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." ?

I don't like the opposite trend. If a nickname develops that's one thing, but naming a child one thing knowing full well you never ever plan to call them that is just weird.

My little sister is called Katie and I'm not keen on it really but I don't think any of her friends have questioned if it's short for Kathryn. Some of her friends (15yos) have names purposely spelt wrong which is waaaay more annoying! Think "Roni" or "Keirah"

I know two sisters called Collette, and Nicole! They had no idea that basicly they have the same name, because they've both become a name in there own right. I doubt even their parents knew. I know are few people who didn't know their names were divised from another name, exp Stacey, lene,Tammy, Lilly, amy and so many more! Time moves on, old and new names pop in and out of fashion all the time, sometimes the shorter version gets so popular, the full version gets lost in history, untill it gets suddenly popular again!

No I think it is pointless having a long winded name that parents don't like as much or ever use for the sake of a pretentious, middle class trend personally. I wouldn't call my baby Charlie, Charles unless I preferred it, I wouldn't call a Leo, Leonard for the sake of a birth, christening, degree or marriage certificate. I do however agree, that I do prefer some names in their traditional form so I'd pick them for the birth certificate and I might shorten them occasionally I guess. Depends on your preference. X

I think it's absolutely fine. Depending on the day, I sometimes even prefer it, than having to actually say "oh, that's not my official name" and in this day and age, the short nicknames are usually more likely to be their full name.

My name’s been mentioned in this thread. I can’t say it’s ever caused me any problems. It’s rare somebody assumes my name is the long form- in fact, I can only think of four occasions when it’s happened- but it’s no harm to go “Oh no, it’s just _”

I’d imagine it’s more annoying to be a Gemma/ Jemma or Amy/Aimee etc and have people getting the wrong spelling all the time, but nobody thinks that’s a problem. At least my name only has one standard spelling.

I have a 16 year old Oliver who only tends to use Ollie. He said he doesn't like Oliver!

Only my dad and my dp tend to call him Oliver. His teachers use Ollie and his social media accounts are Ollie too.

I use a nickname version of my name as i hate my name.
The issue though is that nickname version sounds quite young and childish which is hard to pull off in your early forties :)

^I actually much prefer some "nicknames" to the "proper version" .
Will or Liam is 100% nicer than William, just my opinion of course.^
ReginaPhalange

Will is a nickname. Liam is not. It's Irish for William.

..............
I really only see a few names as full names in their own right - Nancy, Jack, Colette, Sally.

Not keen on Elsie, Nellie, Penny, Sadie, Josie, Molly, Alfie, Charlie, Ted or Teddy, Sam, Ben, or pretty much any others as stand alones.

I especially don't like giving a full name for a first name and then a nickname as a second name - Maxwell Charlie or Tamsin Rosie, for instance.

I agreed with this sentiment previously but DD3 is named something we’ve never called her as I liked the NN more than the full name, but wanted to use the full name to give her choices later (there are several possible nicknames) and to have a ‘proper’ name.

The full name just isn’t ‘her’ and every time I have to write it on forms or get called at the GP I regret not just using the short version. Also she gets very cross if she gets called the full version (but then she’s 4 and gets cross about having to wear a T shirt with rabbits instead of unicorns on it so her opinion is potentially not to be trusted yet )

Maybe those of you who don't like the 'full name' just need to find another name of which you do like both name and potential nicknames?

There are so many names to choose from!

@lavenderblues or maybe people who think like you could accept we aren't all the same, the world doesn't revolve around you and your preferences and opinions are just that, yours are valued by yourself mostly and I wouldn't name my child to please someone like yourself. I also wouldn't judge anyone based on their name so I guess the "you need a proper name to appear more professional/intelligent/middle class...." theory is wasted on some of us but that suits me.

Reading with interest! Currently pregnant and if we have a girl, I LOVE the name Cassie but can't find a longer version I like! I do worry a bit about Cassie sounding a bit nickname-y...

I just love that the royal baby is named Archie not Archibald. I love that as royals Harry and Meghan don't live to others expectations either.x

I go by a nickname, the full version is on my birth certificate. I am very rarely asked what it is short for. Even if I am asked I still have to answer 'yes it short for x name' or if I think the person is nosy I just say 'it's not short for anything!' It's really not a big deal. Whether you have the full name and use the nickname or just have nickname you will still be asked the question!

Not read this whole post but if a full name on the birth certificate can be given a nickname to use (eg thomas on the birth certificate to be called tom in real life.) Then why couldnt some one with a name such as tom on their birth certificate, use the nickname Thomas if it bothers them that 'tom' is so short??

I sometimes wonder, if some parents deliberately give children names they dislike. Now I know that sounds weird, but think about it. Imagine a brother and sister, whose birth certificates say Robert John and Rebecca Jade. Let's say their middle names were chose to honour their paternal granddad and their mum's favourite aunt.

The parents think Bobby and Becca sound cute for young children, but they might prefer the more formal 'real' names when older. Typically, the only time the children get called Robert or Rebecca, is when they are being scolded. And use of their middle name, means they are in serious trouble!

My daughter prefers the short form of her name, but I claim parental privilege not to do so. It has been my favourite girl's name since I was a pre-schooler. To me, only using it to tell her off, is spoiling a good name, and asking for her to hate it.

I went to school in the 80s with a Vicky. She was just a Vicky, not a Victoria.
She was also a bit of a trouble maker and whenever a teacher would full-name her to reprimand her she’d always reply “I don’t know who Victoria is Miss”. I remember a full stand up argument once as the teacher didn’t believe that she had Vicky on her birth certificate.

I know a Tom who was born in the late fifties!

I don't like some of these names but some I do. Like all names tbh.