Love my name but don't like my nickname

[giffygiraffe]

So this is something I have had a small issue for some time now, my name is Carolina (Cah-roh-leen-ah) and the usual nickname for that is Caro. This is what I'm know as for pretty much everyone but for some reason I just can't seem to like it.

I'm late 20s now and I have had that nickname my whole life so I'm wondering if it's even worth it to try and find a new one and if so, which one could it be?

I actually love the complete name Carolina but I know it is a very long name for people to have to be repeating over and over again.

Other nicknames I've been given:

Car
Carola
Carol (don't like it)
Lina (don't like it)

Oh also this is my middle name as I like my first name even less so I don't really have another option for a name.

My DSis has a long first name, people just call her that as she hates the usual nickname.
I think that is probably your best option.

Carrie?

Just ask people to call you your name.

And if you meet new people, change jobs etc then introduce yourself as Carolina. They won't know any different and soon it will become normal for everyone.

You have the perfect excuse, now you are late 20s you can claim that Caro is more of a teenagery/slangy name and you want to be called by your 'grown-up' name of Carolina (which is gorgeous, btw.)

Use the American pronunciation (Care-roh-lye-nah)

I do introduce myself as Carolina all the time and occasionally people will ask what I like being called and I'll say Carolina but they eventually just start calling me Caro.

I should correct them but I feel I'll sound like a stuck up so most of the time I just accept it. It's kind of my personality to be very accepting of everything and not go against people so that's why I'm kind of struggling with this.

Keep correcting them. It's your name, you're entitled to decide how you want people to address you.

If you try to change to another nickname, you'll have exactly the same issue. People will need to be told. You might as well tell them the name you really want to be called, rather than the next worst option.

Time to be assertive. I wouldn't think anybody stuck up or oversensitive or difficult if I called them their nickname and they corrected me to their longer name.

I recently said "hello Sam" at work and the chap said "it's actually Samuel if you don't mind". Why would I mind? I took two seconds to adjust the name in my mind and then carried on with Samuel. It's his name. I didn't give a second thought to this conversation until I read this post. Nobody would give it a second thought.

Even more intense, for lack of a better word, I changed my entire name at 15 and forced everyone to adjust. Think something like Leah to Georgia. Wasn't even remotely close. Nobody really batted an eye after the first week and my name has been mine. It drove me batty hearing someone call me my old name which didn't feel me, I can't imagine being called a diminutive of my name that I hated.

It might be too late for people that have been calling you that your whole life but just be clear with anyone new.

I have an Elizabeth in my team and she is very clear she is Elizabeth and not a Liz or Lizzie or anything else

I know a Caroline from work (pronounced Carolina as she is German) and we all call her Carolina. I always figured it was a name you couldn't shorten..

I agree you should just keep correcting people. I worked with a Victoria who was very much a full Victoria - if anyone called her Vicky she swiftly and politely corrected them. Nobody thought she was stuck up or difficult; they just made sure not to shorten it again.

Ask people to use your full name if that's what you prefer. You are entitled to be called whatever you want, and its not even as if you have a long or difficult to pronounce name. I've recently done this, after years of biting my lip so as not to offend people who call me a shortened version of my name that I loathe. Not everyone has changed, and I accept that it us difficult to change longstanding habits, but most have.

Caro is not a nickname, it's a shortened version of your name. Nicknames are completely different.
As in, if your surname is Miller the nickname is Dusty. I've noticed that people on here get the two mixed up. A shortened name is not a nickname.

I know Carolines shortened to Caz or Cazza but I'm not sure that's what you're looking for...

Caz

A shortened name is not a nickname.

www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/nickname_1
According to this, it is a type of nickname - see 'short forms' in the 'culture' section.

I loved Carrie!

I have a long name with lots of accepted shortenings. I am never called anything but the long version if I introduce myself that way. I always say you can shorten it if you like, as I will answer to any shortening, but they just carry on with the long version, unless I introduce myself in the first place as one of the shortenings!

Sods law that you only like the long version and everyone shortens it! We should swap friends .

The Countess of Derby is a Caroline but known as Cazzy.

Caroline could be Cally or Carly too.

Caz or Carrie
I would suggest talking to friends/family about it and just explain that now you are older you would like to be called Carolina, or an alternative nn that you prefer. They will soon adjust. And for new people just introduce yourself whatever you want to be called.

Love Cally too!

I love Carolina.
If it were my name, I would keep carolina but if anybody struggled with my long name, I would get them to call me "ro "
From car RO leen ah