So if you have a nickname do you have to be formal about it and ask people to call your baby by it?

[chequersandroastedchestnuts]

I love DD's full name and her nicknames equally. People seem to get her confused when we call her by her nn though - 'oh, is that what you're calling her?'

We call her both, don't really want to formalise it one way or the other. Should we do this though to make it easier for people as they seem a bit confused!

Is it very different to her full name, or is it a shortening?

It's just a shortening.

We use a shortening of DD's name.
When she was born we told people her full name as we weren't 100% sure what she'd be 'known' as. Over time the nn sort of fit her best so we started using it more; and now most people call her by it.
We didn't formalise it. If people asked what we were calling her we just told them both names and let them choose.

FIL calls her a different shortening of her name which is also fine by us.

Just tell them you use both versions and you are happy for them to call her either name.

DD is Elizabeth. I call her Libby as do most other people. DP calls her Little bit, my brother calls her Betty as he lives in Vienna and Betty is the Vienese version of Elizabeth.

When people ask what her name is, I tell them her full name and the most used shortened version - that way they can choose what to call her.

I fully expect her to decide on a different shortening when she's older - that's fine too.

Ok, so it's fine to carry on as we have been then.

My aunt was most put out by her nn - told me you can't have Amy from Amelia

Your aunt is plain wrong as Amy is a commonly used diminutive for Amelia. Show her this in a book of names otherwise she probably won't believe it. How very irritating for you

Thanks Podrick, I've met three Amy's in my lifetime who are Amelia's so I was fairly sure it was pretty common. My aunt swears she can only be Millie, grr!

Sorry, not sure why I added the apostrope in Amelias.

I think Amy is lovely show your aunt this, where it says that Amy can be a nn for Amelia.

i think it's best to give both versions.
I Know someone who called her baby Edward and really wanted him to be known as Teddy.
only, everyone just kept calling him Edward, even though SHE always uses Teddy.

Persoanlly I tend noit to use nicknames unless I am sure it's appropriate- ie, they want other people to use it and it isn't just a family thing.

so def let everyone know that the nickname is available for use