after his great grandfather who was just Albie.. Think its each to their own :)
Aslong as you like the name it doesnt matter

I'm 33 and my name is like this. Nothing new and yes i do say this all the time, especially when your applying for credit/booking flights/documents etc..

Personally I prefer the sound of most full names and I feel it gives the child more options.

I don’t always get the obsession on mumsnet with having a longer version of the name you actually want. Someone will say they like ‘Rose’ and there will be replies with ‘Rose as her name but Rosemary/Roseanne etc on the birth certificate’. So often for names that are absolutely fine in their own right and what’s the point when you don’t actually really like or want the ‘proper’ version.

My 3 children all have names that are the ‘full’ versions of popular shortened names. Two out of three (the girls) don’t like the shortened versions and hate anyone calling them by those names. So it can work the other way round. They constantly have to correct people and say ‘no it’s not (short version) it’s (long version)’ they have chosen to do this. My son on the other hand is not bothered if you call him the long or shortened version and people do use both for him.

I think it depends on the name as well. Some names like Rose of Jack seem 'finished' whereas lots of the current 'nicknames' sound like they're short for a longer name eg Alfie, Tilly, Eddie, Vikki, Sammie, Steve, Mike, Al, Ali, Alex, Jo, Joe etc etc.

Just waiting to meet baby Andys.

We have Andrew and we call him so. He can choose his nickname when he wZnts.

I called my first two the longer, full names so they would have a bit of flexibility as they grew up. (I liked the idea of being able to choose your own name - my mother and I did once we reached adulthood. Like rejecting Annie for Anne, or swapping Margey for Meg. BIL was Drew, decided he preferred Andrew.)

Inevitably, having built in that provision they both prefer the diminuitives.
Can't win.

I also strange how some people love name's short form but not the original name, say how can you love Alfie but hate Alfred or love Penny but hate Penelope? To me, they're the same names.