If you have a name that can be shortened to a nickname...

ghm

Do you go by your full name or a nickname? Has it always been that way?

 

Just curious. Arabella is the only one that can go by a shortened name. I refer to her as Bella (like on here or talking about her sometimes) but I call her Arabella. Most people call her Bella or Belle. My FIL adores her name and has never called her anything but Arabella. I'd like her to start school going by Arabella and let her decide what to go by later.

My brother and sister didn't go by their shortened names until later in elementary school.

I have a FB friend who recently switched from his nickname to his full name, 25 years after going by the nickname. He felt it was too childish.

Anyway, just curious. 

shouldbworkin

Full name only when written professionally (e.g. business cards).  Everyone refers to me by my NN.  Anyone who calls me by my full name doesn't know me well.

happy_momma

I have never officially gone by a nickname, but my Dad frequently calls me the shortened version, and a few very close friends in high school did.  It really annoys me when people who have just met me (and been introduced with my name) shorten it on their own.  I guess because for me, it's only ever been shortened by people I'm very close to, so it feels like someone is way overstepping boundaries when they take it upon themselves to shorten it.

Rebekah1021

My name is Rebekah. DH is the only one to call me Rebekah. Everyone else calls me Bekah.

My mom hated Becky, so she made it known that nickname was off the table. 

shiloh17

My name is Christine, but have always been called Chrissy at home. All through elementary catholic school they called me by my full name. In hs & college I told everyone to call me Chris bc I felt Chrissy sounded too babyish. Now at work everyone calls me Christine. Its funny how a name can cycle from full to nickname, back to full name. I dont really care what Im called as long as it is a version of Christine. I can't stand when I get Christy, Kristin, or Christina. ?

ashleyaugust7

My friends and family call me Ash, but I don't refer to myself that way and it isn't common for people just meeting me to call me that.

Cecelia's name came out of loving Cece- but after she was born she was such a Cecelia that Ed and I never call her that.  Really no-one does!  It is up to her thought whether or not she likes that as a nn as an adult.

Ciarrai

Both my girls have names with a few nicknames.  They've always just gone by their nicknames so far.  We let DD#1 pick when she went to Kindy what she wanted people to call her, but she was used to her nickname and used to writing her nickname so she kept that up.  I don't think it's that hard to change as they get older though.  Like someone said, professionally they can use their full name and then personally they can use a nickname.  My cousin hated her name (JoAnn) so she called herself Sara from the time she was about 11 or 12.  It was on all her awards and school papers and everything and drove my aunt nuts since she was so worried about when she applied to college and everyone being confused.  As soon as my cousin turned 18, she legally changed it.  (Sara wasn't her middle name or anything...just a name she liked.)  She's now over 50 and still Sara to everyone except my aunts and uncles, who insist on calling her JoAnn.  You can pick almost any name and use it if you really want, I would think.

Cbidt's girl

happy_momma:

I have never officially gone by a nickname, but my Dad frequently calls me the shortened version, and a few very close friends in high school did.  It really annoys me when people who have just met me (and been introduced with my name) shorten it on their own.  I guess because for me, it's only ever been shortened by people I'm very close to, so it feels like someone is way overstepping boundaries when they take it upon themselves to shorten it.

this. Husband, mom, dad, sis and a few friends from childhood use my nickname. Anyone else calling me that would feel weird

ashleyaugust7

happy_momma:

I have never officially gone by a nickname, but my Dad frequently calls me the shortened version, and a few very close friends in high school did.  It really annoys me when people who have just met me (and been introduced with my name) shorten it on their own.  I guess because for me, it's only ever been shortened by people I'm very close to, so it feels like someone is way overstepping boundaries when they take it upon themselves to shorten it.

I've never shortened anyone with your name with the nn- I think of the nn you're referring to as it's own name.  Interesting!

StarryNight39

Not me, but Ella. We hardly ever call her Ella, we (as well as family, friends, etc) call her Ellie. She went to school being called Ella and as far as I know, that is what everyone calls her. 

Drew is a different story. His real name is Drew. Not Andrew. But EVERYWHERE people constantly call him Andrew. Then I get the "Oh, really? But Drew is short for Andrew! His name isn't Andrew?" Um, no. It's just Drew. 

JenniC1135

Almost nobody who knows me calls me Jennifer, but my family refers to me by it when they speak about me.  Most people call me Jen, but I went by Jenni in middle & high school, so that's what a lot of my friends' parents call me, and I use it online so that's what people on here and another message board usually refer to me as.

ali-1411

Both.  Growing up, family and close friends used my nickname, Ali.  Teachers and school friends knew me as Alexis.

Nowadays, there's an equal amount that use the name and the nickname.  DH calls me Ali, so people I meet through him use the nickname.  But I introduce myself as Alexis, so people I meet on my own use the full name. 

When I'm leaving a voicemail or signing a card, I have to think for a minute about which name that person knows me by.

AngelaSue

My parents made it clear when I was born that I was to be called Angela and not  Angie. I hate the name Angie, it's just not for me, I think because I've ALWAYS gone by Angela. It irritates me to no end when people call me Angie, especially strangers and I usually correct them, but I'm also good at ignoring people if they call me Angie because I'm not sure to answering to that. All of my kids go by their given name. Adeline we sometimes call her Addie and so do our family and friends. But I find myself calling her Adeline more than anything. Amelia we always call her Amelia, but our former daycare started calling her Mia from the start, she started going there as a baby, and no matter how much we told her it was Amelia, she continued to call her Mia, all of the other daycare families became good friends of ours and we let them know we preferred her to be called Amelia and not Mia. so all of their kids started calling her Amelia and would correct people if they called her Mia.

AnnapolisLari

My name is Larissa and that's mostly what I use. Very good friends and my cousins can call me Lari.

My kids both have names that have nicknames, but we use the full names. They have the option of the nn when they get older.

goillini823

I'm Abigail. I go by Aby (yes only one . I introduce myself as Aby in all informal settings. I only use Abigail for things such as interviews or where my legal name is a must. I usually quickly tell them they can call me Aby though. I was always Aby at all my jobs. Only 2 people call me Abigail on a regular basis, my cousin and my friends mom. However, when I'm speaking to someone in Spanish I always introduce myself as Abigail, in the Dpanish pronunciation. I don't know why, I think I just don't like how Aby sounds in Spanish, even though my parents and aunts and uncles call me Aby in the Spanish version. Lol.

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emiliemadison

I go by Emilie unless it's a close friend or family member who chooses to call me Em or Emmie. My parents have never used a nickname for me.

My DD is Elizabeth and her nickname is Ellie. We call her both fairly equally. Our families call her Ellie almost exclusively. She is in 1st grade and has always gone by Elizabeth at school (her choice).  

My DS is Charles and goes by Charlie. Everyone calls him Charlie  

ready2go

dd1 is most often called by her nickname. when she started kindy, she said she wanted to be called her full name, so that's how she started the year. But, there were just too many people that knew her as her nickname (and she was ok with those people using her nickname) that it just caught on for everyone. now she says she prefers the nickname again. dd2 has always gone by her full name. If she wants to go by a nickname later, that's ok with me. Her name seems to be very popular around here so I can see her choosing to use a nickname later. we'll see!

shopgirl78

My boys have names that can be shortened.   DS1 goes by his full name.   When we found out that there was another Nathan in his Prek3 class, I asked him if he wanted to go by Nate.  He did not.  No one calls him Nate (except my grandparents every once in a blue moon).

DS2 is Jacob and we often shorten his name to Jake or Jake-Jake.  He answers or looks at you for all three possiblities who knows what he likes best. 

Mominator

Full name only. My name is Michelle, and I hate both of the normal options for nn Shelley and Chelle. Nate's full name is Nathaniel. We had actually planned on calling him Nate from the get go but gave him the full, formal name so that if he wanted to go by that later in life he would have the option.

r9stedt

*I* don't have a name that can be shortened, but L does.

I do NOT want him going by the shortened version right now.   He can choose to do so later, but I like the full name.


He is very insistent on his name if you call him the wrong thing.  

r9stedt

ashleyaugust7:

happy_momma:

I have never officially gone by a nickname, but my Dad frequently calls me the shortened version, and a few very close friends in high school did.  It really annoys me when people who have just met me (and been introduced with my name) shorten it on their own.  I guess because for me, it's only ever been shortened by people I'm very close to, so it feels like someone is way overstepping boundaries when they take it upon themselves to shorten it.

I've never shortened anyone with your name with the nn- I think of the nn you're referring to as it's own name.  Interesting!

Wait, do I have poor reading comprehension.  What IS your name?!

katie277s

I go by my nickname, and always have.  It feels strange to me to use my full name.  

ashleyaugust7

r9stedt:

ashleyaugust7:

happy_momma:

I have never officially gone by a nickname, but my Dad frequently calls me the shortened version, and a few very close friends in high school did.  It really annoys me when people who have just met me (and been introduced with my name) shorten it on their own.  I guess because for me, it's only ever been shortened by people I'm very close to, so it feels like someone is way overstepping boundaries when they take it upon themselves to shorten it.

I've never shortened anyone with your name with the nn- I think of the nn you're referring to as it's own name.  Interesting!

Wait, do I have poor reading comprehension.  What IS your name?!

She didn't mention it- I didn't think about it being confusing because I know happy_momma's name, sorry!

And R9, I would disagree that you have a name that can't be shortened- my mom has the same name and (even though I hate it) so many people call her Rob!

ridesbuttons

Yes, my name can be shorted to 2 common nicknames.  People often ask which I prefer and I truthfully tell them that I don't even hear the difference.

DS1 we shorten to a nickname (and expect that as he grows he will change it again) but DS2 is called by his actual name.

JellymanKelly

My name can be shortened (Amanda to Mandy), but I have never gone by a nickname, and my parents saw to that when I was a child. I am glad for that now, but always thought it was super cute when I was a kid.

My DH does go by a nickname, has since birth, and prefers that to his full name. We occasionally refer to my youngest DS by his shortened name (Ollie), but I really prefer that other people NOT call him that. My older DS doesn't have a name that shortens well.

 

ETA: DH's nickname is not a commonly used one, so if anyone ever calls him by the more common nickname, it's obviously someone that doesn't know him well. 

Zenya

I am usually called my full name although people do abbreviate it.  

Generally I think it's stupid to put one name on the birth cert and call the child a different name.  But I REALLY wanted my baby to be named Kate and my husband maintained it wasn't a real name and so I said whatever and we named her Katherine.  

So, I still think it's stupid but I did it anyway. 

GinandTonic

I'm backwards because my name is Ginny and IT''S NOT SHORT FOR VIRGINIA!!!  I had a client once who assumed that and introduced me to someone as Virginia.  I almost fell over.

I get Gin'd a lot.  I'm ok with it, as long as I'm close to the person.

My son is Thomas and we started calling him Tommy and he actually prefers it.  I'm sure he won't when he's 25, but we'll see.

DD is Mia.  She was almost Amelia and we were going to call her Mia for short, but then we decided just to name her that name and reduce the confusion.

Littlejen22

I go by Jennifer or Jen. In school the teachers usually called me Jennifer and I usually call myself Jennifer but all my friends call me Jen which I am fine with and like the name.  I would not give the teachers a nickname unless it is all the kid goes by but be ok with them telling their friends to call them something else.  Addison is Addie 95% of the time, Nathaniel is always Nathaniel although I like Nate for a NN, not sure how I will handle it when Addie is in school.

Carol*Brady2

I went by Tina for the first 19 yrs if my life (my great aunt did her whole life). I've gone by Christina since but my family & old friends still say Tina. I am not bothered by that but prefer the long name as an adult/professional. My girls have always gone by Winnie (Wilhelmina) & Tess (Therese)... Merryn goes by Merryn, Merry, Mer & Mey Mey all equally.

winomom22

My name is Christina and I have always gone by my full name. My sisters sometimes call me Christine, but they are the only people who do. I get annoyed when people call my Chris. I usually don't answer because I don't think they are talking to me since I am not used to it, I correct them if they do shorten my name.

jettagurl

My name doesn't really have a nickname.  I had several nicknames, but none based on my name.

 

My kids all go by nicknames - Ben, Nat, Eli, Gabi.  Originally I only wanted Ben to be Benjamin, but it just didn't happen.  Then I thought Natalie would never get shortened, and I was worried about the whole Nat = gnat stuff. And that didn't work, either.  For E & G, we basically picked their names because we like the nickname. lol!

Prior to Kindy, Ben (who went by 'Ben' in K4) told me that he wanted to be Benjamin.  So, he is.  The teacher calls him Benjamin, and he writes that on his papers.  

 

Mc_Newlywed

Professionally, and for people who don't know me well I always introduce myself as Rebecca.   But honestly, my husband and everyone in my inner circle calls me Becky.

lsufan

Mine are Evan, Bennett, and Thomas.  They all have pet names that we use, but they're not technically nicknames.  We call my youngest "T" or "T-bird", but we'd never shorten it to Tom or Tommy.  We sometimes call Bennett "Benzilla", but we'd never introduce him to anyone like that.  One of the reasons we chose Bennett over Benjamin was that I thought Ben was too short, but Benjamin is long enough that we'd be tempted to shorten it.  

We have a one syllable last name, so that affects my view of nicknames, since I didn't want to combine a one syllable first name with a one syllable last name. 

lollitots

I hate, hate, hate being called Joy even though Joyce is an old lady name. So no one calls me that and I don't let anyone try. For DD #3, she has long name that can be easily shortened. I really don't want it shortened, especially to Anna (too plain with our common last name). DH was worried that kids would tease her and call her Anna Banana. Guess what he calls her??? Drives me nuts. Her sisters call her Lisee. That doesn't bug me, but I still don't let anyone else shorten her name. DD #2 ended up with a family nickname of Lala. That was because her sister (who was 17 months when she was born) couldn't say Alaina and called her that. Again, outside of the family she goes by her full name.

peekaboo716

I used to go by my full name, then shortened. Now, I just use the full name professionally, nn socially.

DH and I were careful to pick names for the kids that didn't have obvious nn. We wanted their name to be their name.

+AlternatelyEgotisical+

Mine has a couple abbreviations and only a few people have ever called me by the full version.  I went through a brief stint in elementary school where I asked to be called by my full name, but otherwise, I've gone by the NN since birth.  When I got married, I shortened it even further because I thought the other NN sounded weird with my married name.

Two of my kids have names that can be shortened and I call them by both.  DS1 has learned to write the short version, but we're working on the long version.  Both have pretty long names. Our third DC's can't be shortened and I kind-of like that better.  I get tired of people asking what we call our other two since we usually just all them by their full names and it feels invasive when strangers want to have a NN for them.

Jodi&Joe

My close friends call me Jo.  My older sister calls me Jod.  Goose (here) calls me Jodes (which I get IRL sometimes too).

SO yes, even a 4 letter name can be shortened/changed!

Joey is exclusively Joey, even though his formal name is Joseph.  Joe was called Joey pretty much his whole life, until Joey was born.  He defaulted to Joe at that point.  LOL 

Cameron - I 99% of the time call her Cam.  My mom, MIL, SIL, sister, Joe's gram - they all call her Cami (which I'm not a huge fan of but eh, whatever).  I intended on calling her CJ (her middle name is Joelle) but we never have.  That might change when she gets older but for now, it's Cam. 

In school, Joey is Joey and Cameron is Cameron.  Joey signs all his homework with Joey, Cam uses her full name. 

 

Starr57

My name is April, which one would think can't be shortened. Several people have called me Ap (as in Planet of the) which is just gross to me.

DH and DS both go by nicknames. My sister's name is very common, but since there were so many girls with the same name in her 5th grade class, her teacher began calling her by the first syllable of our last name. She still goes by that NN today, even professionally.

kathrnn

Yep. My name is Katherine (obviously) and I now go my that. When I started college I wanted to sound more grown up, but my family will always call me Katie.

jlw2505

I ahve gone by Jenni (Jennifer is full name) almost my whole life.  For a few years I went by Jennifer all the time professional and personal but it was short lived and the few people that I have remained friends with from that time are the only ones that ever call me Jennifer.  My mom uses it from time to time and I used Jennifer on formal wedding stuff but did use Jenni on more informal stuff.