So many nicknames as full names

[Gladlymaam]

So my DD is 2, lately we’ve met a lot of other kids her age, through nursery, play groups, friends of friends etc. We live in London in what would be generally classed as a very nice area, would be stereotyped as very middle class etc. I’ve also noticed a bit of a trend where most of these families are corporate dad and SAHM set ups (obviously I don’t know every single one of these child’s parents jobs so it’s a smaller sample) and what I have noticed is so many of these children have nicknames for full names.
I feel like on Mumsnet people are generally told to give their child a full name and it often comes up as “not very classy” to give them one of the nicknames as full names, or suggested that educated/ambitious parents wouldn’t pick these names (I don’t necessarily agree with this I’m just repeating a common theme I’ve seen).
So far we have met
2x Stevie (girls)
Teddy
Rudy
Ozzy
Gigi
Bea
Posy
Emmy
Bobby
Pippa

This has surprised me a little as amongst my close friends and from what I’ve seen on here it’s pretty unpopular to give your child a nickname as a full name. It’s also made me wonder why especially on here it’s seen as unclassy or a sign of being uneducated when at least in my experience the names are being used across all classes including amongst highly educated and successful individuals?
Have you noticed this trend too? Is it as prolific amongst the people you know? What are your thoughts on it?

I have 2 daughters and one of their names on this list, the other name is also an abbreviation, I’m working class

For me I didn’t see the point in them having a name on their birth certificate that I’d never use, but I do understand others might like their kids having another option as they get older

I don’t particularly care what others think and I don’t particularly care what others name their children, I personally like most of the names on that list

I would (and have) given my children ‘proper’ names. Nicknames are just that, then as they become adults they can choose whether to continue with the NN or not. I bet my daughter is glad she’s not got Squidge on her birth certificate!

My son was ‘Pip’ for a few years then he naturally grew into his proper name.

They are not nicknames, they are diminutives. A nickname is something like Budgie. Diminutives are fine as that is what they will be called anyway.

A child may be called a diminutive, but IMO it’s better to give your child a “proper” name. My DC all have full names (which they use in a professional context) even though they are seldom referred to as such within the family - they’ve had diminutives since they were babies. I thought it was reasonable to give my children the choice: others have different opinions.

I personally chose names that couldn’t be shortened for my DC. Not deliberate for DDs 1 and 2 but it was for DS as I liked it. I can’t get worked up over others giving their own child whatever name they liked and don’t ever think about if it’s “classy”. I usually just have a small thought to myself that it’s not a name I’d have chosen and then get over myself because it’s not my child.

How do you even know what’s on their birth certificate? I so very rarely use my DC’s actual names. DS is call Bud/Buddy/Buds by me, my DM and his DSisters 99% of the time. Not a diminutive of his name but I’m sure there are people who don’t know us who think that’s his name. 🤷‍♀️

Several of them have made a point of telling me it’s their full name. So for example I’ve heard “This is Teddy, just Teddy, not short for Edward or Theodore” and “This is Gigi and yes that’s her full name”, so I’d guess they are getting lots of people assuming they are shortened and it annoys them.

i went for the MN practice of formal name on BC and using the short version as a child. He decided to trial the long version when he started secondary school and ended up long name to teachers and short name to friends. In his case he likes his long name as well but many of his primary school friends went to the same secondary so couldn’t really change his name.

I assume that the parents don’t like the long version hence using the short version. When current children have their kids, I think that there will be fewer unacceptable names as they’ve grown up with classmates having a wider variety of names so a Prime Minister or CEO could have a name that our generation consider questionable for an important job.

Of course it’s always better to give your child a full name (eg Alfred or William) rather than a short form (Alfie or Willy)! It gives them more options throughout their life Why would you deny them those options?

But why on earth bring ‘class’ in? That has nothing to do with it.

My name is often shortened to one mentioned in the op, but I am SO grateful that my parents gave me a beautiful proper name that I can introduce myself with and use for work purposes. Only very close family call me the short form.

@Gladlymaam , Do you think that a Molly, Polly, Mia or May should be Mary on her BC? Every Daisy, Margo(t), Greta, Marjorie ... be Margaret on hers? Every Eliza, Libby, Elsie, Elsa, Lisa, Beth, Bethan, ... be Elizabeth?

The names you listed are very current apart from Stevie. They'll sound dated in years to come.
I also know 2 Stevies, both girls, but they are adults now. One is just Stevie and the other is Stevie-Leigh.
I also know a Rudy (adult) and it has never crossed my mind that he might actually be Rudolf.

I bet the little Stevies and Teddies will one day wish that their parents hadn’t denied them of the opportunity to introduce themselves as a Stephanie or a Theodore!

I simply don’t understand why parents would not want their child to have that option. It’s not the parents that have to live with a silly nickname as a proper name.

@Zitroneneis , I don't understand why someone would put a long name on a birth certificate if they were never going to use it. I think Stephanie and Theodore are horrible and might get shortened to Theo or Steph.

Parents don't get to choose the diminutive the older child will go by.

I've found people like the nickname (or multiple nicknames) but not any full forms of it and see it as strange when people love a nickname but feel they must give a (less liked) form of it that will never be used and they don't wish to ever use on the birth certificate.

For me personally, I definitely wanted a full name that I loved and if would have tried to find a similar name that was full in its own right eg Lily rather than Millie. But each to their own, it's not something that bothers me if others do it. I think over time, the nicknames become full names - to me, Charlie feels like it is making that transition to full name status.

To me a nickname doesn't mean an abbreviation of their birth name. Like I wouldn't call Kate a nickname.

To me it would be like something about their character or appearance, like in Thailand everyone has a nickname.

But it's nothing to do with their actual name. Like Miley Cyrus. Apparently she was very smiley so they called her that then Miley. Her real name is Destiny.

Bob, Kate, Lou, Debbie, Chris etc are not nicknames.

I always wonder what people with a Teddy/Teddie call their child's soft toy in the shape of a bear, which the vast majority of young children have. 'Teddy, have you got your teddy?' 'Where's your teddy Teddy?'.

I also wonder why there aren't as many Dolly's as there are Teddy's.

I totally get and agree with the idea of giving a child the full name despite what you might call them, so they have options when they are older, but I wonder how many of these children do change their names when they are older? My husband has a slightly unusual first name and his mum gave him a very ordinary middle name in case he wanted to change it when he was an adult, he's stuck with the first name. Do people really go 18 years or so of their life called Kit, Teddy, Gigi and then one day say I am now Christopher/Edward/Georgina?

But it’s not the parent that has to live as a Teddie or Stevie without the option of a proper name like Stephanie or Theodore. Why deny that to your children?

I like interesting or very old names but nicknames as names are hideous.

"Here's my Lawyer Mr Teddy Smith"
"The surgeon doing your brain operation is called Bunny-Boo Brooks"
"Do you, Pixie Princess Smith take Teddy Bobby Brooks to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Ridiculous! How can anyone be taken seriously when they're named these ridiculous names?

It is an absolute pain in the arse having a "proper" name. My ID never matches because I literally never use the right one. And it doesnt help that there are multiple spellings of the real name and the diminutive and everyone picks whichever one they like. Even when I sign off an email with eg Lucy, the person who replies will write, "Thanks Lucie". (Bad example because Lucy isnt a diminutive but you get my point). Just name your flipping child. It has caused me so many issues!

Well, most people don’t run their name choices through Mumsnet for approval, so there’s that. We all know Mumsnet and the real world are 2 different things 😄

Eg I joined Mumsnet long before I had my 3 kids, never consulted Mumsnet on my name choices.

I don’t know why you’re surprised Middle class people tend to be big on nicknames. In my experience its more common folk that hate their kids names being shortened.

Because they are completely different names. Maybe mum and dad like Stevie but don’t like Stephanie?

Glad I'm not the only person who thinks this. There seems to be an obsession on MN that every child must have a "nickname" which, as you've correctly pointed out is not what they're referring to, but a diminutive.

Drives me mad.

I have a "proper" name but am usually known by my preferred diminutive. I really like having the option of a formal, traditional name for formal circumstances and a friendly informal sounding diminutive for people who know me personally.

I can see the point about why give your child a proper name when you'll always call them by the diminutive. But I'm still not keen, it looks like you couldn't be bothered to give your child a proper name. I would never be rude enough to say that directly. I always say "ah, that's nice" like Mrs Brown and hope my resting bitch face doesn't give me away.

I used to have a boss called Jenny - that was her birth certificate/passport name and yet she got addressed as Jennifer so often by people wrongly presuming that was her name. Rude of them of course and infuriating for her but an ongoing problem. I also know a birth certificate Sam (not Samuel) who has this issue.

I do think I'd you introduce yourself as Sam then that is how the other person should address you, whether it's your actual name or a diminutive - it's disrespectful to decide to use Samuel uninvited. But trust me, it's less annoying to be called by your actual name than one that isn't actually your BC name at all!

I hate my full name and went through the pain of a deed poll and updating all documents etc to the diminutive of my name,
which is the only name I’ve ever been called.