Alexandra

[Kotek]

Hello, My baby is due any day now and if it is a girl we are thinking of calling her Alexandra. I know this names lends itself to various shortenings, but wondered did anyone have any luck in keeping the full name 'Alexandra' for their daughter without everyone trying to shorten it somehow?

Ideally, I'd like her to be called the full name Alexandra (but realise once she is in school she may have different ideas herself as to how she wants to be called!)

My parents have an Eastern European background and the shortening they would use sounds most similar to 'Alyssa' in English, so I guess that would be my preferred shortening if it's impossible to maintain the full name!

Thanks for any advice.

Not with Alexandra but I know quite a few people - children and adults - who have 'commonly shortened' names who have managed to keep the full name by simply using it without fail.

I am including myself in this until I was in my teens ... my parents simply told everyone what my full name was and when people asked about my 'everyday' name they repeated my full name.

I love the name Alexandra btw.
Good luck with everything

it's my name - my parents keep it long, which I hate (too long, so I feel like I am being told off), so I shorten it. The drawback is that - especially with emails etc, everyone thinks I am a bloke. And SO many people don't know the difference between the girl's version and boy's version.
But its a very pretty name...

Love Alexandra and Alyssa. Hate Alex for some reason.

Alexandra and Alyssa are both lovely, feminine names. I'm not too keen on Alex due to the boy/girl indistinguishability (not sure thats a word...).

How about naming her Alyssa - thats a little shorter and less likely to get shortened?

Good luck with the birth!

Hi,
I am an Alexandra (it is acually my second name but has always been used instead of my first) and I have usualy been called by my full name with the occasional Alex. The worst abbreviation I ever had was when some friends of my mum started to call me Sandy!!!!!!! Awful, it did not last long. Xandra is what I frequently get called and I love it.

I love this name. I like the shortening Alex as well.

My mum's friend Alexandra is called "Sandra"

I am Alexandra too but shortened to Ali.

I was shortened immediately as my Aunty is also Alexandra and called Alex. My mum didn't want any confusion...(should have called me something else then really

Other diminutive (not mentioned so far) is Lexi...I always wanted to be called Lexi, sounded so cool!

However if you use the name in full all the time and correct people when they try to shorten it then the full version will stick I am sure!

I know a Lexi too, very posh!

I like Alexandra and Alex

At DD's school, in infants there are 3 Alexandras and 1 Alix (French). The other three are all known as Alex.

Alexandra/Alex appears to be a very popular name round here.

Love the name Alex and was gonna have it whether my bub turned out to be a boy or a girl. I only call him Alexander when he has been naughty

I met someone recently with a 3 year old son called Maximillian. I said "oh I love Max. It is on our shortlist for boys". She glared at me and hissed "We never shorten Maximillian."

She was quite scary so I made very sure I called him by his full name . One way to ensure it doesn't get shortened.

My name is long and with a number of possibly ways to shorten it, my mother chose one of the less obvious ways. I usually explain to people how it is shortened, and it has pretty much worked. Most people know me by the nickname. But sometimes people are stubborn and use the abbreviation I hate.

I have a long unusual name which can be shortened to a common diminutive. People do try, but it is fairly easy to say, no I don't use [diminutive], it's [proper name]. It rarely has to be said more than once, and is not an issue. In fact my family use a completely different diminutive, but it is reserved for family only.

You do have to be firm/scary though

It's DD's middle name & was nearly her first, but because my sister's DS2 is Alexander (though he is known as Alex & DD would probably have been a different nickname - possibly Lexie)we eventually decided it would be too confusing to have two such similar names in the family.

Five months later, DH's sister had a boy and called him Alexander....

I like it shortened to Alexa and lexie rather than Alex

x

My goddaughter is called Alexandra and it has never been shortened. She is nearly 3. Now we all think of her as Alexandra and Alex or Allie or Lexie would sound really weird. However I imagine once she starts school it will get shortened to something.

Thanks for your feedback! I'll have to try to be scary as suggested below if I want to keep people using the full name!

my DD2 is alexandra known as Lexie by our choice but I have a double barrelled name which was always used in its entirity until I went to uni and only then it was shortened

just keep introducing her as Alexandra and thats what she'll be known as