Love Nell, hate Nellie

[rromy]

Love Nell for baby due in a few months. Not interested in any longer forms. Is the nickname/pet name Nellie inevitable? I really dislike it 😫

Hahahaha my real name is Nellie and I didn't realise it was so strongly disliked. Sorry to tell you op but I definitely would not pick Nell if you don't want it turning into Nellie. It does come with a host of insulting nicknames too, my teenage son affectionately refers to me as Stinks, derived from Smelly Nellie 😂

Thanks for all the opinions. @NellieNoName i hope I didn’t offend! My own name is often described as boring/dated. I still love Nell but will perhaps keep looking for now.

Traditionally, Nell was a nickname for names like Helen, Ellen, Eleanor. The way that Jack was traditionally a nickname for John before becoming a name in its own right.

When family names were very popular (eh Grandad, father and first born son were all "John") it was useful to have a variety of nicknames for the same name

Woah.

Haha no not at all! I hated it as a kid. I was lucky that I was a skinny little thing or Nellie the Elephant would have killed me. I love it now though. Each to their own. Definitely safer to pick another name if its not to your taste though.

Completely the opposite of my experience

I speak as a veteran of mixing with lots of dc, having taught for nearly 40 years, and also grown 3 dc to adulthood and supported various things they went to with friends, in their childhood and youth.

Peers rarely use the name as given by parents.

I chose a one-syllable name. Unfortunately, on hearing it, a lot of people decided to immediately add '-ie' to the end of it.

This ^ I do recognise.

Go for Fenella.

I know a few Nells and none of them have been called Nellie by their peers. I knew 2 of these all the way through their school years.

I’m with you. Nell is good, Nellie is bloody awful. I don’t think it’s inevitable however, that people will use Nellie.

How interesting 🤷‍♀️In my young DS nursery/primary (Wales) I would honestly say that kids seem to get called what they choose to be called - ie. they introduce themselves as Rose rather than Rosie and then that’s what they are called.

It was the same back in the day when I was at (all girls) school in England. I honestly don’t remember any of my peers getting “ee” added to their names for them - no Katie instead of Kate or Lizzie instead of Liz for example unless they called themselves that (and there were several of both). At my brothers school they did seem to often call each other by their surnames though - and now you mention it, admittedly sometimes with an “ee” sound on the end so Smith became Smithy etc.

Lengthening names ie. Jack to Jacky seemed to be for family - I heard some of my friends parents and grandparents doing it, which made me giggle as a teen as it always made their name sound more juvenile to me.

There's a french mountain pass called Cavanelles. Cavanelle would make a lovely name - I think - with Nell as the abbreviated form.