Love the informal name; hate the formal

Boonhilde

For example, I like the name Matt but hate the name Matthew. Would you still name him Matthew or would you just name him Matt?

Edit: "Matt" is an example name. We're not using Matt, or Matthew, or anything like it.

Sassenach1743

Matt will always be the short form of Matthew. Everyone will assume his name is Matthew and his nickname is Matt. I would not use Matt as his given name. He may prefer Matthew, you never know. It's best to give him the formal name officially so he has the option later.

Also, Matt on a resume would seem strange. 

corndogrobot

My friend named her kid Matthew Steve.
Not Steven. And that seems weird to me. So I'd say either name the formal or pick a different name.

gala818

I'm not the biggest fan of the name Elizabeth. Although, it's a strong family name on my side. But, I love the nickname Libby.

nurse714

No, I would not name my child a nick name. If you hate Matthew, find a different name. If I like Matthew and hated Matt, I still wouldn't choose it. 

magsugar13

Nurse is in my head again!

No to Matt 

Yes to Matthew

Knottie1431899811

Matthias and Matteo are other ways to get to Matt. I like Matthew best though.

LizWhiz87

gala818 said:

I'm not the biggest fan of the name Elizabeth. Although, it's a strong family name on my side. But, I love the nickname Libby.

I am actually planning on breaking a big Bump rule by naming my daughter Libby. I love the name Elizabeth, but it's my name, and I don't want my future daughter to actually have the same name as me. I feel the same way about not using the nickname as a name as most people do here, but I feel like there can be some exceptions for nicknames that sound like their own entity, i.e. Libby, Kate, Sadie, etc. I know many here will not agree with me, but I just can't get over how much I love the name Libby Pearl. The fact that Libby is a diminutive of my own name is just icing on the cake (and I say that not to sound conceited, but as someone who is named after my mom, I have always felt it bonds us in a really wonderful way).

mattandlora

We had the same situation with DD and opted for the full name. We call her by her nn so much that I sometimes forget her full. name, like when they call it at the doctor

wassuphoes

LizWhiz87 said:

gala818 said:

I'm not the biggest fan of the name Elizabeth. Although, it's a strong family name on my side. But, I love the nickname Libby.

I am actually planning on breaking a big Bump rule by naming my daughter Libby. I love the name Elizabeth, but it's my name, and I don't want my future daughter to actually have the same name as me. I feel the same way about not using the nickname as a name as most people do here, but I feel like there can be some exceptions for nicknames that sound like their own entity, i.e. Libby, Kate, Sadie, etc. I know many here will not agree with me, but I just can't get over how much I love the name Libby Pearl. The fact that Libby is a diminutive of my own name is just icing on the cake (and I say that not to sound conceited, but as someone who is named after my mom, I have always felt it bonds us in a really wonderful way).

I feel like Kate and Sadie are a lot more full names then Libby.

I think of this.

LizWhiz87

wassuphoes said:

LizWhiz87 said:

gala818 said:

I'm not the biggest fan of the name Elizabeth. Although, it's a strong family name on my side. But, I love the nickname Libby.

I am actually planning on breaking a big Bump rule by naming my daughter Libby. I love the name Elizabeth, but it's my name, and I don't want my future daughter to actually have the same name as me. I feel the same way about not using the nickname as a name as most people do here, but I feel like there can be some exceptions for nicknames that sound like their own entity, i.e. Libby, Kate, Sadie, etc. I know many here will not agree with me, but I just can't get over how much I love the name Libby Pearl. The fact that Libby is a diminutive of my own name is just icing on the cake (and I say that not to sound conceited, but as someone who is named after my mom, I have always felt it bonds us in a really wonderful way).

I feel like Kate and Sadie are a lot more full names then Libby.

I think of this.

I will give you that. I don't eat pumpkin pie so I never made that association lol. I guess I have known Libbys before and never thought about their name being Elizabeth the way I do with Liz or Lizzy. I know it isn't a popular notion here, and for that, I will take a pumpkin pie to the face. 

wassuphoes

LizWhiz87 said:

wassuphoes said:

LizWhiz87 said:

gala818 said:

I'm not the biggest fan of the name Elizabeth. Although, it's a strong family name on my side. But, I love the nickname Libby.

I am actually planning on breaking a big Bump rule by naming my daughter Libby. I love the name Elizabeth, but it's my name, and I don't want my future daughter to actually have the same name as me. I feel the same way about not using the nickname as a name as most people do here, but I feel like there can be some exceptions for nicknames that sound like their own entity, i.e. Libby, Kate, Sadie, etc. I know many here will not agree with me, but I just can't get over how much I love the name Libby Pearl. The fact that Libby is a diminutive of my own name is just icing on the cake (and I say that not to sound conceited, but as someone who is named after my mom, I have always felt it bonds us in a really wonderful way).

I feel like Kate and Sadie are a lot more full names then Libby.

I think of this.

I will give you that. I don't eat pumpkin pie so I never made that association lol. I guess I have known Libbys before and never thought about their name being Elizabeth the way I do with Liz or Lizzy. I know it isn't a popular notion here, and for that, I will take a pumpkin pie to the face. 

You are good people.

Sassenach1743

@LizWhiz87, Libby Pearl is so lovely!!!

e1223

Two of my friends are legally named Katie and Nicki, and their whole life have been driven nuts by people assuming their legal namesare Katherine/Kathryn/Kaitlin/any other name that can be nicknamed Katie, and Nicole. I agree that I'd go with a name where you like the formal name AND the nickname instead.

LizWhiz87

wassuphoes said:

LizWhiz87 said:

wassuphoes said:

LizWhiz87 said:

gala818 said:

I'm not the biggest fan of the name Elizabeth. Although, it's a strong family name on my side. But, I love the nickname Libby.

I am actually planning on breaking a big Bump rule by naming my daughter Libby. I love the name Elizabeth, but it's my name, and I don't want my future daughter to actually have the same name as me. I feel the same way about not using the nickname as a name as most people do here, but I feel like there can be some exceptions for nicknames that sound like their own entity, i.e. Libby, Kate, Sadie, etc. I know many here will not agree with me, but I just can't get over how much I love the name Libby Pearl. The fact that Libby is a diminutive of my own name is just icing on the cake (and I say that not to sound conceited, but as someone who is named after my mom, I have always felt it bonds us in a really wonderful way).

I feel like Kate and Sadie are a lot more full names then Libby.

I think of this.

I will give you that. I don't eat pumpkin pie so I never made that association lol. I guess I have known Libbys before and never thought about their name being Elizabeth the way I do with Liz or Lizzy. I know it isn't a popular notion here, and for that, I will take a pumpkin pie to the face. 

You are good people.

I am so Jerry/Garry/Terry/Larry in this naming situation. I accept my fate.

ksteeb611

I knew someone one who gave all their kids nicknames. Josh., Matt, Brad., and Kate. They hated it.

bananers

gala818 said:

I'm not the biggest fan of the name Elizabeth. Although, it's a strong family name on my side. But, I love the nickname Libby.

Libby is high on my girls' list too, but I also don't love Elizabeth. But I am a firm believer in having a formal name option.

chirochels

I really like Mattox or Mattix but don't care for Matt. Just other ideas...

wassuphoes

chirochels said:

I really like Mattox or Mattix but don't care for Matt. Just other ideas...

But those aren't names....

Boonhilde

e1223 said:

Two of my friends are legally named Katie and Nicki, and their whole life have been driven nuts by people assuming their legal namesare Katherine/Kathryn/Kaitlin/any other name that can be nicknamed Katie, and Nicole. I agree that I'd go with a name where you like the formal name AND the nickname instead.

This is good to know. I go by a diminutive name, and when people call me my full name I absolutely hate it. It's nice to hear about the other side of it.

"Matthew" was my example because the real name we're thinking of is unusual and I didn't want the post to become about whether or not people liked the name we chose.

Thanks everyone! We'll either use the full name or go with something else.

CGless

In the same boat. I love Gwen! Not a huge fan of Gwendolyn, Gwyneth, but will probably use Guinevere.

I would just prefer for her to have more options. My husband will likely only ever call her Gwen.

Matthew isn't bad!

4N6s

Matthias? Mateo?

shaybe90

LizWhiz87 said:

gala818 said:

I'm not the biggest fan of the name Elizabeth. Although, it's a strong family name on my side. But, I love the nickname Libby.

I am actually planning on breaking a big Bump rule by naming my daughter Libby. I love the name Elizabeth, but it's my name, and I don't want my future daughter to actually have the same name as me. I feel the same way about not using the nickname as a name as most people do here, but I feel like there can be some exceptions for nicknames that sound like their own entity, i.e. Libby, Kate, Sadie, etc. I know many here will not agree with me, but I just can't get over how much I love the name Libby Pearl. The fact that Libby is a diminutive of my own name is just icing on the cake (and I say that not to sound conceited, but as someone who is named after my mom, I have always felt it bonds us in a really wonderful way).

I've only ever actually heard the name Libby as that. Not a nickname, but the actual name. I like it!

libby+nate

@LizWhiz87 just jumping in from lurking. My name is Elizabeth but I have always gone by Libby. Often times people are surprised to hear I have a formal name. I also get that they didn't realize it was a nn for Elizabeth, so I feel like it stands alone nicely. Also, I love my name and have always gotten positive comments

Rabbitheart15

I'm not in the US, and people go by their given name here. Which often is a diminutive, because not everyone likes very formal names.

Personally, I'm usually more fond of the full version but... I'd love to have son who's just Alex, not Alexander.

For some reason, I always thought Libby was the nn for virtue name Liberty. 

I also like Gwen as a standalone name. My mom wanted to call me Guinevere .

LizWhiz87

libby+nate said:

@LizWhiz87 just jumping in from lurking. My name is Elizabeth but I have always gone by Libby. Often times people are surprised to hear I have a formal name. I also get that they didn't realize it was a nn for Elizabeth, so I feel like it stands alone nicely. Also, I love my name and have always gotten positive comments

That's good to hear