Monogrammed Items

[EdithGrantham]

If you have a child with a nickname that gets used more than their full name which name do you use for personalised items and further, where their nickname has a different initial to their full name which one would you use?

ask a child what would they prefer.

Nick names are always fine verbally and in written personal cards but I would err on the side of full name for written identification, name on team sports list, school awards, passports etc.

Have their full name on drink bottles. Call them by their first name initial. That is one good thing about having a nick name begin with the same initial as the proper name.

You don't want the kid to be estranged from their own name or not identify with it.

Thanks both, it's for a Christmas gift for a friend's 1yo DD, full name Elizabeth but gets called Betty. I asked friend but she didn't seem sure either!

Definitely the full name!

I'd steer clear of monogrammed gifts in that case.

I'm Elizabeth but go by Liz Lizzie and Beth and I must say I appreciate having the options for initialed items.
But as this is a present for a 1yo I think go for E. My shortened names have changed and gone through phases but I'm always Elizabeth

Depends on the gift...

If it's a cute personalised hooded bath towel - the name she gets called by now
If it's a drinking bottle/cup - same
If it's one of those books where the story is written with the main character as the child - same
For all of the above, if the child is called by/used to using Betty, then putting Elizabeth on it would be odd.
What does she get introduced as? (as in 'here's baby xxxx'). If the answer is Betty, then definitely put Betty.

If it's something they'll keep into older childhood/young adulthood then maybe use their full name. But it's harder to know, as you don't know if she'll stay as Betty, or maybe adopt Elizabeth as her name.

Changed the name but the scenario is true here - my full name is Victoria, but from birth my parents called me Tor, I grew up as Tor and friends knew me as Tor. If I'd been given something with Victoria on it, it would have been very odd.

When I got married, Tor didn't sound right with my new surname (and I was moving to a different part of the country, so meeting a whole load of new people) so I 'became' Victoria from then onwards. I don't have much that's personalised now, but for anything that is (race t-shirts at marathons!) I use Victoria, as that's what I go by now. But family still call me Tor, as do 'old' friends.

For all of the above, if the child is called by/used to using Betty, then putting Elizabeth on it would be odd.

I wouldn't find that odd. Elizabeth IS her name, regardless if some people call her Ellie, Bethy or Lizzie or Sweetie..... Her name is still Elizabeth

Thanks all, it's for a Christmas themed apron (her mum loves baking and I know will want to do Christmas baking with her) with her initial in a capital letter then her full name in smaller writing so something that will get used every year for a few years at least. She only ever gets called Betty so I think I'll go with that.

It is odd though. I was called Tor until I was 24. If I had an apron on it with Victoria it would have felt like it wasn't mine. The purpose of having something personalised is to make it feel especially yours - having a name on it that you don't use is the opposite of that.

If it's something that's going to last many years, that's different. But an apron will be something she just uses in childhood, and the name she uses in childhood is Betty.

That's what I'm thinking, at the moment she's not even that aware that Elizabeth is her name at all, she responds to Betty. If in a couple of years she swaps I can always buy her another one ☺️

Agreed!

Could you get something like “mummy’s like baker” etc so you don’t have to personalise it?

Yes I could do to be fair!

Get it personalised as 'Betty' not ERS,or whatever.

At work I am always 'Fay' not 'FC' because the Top Dog is 'FC'. It looks bit strange in documents because the others are AB, ML, JB etc

Mother's Little Baker is naff. Sorry.

The long and short versions of my name begin with different letters and I've always thought of the long one as my initial. I now have to use my short name initials at work because literally everything, including my e-mail address, is set in my short name and people just wouldn't know who the other set of initials would refer to, but I'd rather use the long name initial just because I always had, until I was over 50. If I had something with a monogram on it (although that's not really my style) I would definitely want my real (long) name initials. I'm not sure what I'd do for a child who didn't even know their long name - is there any possibility of getting something with "Betty" on it rather than initials?