Can you always be known by your nickname?

[ohIdoliketobebesidethe]

My ds is called Mac. I am very happy with that name. It has always taken me a while to grow used to my dcs names. Dh insisted we call him something proper on his birth certificate as Mac isn't much of a name on its own. I agree with him on that. We chose Maxwell - which is commonly shortened to Mac in Canada - as we didn't like the surname as first name names. My mum has been very very negative about Maxwell and I feel uncomfortable about it as a result. I have thought about changing it before he is 1 - but haven't mentioned this to dh. However, one friend of mine said she'd been known by her nickname all her life - inc through Uni and on CV for work.

So is it OK for me to call him Mac for school applications etc even if he's officially Maxwell?

our school entry form has a part for the childs name and then another part for what the child is known as.

My greatnan was always called Rose. when she died we found out her name was actually Hilda...even my grandad didn't know that.

I think you would need to put his official name on any forms, but certainly with schools you can normally request that he is called by the name he is used to.
I have been called by my name derrivation for my entire life. I don't even respond if someone calls out my official name!
Mac is a great name btw

if you dont like his name change it.

becuase if he has to write maxwell on all formal documentationt hroughout his life.

he will get called maxwell fairly frequently by officious types who don't know him

My name was changed when I was a teen. For some reason I decided that the spellign of it wasn't great and my stupid mother allowed me to change it.

She didn't do it legally though so I have my name spelt the 'new' way on everything, doctors, hospitals, school, college etc.

Now I have a driving license I have my name spelt the old way on it as my birth certificate has it that way, my passport would have to too and one of my bank accounts does.

It is really confusing, I am known by the newer way by everyone, have been for 13 years but my legal documents say it the other way.

Now I'm in a pickle as to change my name by deed poll and change the driving license and bank before I get a passport and get married, or to change back to the original way and have to inform everyone except the DVLA and one bank that I'm going back to the original way. Even my national insurance number is linked to the newer way, and my NHS number.

If you don't want him to have to use Maxwell, change it.

My best friends name is Alexandra,however she has been known as Polly her whole life.

She just tells people her name is Polly

Thanks everyone. Do you think Mac is enough for a name on its own then?

Mac is fine,if he doesn't like it when he is older he can call himself something else.

It's really no big deal

There are ways round it. I was amelia but no-one ever called me that. When it came to geting a passport I was going away with school and my mum told the passport office if it was in my full name the school wouldnt recognise it as me. So my passport is my nickname which ipsofacto meant my driving licenc is aswell. Loving Mac by they way.

oh my goodness! we wanted to call DS Mac or Mack but our family went a bit mental and we ended up going for Max.

Then it was me who wanted something more formal on the birth certificate, so he is also a Maxwell.

Annoyingly, i find that he really is called Maxwell by the GP, etc. I thought it would be understood he is simply "Max."

sorry i'm not answering your question, but sending you happy Mac vibes. great name.

I was called by nickname (Given to me when I was a baby) all the way up until 7. It was on the school register instead of my real name. I hated my real name.

However I was bullied for it and so when we moved I insisted I be known by my real name.

Thanks for your responses. I am tempted now to do nothing and deal with any problems if / when they arise.

Chandellina- it was your thread on Max as a cop out which I stumbled upon which made me join mumsnet in the first place ! I was slightly uninspired that day calling myself mummyclare.

I know what you mean about the doctors calling them maxwell (although we could hardly expect them to assume Mac).

Thanks for the vibes.

Mac and Maxwell are both nice.

I've been known by a diminutive of my middle name since I was thirteen. If you use a name long enough, it does stick. On official forms, I'm my original first name, but in letters and everything else, I'm my name.