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Original poster

Problem with name shortenings

74 replies

Namingbabygirl2 · 08/12/2023 14:57

I am due in a few months with baby number 2 , and it's a girl! Will be a little sister to Lucy.

I have a few contenders but I despair settling on one as I don't like their shortenings. Before you think what a grinch, I am French and I believe this is very much a UK/France cultural difference.
In France, we do not typically shorten names, so I dislike name shortenings in general - that's why I picked Lucy as a name for my first daughter (even if to my horror MIL and FIL started calling her Luce!):

  • Francesca: LOVE LOVE this name but I really dislike the shortenings - Fran, Franny, Frankie, Cesca, I like none of them. Is it madness to pick this name and ask family not to shorten it? Is every Francesca known as a shortened version?
  • Juliet: same hiccup here, love the name but dislike Jules
  • Isabella: Does this name get shortened? If so, what is the usual shortening?
  • Alexandra: ...same, don't like Alex much.
  • Elsa: would people wonder if I am a fan of Frozen (and the answer is yes after watching it 100 times with my daughter, but I just really like the name and it was suggested out of the blue by DH).
  • Anna: no shortening (yay!) but a bit...common? We have a common last name

It is a minefield! And I feel like my dislike of shortenings is eliminating so many lovely names.

Please help me find a name I like the shortening of, or that doesn't get shortened ever? What's your favourite from the list?

PS: When speaking of shortenings, I mean a name that is routinely known as its shortening - e.g Matt for Matthew or Alex for Alexandra. Massive cultural difference and really difficult to navigate when trying to find a name.

Thanks!

OP posts:
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mathanxiety · 10/12/2023 22:45

@Nineteendays
How do Anna and banana not rhyme?

I'm Irish, and they certainly do.

Hiyawotcha · 10/12/2023 22:50

Helena?
helen?
I like Anna - my dd is also a Lucy and Anna is one of her middle names
Mary
Sara

nb my sons girlfriend is called Francesca - never shortened as far as I am aware.

AnonymousArmadillo · 10/12/2023 22:54

I call my best friend Luce. 😂 Snd my gods is yet is Luce or Lucy Lou.

In terms of shortenings, people will and your DC may want their name shortened. My DSis goes by her full name and corrects anyone who shortens it to the very common nickname. I only go by my nickname and anyone calling me by my full name is glared at and asked if they’re my mother! My DM doesn’t like my shortened name but accepts I can go by what I like.

My DDs are Kara and Aoife and I thought I’d chosen names that can’t be shortened. SIL started calling DD2 Aoifs (eefs) and I hated it!

Hiyawotcha · 10/12/2023 22:54

Anna doesn’t sound like banana to me! I say ba-nar-na. Don’t pronounce Anna Ar-na like in frozen.

AnonymousArmadillo · 10/12/2023 22:56

mathanxiety · 10/12/2023 22:45

@Nineteendays
How do Anna and banana not rhyme?

I'm Irish, and they certainly do.

A -nuh - a short a sound at the beginning.
ban -ah -nuh - a long ahhh sound in the middle.
In my accent (boring, generic southern), the A and Ah make different sounds in Anna and banana.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 10/12/2023 22:57

mathanxiety · 10/12/2023 22:45

@Nineteendays
How do Anna and banana not rhyme?

I'm Irish, and they certainly do.

Not in any UK accent I can think of - buh-NAH-na, compared to the equal emphasis on each syllable in AmE.

ChateauDuMont · 10/12/2023 23:03

Fay or Faye

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 10/12/2023 23:08

Thinking more about it - the last two syllables in BrE banana rhyme with the AmE pn of Anna, as in Frozen - ie AH-na.

Paradoxically then, BrE banana and AmE Anna rhyme, and vice versa. One of those funny quirks.

Commonhousewitch · 10/12/2023 23:14

I know people with the names you listed and only one of them actually introduces herself by the abbreviation (Alix) - but she has changed it repeatedly over the years.
Names like isabella/Katherine/Victoria/Charlotte/Elizabeth etc have multiple possible options so most people meeting someone with one of those names use the full name as the safe option
The people who struggle the most are people with names with a very standardised abbreviation (eg Nick, Tom ) where people automatically abbreviate (I knew a Thomas who hates being called Tom- he's doomed to be disappointed)
But you can't police it - i never use a Nickname to introduce myself - have a name which could be shortened in many ways and my boss calls me by my initials!!

Tiiredofthiss · 11/12/2023 01:44

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 10/12/2023 22:57

Not in any UK accent I can think of - buh-NAH-na, compared to the equal emphasis on each syllable in AmE.

Show quote history

I'm British and around here we pronounce banana and Anna to rhyme, I wish mumsnet allowed voice notes on comments.
I wouldn't pronounce it "buhNAHna" but "bah-na-na"

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 11/12/2023 06:29

Tiiredofthiss · 11/12/2023 01:44

I'm British and around here we pronounce banana and Anna to rhyme, I wish mumsnet allowed voice notes on comments.
I wouldn't pronounce it "buhNAHna" but "bah-na-na"

Show quote history

Where’s your accent from?

TheIndecisiveElf · 11/12/2023 06:50

Topseyt123 · 08/12/2023 15:29

Most names can and will be shortened, and it is only your choice for a very short time. Eventually your child will start to choose for themselves.

My rule of thumb was to pick names where I was OK with most of the long and short versions, perhaps you are doing that. Otherwise, you could end up doing as my parents did. They wasted many years trying to forbid my sister from being known by the main shortened version of her name, even pulling her friends up publicly or on the phone, which was hugely embarrassing in her teenage years.

I have a Lucy. She is frequently called Luce (amongst other things), including by us. I actually have three daughters, all known by various forms of their given names, and it is they who generally choose, especially as they are all in their twenties now.

I like all of the names you have listed, and would be fine with most of the shortenings too. I've heard far worse suggested. Perhaps Isabella is the one for you because you seem happiest with its shortenings.

Edited

This! I had a friend Lucy who couldn't be Luce, it was ignored except when we remembered to observe it in earshot of her mum as otherwise we'd get IT'S LUCY shouted at us. So awkward.

Definitely only choose something where you don't mind popular shortenings or life will be an exercise in frustration.

TheIndecisiveElf · 11/12/2023 06:51

Freya?

SheilaFentiman · 11/12/2023 07:01

Helen
Eve
Claire
Faye
Kate (if you christen Kate rather than Katharine)
Bess (as with Kate)
Elle
Belle
Linda
Sarah or Sara

AnonymousArmadillo · 11/12/2023 07:51

I call my best friend Luce. 😂 Snd my gods is yet is Luce or Lucy Lou.

This should say “and my god sister is…” 🙄

Nineteendays · 11/12/2023 11:08

mathanxiety · 10/12/2023 22:45

@Nineteendays
How do Anna and banana not rhyme?

I'm Irish, and they certainly do.

@mathanxiety if I pronounced Anna like Anna in frozen they would rhyme. But I pronounce Anna to rhyme with Hannah/Nana/spanner. And banana is like buh - narn - ah if that makes sense.

CountTo10 · 11/12/2023 11:33

The thing is once they get older it's more up to the child what they are called and what they are comfortable with so even as a parent you hate the nickname/diminutive there's not much you can do.

My son has a name which can be shortened. He prefers the shortening which I hate but all I can do is call him and refer to him by his full name 🤷‍♀️

OctaviaRedQueen · 11/12/2023 13:26

Clara can’t be shortened easily, travels well and goes nicely with Lucy.

RuthW · 11/12/2023 14:48

All of the names you have suggested will be shortened.

Personally I think Else goes nice with Luce!

How about May, Kaye, Faye or Jay?

Ruth? My name has never been shortened.

Anne, Gill, Claire?

mathanxiety · 11/12/2023 19:05

Nineteendays · 11/12/2023 11:08

@mathanxiety if I pronounced Anna like Anna in frozen they would rhyme. But I pronounce Anna to rhyme with Hannah/Nana/spanner. And banana is like buh - narn - ah if that makes sense.

Show quote history

Hannah, Nana, and banana (buh-nana) all rhyme. Same short A sound in all of them.

Spanner ends with an R, and since I have a rhotic accent that R is not pronounced like a short A.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 11/12/2023 19:43

mathanxiety · 11/12/2023 19:05

Hannah, Nana, and banana (buh-nana) all rhyme. Same short A sound in all of them.

Spanner ends with an R, and since I have a rhotic accent that R is not pronounced like a short A.

Show quote history

I have got to stop getting drawn into pronunciation discussions because they drive me demented… but have you never heard ‘banana’ in the vast majority of British accents?

Ignore the woman’s thousand-yard stare 😬

How to pronounce BANANA in British English

This video shows you how to pronounce BANANA in British English. Speaker has a received pronunciation accent. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/en...

https://youtu.be/cE0kLR0MeEw?si=WhFvZZqUUfMH7hmq

RecycleThie · 11/12/2023 19:46

I had a friend called Anna and we used to call her Spanner. I think you just have to pick a name you like and make peace with the fact that other people may call her other things. I wouldn’t be guided too much by picking an unshortenable name because she could still end up with a stupid nickname, eg Spanner.

Cloudisi · 11/12/2023 19:49

For me: Hannah, spanner, Anna, nana (as I'm nanny), rhyme.

They don't rhyme with banana/nana though.

Lorelei89 · 11/12/2023 23:24

Thank you everyone Anna and Clara are the final two contenders -thank you @OctaviaRedQueen for the suggestion of Clara!
and thank you everyone for your answers :)

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