Name dilemma - should I change 20 month old DS's name?

[CeilingCat]

This has been preying on my mind for a while now, so I thought I'd run it past the MN jury.

DS as a very unusual (but not 'unique') name. I really love it, BUT no one else does. We always call him by an abbreviation of his name (the abbreviation is quite commonplace) and I now dread people asking me what it's short for. I'm not a 'wacky' person, and I hate confrontation, and I find it hard to deal with the negative reactions.

So, DH and I have been talking about changing his name, either to his abbreviated name, or to another name which could (at a bit of a stretch) be abbreviated to the same nick name.

Hmmm this is sounding complicated isn't it? I don;t want to give the actual names cos it would out me to any RL mates, but here's an approximate equivalent:

DS birth name 'Albus'
Nick name 'Albie'
Possible name change 'Archibald'

THESE ARE NOT THE ACTUAL NAMES, BUT THEY ARE THE BEST EQUIVALENTS I CAN THINK OF.

DH thinks we should just change his name to his nick name, but I'm just not sure. I don't like the idea of him being 'Albie' as an official name IYSWIM.

DH thinks it would be weird to change his name to 'Archibald' as the abbreviation to 'Albie' is too contrived.

We never actually call him 'Albus' and we would probably rarely call him 'Archibald', but I think 'Archibald' is going to serve him better in the future than either 'Albus' or 'Albie'.

Still with me? Whaddya think??

Obviously it isn't in the same league as the things you are saying, but setting your child up for teasing isn't helpful, is it? And has an edge of cruelty about it, even if that was totally inadvertent?

I don't think the parents were being willfully nasty, they probably thought it was a 'cool funky name'. But 6 year olds don't think like that.

MB - FWIW I don't think native Americans actually call themselves Geronimo. It was a nickname given to a (particularly heroic) warrior by the Mexicans.

And yes, American troops may shout it as they jump out of a plane. So what? They also call the loo "the John". I'd rather have a name associated with a war-cry than a lavatory.

I am not a cruel parent, and it is absolutely ridiculous to think that the bond I have created with my DS through good parenting is going to be destroyed by the name we've given him. If he really hates his name when he's older then he doesn't have to tell people it.

MB - cruelty is by definition deliberate.

I don't think it will distroy the bond you have with him. I do think that he will have the shit ripped out of him in scgool

and sorry, it is a Native american origin name

'Geronimo (Chiricahua: Goyaałé, "one who yawns"; often spelled Goyathlay or Goyahkla[1] in English) (June 16, 1829?February 17, 1909) was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who defended his people against the encroachment of the United States on their tribal lands for over 25 years.'

from wikipedia

MB - If you read the whole article:

"It was the Mexicans who named him Geronimo. This appellation stemmed from a battle in which he repeatedly attacked Mexican soldiers with a knife, ignoring a deadly hail of bullets, in reference to the Mexicans' plea to Saint Jerome. The name stuck."

I sit corrected

I still think that is a very difficult name to give a child.

I'm sorry, I'm just envisaging reading out the register in the morning
Alex, Hamid, Jason, Geronimo

Sorry, It just sounds awful.

And you are now going to tell me that no-one as awful as me should be allowed into teaching. Well, I dare day quite a lot of people would have to leave the profession

I juat wanted to say that I think the name is great and you should ignore what others think.

Its also worth noting that my brother is called Jonathan and I as a child always called him Josh. At school he was obviously on the register as Jonathan, but all the teachers called him Josh. He is 'Josh' to me and I cannot think of him as a Jonathan. I dont think he minds that his birth certificate has a different name to the one that he is known as.

Lots of people get given nicknames later in life that stick forever anyway, so is it truly worth all the paperwork?

cross posts. I don't judge the child (I'm a professional), but I'd be lying if I told you that I throught that name was nice.

Just think how I stumbled when I came across the name 'Gisem' on the register! Wasn't quite sure how to pronounce it and I just wanted to shrivel up into a ball and laugh.

MB - sorry. I meant it to sound like a more light-hearted reference to the many discussions we've already had on that topic

LOL at x-posts