To name our son Leonard when we are planning to call him Leo

[EdemaRuh2025]

Our baby boy is due early September. We have settled on Leonard as his first name but we intend to call him Leo. In our home country, the name is pronounced differently (like Leonardo but without the ‘o’ at the end) so to us it makes sense to shorten it to Leo, but a couple native Brits told us that they’d shorten Leonard as Len or Lenny because of how it is pronounced in English.

We know Leo is a standalone name in the UK but we are keen to write down Leonard on his passport. It just sounds more complete to our ears, and works much better with his (non-English) middle name and surname. But last thing we want is to doom him to a lifetime of having to correct people who abbreviate his name as Lenny or push back when he wants to be called Leo.

I am also mindful of how popular Leo is nowadays and chances are there will be other Leos in class. Will his teachers and/or classmates force Leonard or Lenny on him in this case? I was subjected to this in school - my name is quite popular in my home country so teachers and classmates insisted on calling me by my first and middle name together (as if they are hyphenated even though they aren’t) despite how much I hated it, in fact they all doubled down when they saw it annoyed me! So yeah, don’t want that to happen to him, but of course if he himself chooses to go by Leonard or Lenny (or even his middle name!) that’s absolutely fine by me as long as it is not forced on him.

Anyway so how valid are my concerns above? Are we making a mistake in the UK social context?

He should just change it, saves the repeated explanations.

Name changed as I have a Leonard known as Leo - he's named after my late Dad who was Leonard but known as Len. He's only a few months old but so far everyone calls him Leo - as that's what we've always called him. DD's nursery and school forms both had a 'known as' option so I think it will be ok. I also know of one other Leo/Leonard (who we nicked the idea from 😆) so it's not completely out of the blue.

@blunderdul why do people have middle names?
It's traditional to have a "full" long name (just look at the royals who have about 5 middle names each) but known as something else day to day.
Names evolve and suit people at different stages of their lives.

I have no idea but the thread isn’t about middle names, so?

it may be ‘traditional’ but I don’t see the point in it. Not sure the royals and their pomp is a good example of why someone should blindly do something either

DS has a longer name and is known as a shortened version. School uses that in the register and on books but I use his full name for forms. He's starting to use a different diminutive of his name so be aware that he may choose something different as he gets older.
I like giving him the choice.

I think it’s fine. If anyone comments on but his name is ‘Lennard’ say oh no it’s ’Leo Nard’ hence Leo for short.
Or maybe register as Leonardo?

Would Leon work with your surname? I don't Leon's would get Lenny as a nickname and it's a bit more interesting and grown up than Leo in my opinion.

All the UK Leonards I know (and there are a few young ones as it’s back in fashion again) are known as Lenny- because of how Leonard is pronounced here and because it’s so fashionable for kids to have an “ee” ending nickname.

BUT if you introduce him as Leo from day 1 then that is what 99% of people will call him out of basic politeness (just like Xander rather than Alex for Alexander, Teddy rather than Theo for Theodore etc). You won’t be able to escape that everyone in the UK will mispronounce Leonard when they read his full name (at the doctors/in hospital/at the bank etc) but it’s very unlikely anyone will call him Lenny if you introduce him as Leo or even as “Le-oh-nard”.

It's absolutely fine, because Leo is the shortened version and Leonard is the whole name. I wouldn't do it any other way.
Congratulations 💐

Just put Leonard on all his official docs and introduce as Leo and put as known as on school docs. I have two girls who have been registered as longer names in case they want to use them when they are older but have always been known as their shorter names - not been a problem.

I think you need to consider the times where your DSs full name will be needed.

I think the only risk you run is that his mates discovery that his full name is Leonard at some point, make a joke of it, and decide to call him Len or Lenny, whether he likes it or not.

My daughter's shortened version only started being used when her friends decided to call her that. Fortunately she was okay with it, but I don't know how easy it is for kids to fight it if their group of mates (especially boys) start to run with it.

Would you consider Leonardo OP? I know a Leonardo who is always known as Leo.

Sounds like a good plan, and no different to Amelia known as Milly, or William known as Bill etc.

My friends son is Leonard but goes by Leo 90% of the time, in the UK, never once been an issue. I'd guess most people don't know his real name but as he has got older he does use it a bit more as he likes that it's different. A good choice!

People will assume he calls himself Leo because he hates Lennard. I would just name him Leo.

Just stick an o on the end of Leonard, then it won't be an issue in the first place.