Leo vs. Liam

knottie8845e48d427d3e51

Hi! My husband and I are both Greek and are following pretty strong naming traditions which means that my son’s name (first and middle) is identical to my FIL’s name. Not ideal for me because my FIL is not a good person in my eyes for many reasons (way he’s treated his family and way he’s treated me and my marriage). My husband is sympathetic to this issue however he’s not following the tradition because he wants to honor his father but moreso to keep with the tradition as a whole, which I understand. Only problem is, I nearly can’t stomach the idea of calling my baby boy after this man. Luckily for me, Greek names are pretty complex so nicknames are very common and as silly as it is, in everyday life this will be my son’s name in my eyes. The name is Vassilios and although traditional nicknames are Vassili, Bill, Billy, Will- I don’t like any of those. A friend of ours has the girl version of the name and goes by Lia, so I thought I like the name Lio or spelled Leo. Liam is also a strong contender as it’s short for William which is Vassili is English. My daughter also has a very Greek name, but we call her Dina so I’m keeping that in mind as I choose a nickname for my son. I love Liam but is it too Irish for our very Greek-named family? Both names are very untraditional nicknames for this name but I love that because it’s the farthest away from my FIL’s name.

j-redd222

I think both Lio and Liam are cute nick names but I see a bigger correlation between Lio and the name since it’s derived from the end. Since you don’t love the name and Liam is a nickname of the translation, that works as well and seems like it would work better for your purposes. Remember that you get to raise your boy to be a man you’d be proud of and having a certain name doesn’t mean he’ll be anything like your father in law. I understand it’s not a great reminder but now that name gets to have a little redemption and represent new life! I hope all goes well with your pregnancy and don’t think you could go wrong with either of these cute nicknames 

harpseal135

Liam, as it sounds and feels of a whole name in itself, where as Leo feels like a nick name. 

mb0112

I prefer Leo. I don't think I'd go through with naming my son after someone I have such negative feelings towards but I like PP's way of thinking about it, if you are going to go forward with it and want to put those feelings aside. Leo is more natural of a nickname for the full name and I think Liam is so common these days

knottie3635063eae18c992

I like Liam more.

frydra31

I like Lio- would you ever consider the nickname Vass or is that not common for the name? 

lormont

I think i like Liam most