Dp wants Nicholas I want Nico. Who's right?

[CassandrasCastle]

We both really like the name Nico, and it works in several languages which is important to us. However, my dp thinks the baby should be called Nicholas then tell people to call him Nico... He thinks people with longer names are more multi faceted or something 🤔
ANYWAY. Nicholas and call him Nico - or just Nico?

My cat is called Nico and I love it! 😍

Also my friend is called Nico his mum is Swedish :)

DD says if you want it to be shortened to Nico you need to go with the Greek spelling of Nikolas.

I would find it odd if you don't have connections with Greece but agree Nicholas is normally shortened to Nick here.

I thought Nico was a girl's name?

My boy is called Nico, we love it as do many friends and family. We’ve had French friends say it’s french, Italians say Italian, a Greek doctor say Greek. We got the idea from an ex F1 driver who’s Swedish! Very occasionally people pronounce it Nicko but most people know it’s Nee-co.

Trewser you're thinking of Nicole.

No, im thinking of Nico from the velvet underground and Nico Parker, thandie newton's dd.

Trewser that was a stage name. Her real name was Christa.

As for Thandie Newton...she's just been quirky calling her DD Nico. It's a male name. I know a woman who called her DD a VERY male name...nothing like Sam or anything either...think Albert. But it's a girl.

Ah. Well they are the two names thst spring to mind when I hear it.

There’s a female Nico in Hollyoaks. Nowadays I might assume Nico was female.

Nico for me. I hate the name Nicholas.

I would deffo assume female.

Think both names are pretty rough, tbh.

Just realised that Nicholas is basically knickerless.

Your DH is right. Nicholas provides more options for him when he gets older.

Nicholas girls shouldn't climb trees!

I always find the "longer name gibes more options" argument a bit odd, unless you genuinely like all the options. My dd1 has a short name that is never really shortened. So do i and dh. No one has ever suggested this is a downside to these days. Dd2 has a name that is short for one or two other names. In the end we went for one of these because we genuinely love it, but to have gone with the other, which to my mind is a totally different and way less nice name, to give "options" would have felt very strange. If dd2 had chosen one of these other options it would have felt as weird as if dd1 changed her name to something random we hadn't chosen. Something shes entitled to do, obviously, and i'd have to get used to, but something that would be a bit disappointing on some level.

It is slightly different if the short name is one that can only ever work for a child but lots of adults with proper jobs are only ever known by a short form. Tony Blair, Ed Milliband, Tom Bingham, lots of Bens, Tims etc

Nicholas, then if he doesn't like Nico, he has choices.

I have a short name (usually a nickname). I hate it and everyone assumes it's short for the long version which has caused issues with admin.

As a result both DC have long names on the BC and shortened ones they go by. They use the short version in school, never any confusion, it's on the forms as known as.

I'd go Nicholas nickname Nico.

Nicholas. It's a more rounded name and gives more options when he's grown up.

Definitely Nico if you love the name Nico - its the only way to guarantee that people will come him Nico! As soon as you put in a longer name that one parent uses in full then the opportunities for the shortened preference start to disappear.
Nico is cool, strong and interesting. Nicholas is weak, slightly sad and boring.
As for someone saying all ‘o’ names will be dated - only if you stay in a teeny bubble in a teeny part of england! Many cultures have names ending in ‘o’ and it isn’t that bit that dates them.

Notmyrealname, In real life I have a very short name too and always wanted something that could be shortened. There's something friendly about that. When I was a child I used to pretend I was called Victoria or Rebecca (or Rachel - Ray), my mum used to do her nut :-). She was so mean she didn't even give me a second name!

I do like some single syllable names - Jane, Claire, Ann, Mark, Paul and John are classic. My name is not classic .

For every person who wishes they had ghe longer name, there is another, like some family members, who cringe at their full name being exposed by a supply teacher or at their wedding though. Some long versions are akin to having an embarrassing middle name - not something you can ever imagine anyone choosing to use. It depends on the name.

Nico is cool, strong and interesting. see, I profoundly disagree with this. To me, it’s the opposite of cool and strong, and it’s not very interesting. Nicholas is the strong and interesting name.

The thing is, the OP isn't interested in other people's preference for Nicholas over Nico. She and her dh prefer Nico, in part because it works in other languages. The fact that some people dislike Nico if anything would reaffirm my preference for not having Nicholas as an alternative, if i wanted Nico to be the name he was known as.