Alexander or Alex

[Roseability18]

DH and I both like Alex for a boy, but he thinks we should put this on the birth certificate whereas I’m more inclined to go for Alexander. What are peoples thoughts on this in general? He says if we are going to call him Alex it’s silly to have a longer name that he never uses, plus it may get shortened to Sandy or Xander, neither of which we are keen on. I get this, but still feel Alex seems a bit incomplete or something!
We don’t know gender of baby so this may be a moot point!

Alexander 100%.

Beautiful name.

I was referred to by my nickname 99% of my childhood (and probably at least 80% of the time in adulthood) but I really like having the long name to fall back on and use in formal situations.

Also one thing I have noticed is there are some people who just compulsively have to nickname others. They will shorter Alexander to Alex quite happily, but if you are just Alex they will try and change that up, such as Al or Lexy. It's bizarre but weirdly common. I have noticed it with family members who tried to avoid nicknames through picking short, one-syllable names. People just had to make nicknames for them!

I agree with above.

I have an Alexander. He refers to himself as Alex and that’s fine. I introduce him as Alexander sometimes because I love the name.

Good choice. 👍

Alexander. Never met an Alexander shorter to Sandy ever.

Alex/Alexandra is ace for a girl too.

If you can’t agree, how about Alec? It’s a complete name in itself.

I'd go with Alexander on the birth certificate myself.

Alexander, I have one too, he goes by Alex(unless he is being told off ).

& for a girl, Alix is a complete name.

Def Alexander.

Gives more scope for different variations if he gets pissed off with being called Alex, or if half the class at school is called Alex.

It is a name that appears in lots of different languages so very flexible.

I’m Alexandra. Named after my grandfather Alexander. He was known as Alec. I’m known as Alex, Al, Allie or Alexandra (when I’m naughty!). Go for the longer name on the birth certificate and shorten it to Alex for daily life! Great choice of name. 😘

I think either is fine, if he's only ever going to be known as Alex I'd probably just put Alex on the birth certificate. Alexander gives him more options if he doesn't like Alex.

Also got an Alexander. Mainly goes by Alex although also sometimes Al, and v occasionally Xander. Never Sandy, although I have known two adult Sandys.

If he's going to be known as Alex, that's what I would put on his birth certificate. It's fine on it's own as a name, I know several.

I'd go Alexander - it gives him more options in the future. Why deny him that?

Alexander is a fabulous name. Shortened to Alex. No way would it be shortened to Sandy in 2021 unless you/he wants it to!

Cool friend of my son”s at College goes by the name Lex. His actual name is Alexander.

I have an Alex and I was keen on the name Alex enough without wanting Alexander as full name.
He goes by Al or Ali mostly I forget his name is actually Alex 😂

Alexander is much more handsome as a full name IMO

Alexander; call him Alex or Lex or Ali for short if you want, he will get that at school anyway but do give him the full name.

Alexander every time

I have a cousin named Alexander, family have only ever called him Alex (from when he was a baby really). I use the shortened version of my name 100% of the time, but I'm still glad I have the full length version as my legal name.

I would always go for the full version of a name - the option is there when they're older if they want the long version, but you can still use the shortened name from day 1 too.

I'd also go for the long version. It gives more choice when he's older.

Alexander definitely. It's a lovely, classic name and is unlikely to date (has stayed in the UK top 100 boys names for more than a century - Alex hasn't).

Alex isn't my taste (because I know too many of them of both sexes, so I find it a little dull), but it is still the default nn in E & W for Alexander - I think he's really unlikely to get called the other nn's (Xan/Lex/Xander/Sandy etc) unless he wants to when older.

I'm another with an Alexander who goes by Alex unless he's in trouble. I absolutely love both the long and short names. It's a family name for us - my granddad and dad are both Alec/Alex and my brother is Ali (Alasdair).

Another Alexander here too! I always use his full name (on his birth certificate) but he has introduced himself to everyone as Alex since he was old enough to. People generally check if it's Alexander/Alex, I've never been asked about another variation. We have met a few Zanders but they've always been introduced to us as such rather than it being a name chosen by others.

Use Alexander because it will give you and him more options in the future.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! General feeling seems to be for Alexander so I feel more justified pushing for that!