Charlie vs. Charles

brewcitybride

We are going to call our little boy Charlie. My husband thinks we must officially name him "Charles", but I kinda like the idea of his name just being Charlie! What do you think?

Charles seems kind of old and boring, but I guess he could grow into it if he didn't like Charlie? I just think Charlie is the perfect boy's name, and still sounds dignified enough as an adult...

callalilly323

I 100% agree with your husband.

LovelyLady334

Charles

Linnea503

callalilly323:

I 100% agree with your husband.

Me too.

sagoon

My husband is named Charlie, not Charles, and it's a real PITA when filling out forms and whatnot when people just assume it's short for Charles. 

aclendenning

I agree with your husband.  I think that for in the future as an adult on applications etc., its nice to have a "formal" name.  I would go with Charles!

MrsKujawski

For a boy, it should be Charles with Charlie as the nickname.  

mandarod

callalilly323:

I 100% agree with your husband.

 

Lisa9926

Go with Charles just because when your baby is all grown up some might not take him as a serious professional with more of a nickname as a name. 

92405bride

Agree with your husband. You might love Charlie but he might want Charles later. This is the reason we named our daughter Anne, but call her Annie. I love the name Charlie and it's one of our top boy names as well, but we'll go with Charles as the legal name.

mommybrynn

Your husband is right on this one.

Lisakate721

I'm in the minority here and agree completely with you... if you want to call him Charlie, then name him Charlie.  Charles opens the door for additional nicknames that you may not want (such as Chuck).  If my husband and I had gone with this name, we were going to name him Charlie.  I went to school with a girl named (legally) Jenny.... her parents named her this b/c they wanted to call her Jenny, not Jennifer or Jen, but Jenny.  I think the two of you should go with what you want and not what is traditional. 

 In the world of "odd" names, naming someone legally Charlie isn't really all that odd.  And people make assumptions about names/spellings no matter how common or simple your name is.... so don't let the fear of someone assuming his name is really Charles scare you out of naming him Charlie. 

gbear87

I see nothing wrong with naming your LO Charlie.  It's a great name.

mrsawtry2B

Lisa9926:

Go with Charles just because when your baby is all grown up some might not take him as a serious professional with more of a nickname as a name. 

This.  My brother's name is Charles (he's a third - my dad is Charles) and so my parents decided to call him Chas (pronounced Chaz) for short.  He's been Chas all of his life until now.  He just graduated from Med School and felt Chas was a little unprofessional and "youngish" and was glad that he could use Charles.  It's nice to name your child something cute like Charlie, but cute doesn't always hold up when their older. 

brewcitybride

I don't think Charlie is just "cute". I think it's a cool name for a dude!

jason&robin

I think you should go with Charles legally. Call him Charlie until he is old enough to decide if he wants to keep Charlie, Charles or another NN. Let him have the option.

sagoon

Lisakate721:

I'm in the minority here and agree completely with you... if you want to call him Charlie, then name him Charlie.  Charles opens the door for additional nicknames that you may not want (such as Chuck).  If my husband and I had gone with this name, we were going to name him Charlie.  I went to school with a girl named (legally) Jenny.... her parents named her this b/c they wanted to call her Jenny, not Jennifer or Jen, but Jenny.  I think the two of you should go with what you want and not what is traditional. 

 In the world of "odd" names, naming someone legally Charlie isn't really all that odd.  And people make assumptions about names/spellings no matter how common or simple your name is.... so don't let the fear of someone assuming his name is really Charles scare you out of naming him Charlie. 

Hate to break it to you, but people use Chuck as a nickname for Charlie all the time.  You can't control what people call you, how they spell your name, etc.

niknak1128

My brother's name is Charles and we call him Charlie.  I love it. I wish that DH would let me call our baby Charlie if it's a boy. It was my grandfathers name on my dad's side who I never met.. he died when my dad was 15.  I love Charlie.. it is by far my favorite boy name ever.

brewcitybride

I disagree with PP about how you can't control what people call you. No, I wouldn't be able to control what his friends call him as a joke, or what people call him who don't know him. But my Dad is William, and we call him Bill. No one calls him Will. Because from birth, his family decided they wanted him to be Bill. Same with every other name I can think of!

 

BrandiGreen

My son's middle name is Charlie.  He is named after my deceased father who was a Charlie not Charles.  I actually like Charlie much much better than Charles!

MallyPie

I think Charlie is fine! If you and DH can come to an agreement on Charlie, than I say go for it.

PhysChic7685

As someone who was called by her shortened name her whole life and recently switched to the more mature feeling full first name, I'd say Charles.

However, just as you could legally name him Charles and just call him Charlie, you could always legally name him Charlie and have him decide later to ask people to call him Charles. 

NSizemore2011

I agree with your husband. You'll always call him Charlie. But as he gets older he can decide what he wants to go by.