The name Teddy ?

[August21yellowbaby]

I have a little boy named Albie and die another baby boy in April! 💙

I love the name Teddy, but I'm not sure if on the birth certificate I should use a "proper" name incase he doesn't like using Teddy at school or work...?

I mean, I know quite a few teddy's nowadays so hoping it's not seen as "unusual" anymore

I wanted Teddy/Ted for DS2, but I would have gone with Edward for the birth certificate - DH didn't like it because he didn't like names that end in D (?!) but now 13 year old DS would definitely have suited it!

Did you not worry about this for Albie? Exact same issue, surely?

This was what I wondered. Surely if you're worried that Teddy is nicknamey (it is) you had the same thought process for Albie?

Albert and Theodore with nicknames are fine. Albie and Teddy as their given names I'm very much not keen on.

Thank you.

So many people seem to be choosing names for dolls or pets rather than for human beings. They won't be winsome toddlers for very long.

"I wonder if Teddy Roosevelt got taken seriously."

Theodore Roosevelt was very famously known to hate the nickname Teddy so
I wouldn't use him as an example!
He referred to himself as Theodore.
"Teddy" was used by the press and public in the same way that people called Boris Johnson "BoJo".

"Teddy bears" were named after him, after he joined a group bear hunting trip but then refused to kill a bear.

Edward, diminutive Ted.

Is Albie an Albert?

Theodore Roosevelt was very famously known to hate the nickname Teddy so
I wouldn't use him as an example!

Was he taken seriously though? That was my point.

Teddy in its modern popularity ( though it's been round for years and years guys ) obviously jars many posters but the reality is times have changed and there are going to be loads and loads of them some of whom will get old, wise and distinguished. Maybe even become a barrister ( yes! 😂 ) And in 20 years time these comments will have died a natural death.

So many people seem to be choosing names for dolls or pets rather than for human beings. They won't be winsome toddlers for very long

There appears to have been a reversal. I know dogs called Patrick, Joan, Paul, Frank, Ron

Quite. I know a Kevin, Marvin and a Terry dog.

( Though also a lot of Teddy dogs. )

Lots of popular names nowadays are infantilising. For girls, too. Gracie-Mae will be a grown up one day and it won't sit right. Grace is just, well, more normal.

I know an Abbie who is just that, Abbie, not Abigail (though that's probably one of the better examples). Our hairdresser called her daughter Izzi. Just that, it's not short for Isabel(le).

Teddy, lol. I thought similar issues with Albie tbh.
Edward is lovely.

I know. I don't like it for some reason. To me, these are nicknames. I think everyone should have a proper name.

Edward! Give your son choices as he grows up.

Teddy is super cute for a baby. Cute ish for a young child. Cringey for a teenager. And awful for an adult.

It’s one of the few names that seemed to start as a dog name and percolate down to humans. I know two dog Teddys that are about 9 years old. The bulge of baby Teddys seems to have started about 4 years ago.

I’d def go with Edward or perhaps Theo(dore).
DS’s best friend is a Ted (Edward) and I expect it to stick long term but I think it’s good to have a more grown up option if he wants it

I know more dogs called Teddy that children, I'd think of something else.

*Lots of popular names nowadays are infantilising. For girls, too. Gracie-Mae will be a grown up one day and it won't sit right. Grace is just, well, more normal.

I know an Abbie who is just that, Abbie, not Abigail (though that's probably one of the better examples). Our hairdresser called her daughter Izzi. Just that, it's not short for Isabel(le)*

Babyish names are definitely fashionable just now. I met a Molly-Mae-Rae the other day and just couldn't imagine her as an adult with that name. I'd be £100 she calls herself Molly by the age of 15.

Teddy is really just a cute name that young children and (some) old men like to be called.

I absolutely did not ask for opinions on the name of my first born. Rude

You didn't ask but given you used a nickname for your first it seems blooming weird to suddenly worry it might sound babyish or not work when he's grown up when doing exactly the same for your second child. You must see it's an odd thing to worry about second time around when you didn't worry about giving your first a 'proper' name.

@August21yellowbaby

Some posters have all the sensitivity and manners of a bull in a china shop OP. Please ignore. They are just random opinions after all.

Mumsnet names is also famously traditional.

Times change and you only have to go into a school playground to know that.

Names will be very different in 20 years when all these toddlers and babies are grown up.

T'was ever thus.

Enjoy your lovely boy and the new little one when he arrives.

Right ok sorry, didn't mean that to be rude, but was pointing out that it is also a nickname as a given name. I just don't understand the thought process of the difference between that and Teddy.

I don't particularly like nicknames as given names so I didn't choose them for my child. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I know plenty of Alfie and Bobby and Tilly etc so they are obviously popular.

Teddy bedding is all I think

I’m not a big fan of nicknames as given names, but they’ve become very popular. (Even Jack was once a nickname for John, and Molly for Mary.)

So if you like it, go for it.

It is very popular, though. And as someone who was once one of 6 with the same name in my class, that can be a bit tedious.

As a pp mentioned,why are cutesy babyish names so en vogue now? It just seems like such an unnecessary handicap.

"Hello, I'm your barrister, Teddy Smyrhe"or "Dr Poppi-Lu-Mae Higgins calling..."

Do people not understand the concept of nicknames v given names? Do they not pause to envision their offspring coping with these names past age 5-6?