Does Ace as a nickname for Alastair work?

[Purpletopaz42]

Really like the name Alastair, not keen on Al or Aly. A friend has suggested Ace, does that work or is it too random? Thank you

Only Ace’s I know are short for Asa

Of course it can work, my DS nickname only shares the first letter of his actual name and doesn't sound anything like it. Admittedly it wasn't planned to be his nickname, just one of those things that stuck over time!

If people hear you say it enough, and he hears you say it, sure enough his nickname would become Ace. And I don't think it's daft either, just reminds me of the Ace of Spades!!!! 🎶

Alastairs will end up being called Al or Ally whatever twee nickname you try to impose.

You can use the name in full yourselves all the time if you like that name but don't rely on a nickname of your choice every being used by anyone else.

Why bother calling him Alastair if you want to call him ace??

Picking (or worse, announcing) a nickname along with the full name is such a weird phenomenon.

I now feel old because I think of Ace Rimmer….

This was my first thought! We can be old together

Asa? As a full name, not short for anything. I love it

THIS!!! nicknames should evolve naturally

Why call Eleanor Ellie?
Why call Elizabeth Lizzie/Betty?
Why did Richard become Dick?

It's hardly brand new to have both an informal and formal name. I don't know why MN gets so worked up about it

I know an Ace who is really an Alistair. It's a cute name for a little boy, though to be fair ten years ago the ace/asexual thing hadn't taken off, so it might be different now.

I’ve only ever known one ‘Asa’, she was female and of Scandi origin.
It’s a name in its own right, not a weird new name. I believe it can be either a boy or girl name in other cultures.

Another oldie here because I read Ace and thought Rimmer

But on topic, I’m on the ‘no’ side of the fence for Ace. Nn should develop organically anyway, it’s weird to assign them at birth.

I know two, both boys

I think people get mixed up between shortened names and nicknames.
The shortened form of 'Alistair' would be 'Ali' or possibly 'Stair' or 'Dare'.
They might get 'Ace' as a nickname but they're just as likely to be called 'Dogbreath' or 'Swing-yer-pants' (those are actual nicknames I've heard, affectionately meant believe it or not, based on knowing the person).
I'm sure loads of people would love a "cool" nickname, but it doesn't work that way.
Imagine him in later years telling people: "My name's 'Alistair' but call me 'Ace'!".
He'd probably end up being called "Wanker".

The new asexual connotations would rule it out, for me.
But I couldn't not think of Ace Rimmer, either, with all the bad elements of him being a nob, too try hard, choosing a nickname instead of one evolving, etc.
But it's just occurred to me that Alastair could be shortened to Lister! (Not a serious suggestion)

Agree. Alastair is a wonderful name.

Yes! It’s not a nickname, they are completely different, nicknames evolve naturally between friends and family, they are not decided at or before birth.

Sorry, I misunderstood your post. I thought you were hearing/reading it for the first time and saying you loved it

No, it doesn't.

It would also be an embarrassing name or nickname to decide on. You can't decide whether you're ace or not, neither can your parents. Do people not use "he's so ace" or "this is ace" where you live? It's basically like naming him Awesome or Cool or Legend. But what if people don't think that way? He'll be made fun of.

Ace can develop naturally when someone's good at something, but just calling you child Ace seems odd. The only way you could get away with it would be by naming him Asa or something that actually includes the Ace-sound because then you can claim it wasn't because of the word but just made sense, sort of like Stephanies get called Steph.

Alistair "Ace" also screams "I wanted to name my child Ace, but was too afraid to do so, so I picked this completely unrelated name". It's like Patricia "Poppy" or something.

You don’t really get to pick the nickname, they evolve with time. You’ll probably find a kid called Alistair will get called Ali but if he doesn’t like it, he can just correct them?
My husband has a name that is commonly shortened but absolutely no one does, as an adult all friends and family use the full name.

Another one showing their age but I immediately thought of Sting’s character in Quadrophenia

Is he a pet detective?

My first thought was Ace Frehley, who I think even predates Red Dwarf 😕