Teddy Oliver or Edward Oliver

[Gilmoregirl21]

Hi everyone,

I have a beautiful little baby boy, now 10 months old. I have been questioning our decision on his 'official' name pretty much since we registered him. We only have until 12 months to change easily, so time is running out. He is registered as Teddy Oliver. The other alternative was Edward Oliver and we would still shorten to Teddy at home, but officially he would be Edward. Thoughts please! I keep changing my mind. He is very much a Teddy, cheeky and full of energy. I do appreciate that it doesn't age as well as Edward. There are lots of ways to look at it
Popularity wise, on official lists Teddy is more popular than Edward. Thanks for voting and advice!

Teddy I would think of as cute at 4 and a little odd if I was introduced to a taller than me big 16 year old!
There will be thousands of grown men called Teddy in about 15 years' time.
Even more Alfies, Archies, Freddies and Charlies.

I remember Teddy Sheringham playing for England. It was just his name.
I only know that he's really Edward from Wiki.

I’ve met countless young Ellies- all Eleanor on the birth certificate though. Same with Billy.

My work friend Ellie is very much Ellie to friends but uses “Eleanor Lastname” in a professional setting. I think this is how most of us imagine it will work when we give our children birth certificate names and nicknames?

FWIW my daughter, who goes by a cutesy nickname for now, is in a school class where 80% of the class is known by a cutesy name - Freddie, Teddy, Ottie, Evie, Cici etc etc. They all have full names though, these aren’t their actual names. I don’t see it as any different to my generation - all the Jennys were Jennifers, Daves were Davids, Nikkis were Nicolas.. etc.

Nicknames evolve as you grow up - for instance, I grew up next to a Sammy who became very much a Sam in his teenage years. Still a Sam in his late thirties but uses Samuel when he needs to.

I would stick with Teddy

Please not Teddy. It's not a proper name and will be ridiculous when he's a grown man.

I know a Teddy who's now a big burly lad of 16 who absolutely hates his name.

@Thistimearound , I work with people with names like Chris, Jon, Ben, Tim, Bella, Evie, Lin and Sue.

I know Ben is a Benjamin because it's on his badge (ID card worn on a lanyard), Lin is Linda (I thought she was Lynne) and Evie is really Evelyn (that one threw me because I hadn't connected Evie with her full name).
I have no idea if the others are Christopher, Jonathan, Timothy, Arabella and Susan, and I haven't cared enough to ask.

Your Teddy is one of a few in his age group. Name fashions change and it's just a mainstream name now.

And in case you hadn't noticed, OP's baby is Teddy. He's nearly a year old.

My parents gave me a long name on my birth certificate. I never use it.

I have a 20 year old Teddy - and that’s what he is registered as. He is generally called Ted by everyone and that’s how he refers to himself. 20 years ago his name was very unusual and he was the only one all through school and college - now they’re all over the place so I was a bit of a trailblazer 😅😅

Don’t be put off by posters telling you an adult with the name Teddy is ridiculous. People become their names and it’s as simple as that .

Teddy when he is young. Ed in his teens and EDWARD when he’s in trouble.

I would change it to Edward. Give him the choice as he gets older as to who he wants to be - Ed, Eddie, Ted, Teddy, Ward, Woody.

And TBH, your not wanting Ed/Eddie won't be your choice, it will be his. DS has a name with several diminutives, I always call him his full name, his primary school friends called him one diminutive and when he went to secondary he introduced himself to his new circle by another. His choice!

Edward Oliver. He has to apply for jobs with that name, OP. Teddy is cute when he's little but not so much for a grown man.

He's one of about 1500 boys registered as Teddy in 2025. It's a mainstream name.

Edward. No contest.

Edward definitely.

You gave his brother a full name that can be shortened, so it makes sense to do the name for him.

I would also change it to Edward especially as his brother has a more formal name. He’ll still be Teddy/Ted.

I do think Edward gives him options. And I have to agree that I find the name Teddy strange for a fully grown man. But as other people have said, it’s been popular for years now and I’ve come across many Teddies in the boardroom. Just as I have Mavericks, Phoenix and Jetts. They’re all in their 30s.

There are kids registered as Princess, Superman and Apple. It doesn't make it a good name.

I think a lot of the replies aren't taking current naming trends into account. Especially ones about GPs, politicians etc.

Diminutives become embedded as proper names in their own right. Hardly any Sallys these days are Sarah on their birth certificates. Or called Jack but Johns on their birth certificate, or called Harry but Henry on the birth certificate. But they all started life as diminutives, and ye olde mumsnet baby names forum back in the day would have been fairly resistant to those changes.

I think Charlie is already more or less embedded, there aren't many young Charles around. Archie too over Archibald. Teddy will be breathtakingly normal to all his peers and if it suits him and you like it, I would keep it.

I’ve got a Teddy. He is a grown man now (teen but over 18). His birth certificate name is Edward but he is very attached to Teddy and doesn’t like anyone calling him anything else. It suits him perfectly and doesn’t seem strange as a man sized person towering over me to call him Teddy.
He’s just got his first job and there was a delay in setting up his payroll as he’d applied as Teddy, filled in all the paperwork as Teddy and then his passport to verify his ID said Edward 😂

Princess - 42 registered in 2024
Superman - none registered since 1996
Apple - 10 registered since 1996

Teddy - 3 registered in 1996, in the top 100 since 2013, in the top 50 since 2015.

I think a lot of the replies aren't taking current naming trends into account. Especially ones about GPs, politicians etc.
This.
There are people called Molly, Evie and Poppy where I work. They're just names - just like Penny, Sally and Sue are.

I don't think 'Eww, I can't take a data analyst seriously because Poppy is an infantile name'.

Edward gives more options. I’d personally go with that. It has some dignity unlike Teddy. You can still continue to call him Teddy.

I personally find Teddy much more childish than Alfie or Jamie. I think that it’s because it’s also the name of a well known toy. l’ve met a few young children called Teddy and it still seems twee to me on a 3 year old and utterly ridiculous on a grown man, unless they’re famous then they can just about pull it off. And I don’t agree that people always become their names. I’ve met several people whose names didn’t seem right for them.

I'm a big fan off full name on birth certificate and then they can use the diminutive or not. Both Edward and Teddy are lovely, so having the option is best. Our DS is 14 and always known by the diminutive, but the full name is there if he wants to use it later.

I'd definitely go for Edward, which gives loads of flexibility.

I also much prefer Ted to Teddy and he would then have more freedom to start using that instead.

He can still use Teddy though, if he likes it.

I don't hate it, but I think Ted has much more swagger. Lots of good strong role models.