people making up a nn?

leah1615 · April 2009

We like Katherine the best if it is a girl, but we think we want to call her Katherine, no nn. Do you think people will automatically just call her Katie? Do you think spelling it Catherine would help?

maltwin1 · April 2009

Honestly, I've rarely ever seen people call a child a name other than what they were introduced as. If you say that your child's name is Katherine then her teachers and other adults will call her that, and if she introduces herself as Katherine that is what her friends will call her.

naflmj · April 2009

I agree. I no it's not the same but my name is Nicole and my mom made sure people didn't call me Nikki...there were a few instances where people would call me Nikki and my mom or I would always correct them.

CAParisi · April 2009

It is ultimatley up to the child. My brother's name is Crispin and he decided at an early age that he would rather be called Cris. If the child ends up wanting to be called Katie, then it will just happen.

newportbride715 · April 2009

I know more than one Katherine who are just Katherine. I would never make up a nn for someone and I don't know anyone who would either. Unless she is introduced as a nn, why would anyone call her that?

BUT, you have to be ready for HER to want to be Kate or Katie once she gets to HS or college. Not a guarantee, but it could very well happen.

sjgrillot · April 2009

newportbride715:

I know more than one Katherine who are just Katherine. I would never make up a nn for someone and I don't know anyone who would either. Unless she is introduced as a nn, why would anyone call her that?

BUT, you have to be ready for HER to want to be Kate or Katie once she gets to HS or college. Not a guarantee, but it could very well happen.

I agree with this statement completely. My family always called me Jennifer, but when I got a little older, I started going by Jen. Now it's Jennifer unless it's someone really close to me. The only one who gets away with Jenny is my grandpa b/c I don't have the heart to tell him that I hate it!

LMS05 · April 2009

I commented about this earlier. People like to shorten names. It may not happen when she's in elementary school, but it does happen when she's older. I know a Katherine and she loves her full name, but hardly anyone calls her that (at work and when she was in school) and it drives her crazy. She introduces herself as Katherine, but people call her Kate and Katie. She told me she has gotten used to it, but it's still annoying to her.

I prefer Catherine, but I still think people will call her Cate or Caty. ?

tct1219 · April 2009

my best friend is katherine. i know a few times growing up people have tried to call her kat or kathy to be funny, but she would always look at them and say "that's not my name. it's katherine" and eventually they stopped. except for me, i call her katzy.

lilygirl · April 2009

naflmj:
I agree. I no it's not the same but my name is Nicole and my mom made sure people didn't call me Nikki...there were a few instances where people would call me Nikki and my mom or I would always correct them.

This. Call them what you'd like though a pp is correct - at some point she may want to be called Katie, etc.

adam+katie · April 2009

My name is Katherine, but I have always been called Katie. That being said, that is what my parents wanted me to be called.

I know other Katherines who are strictly called Katherine. I think people will call her whatever you call her.

lizzels · April 2009

newportbride715:
I know more than one Katherine who are just Katherine. I would never make up a nn for someone and I don't know anyone who would either. Unless she is introduced as a nn, why would anyone call her that?
BUT, you have to be ready for HER to want to be Kate or Katie once she gets to HS or college. Not a guarantee, but it could very well happen.

I agree with this. My name is Elizabeth and my parents always corrected people if they tried to call me anything other than Elizabeth. They said that they liked the name Elizabeth and if they'd wanted me to go by Liz or Beth, they would have named me Liz or Beth. Then in 7th grade I announced that I would only answer to Liz. I only really cared for about a year or two, but it stuck and I've been Liz ever since.

beckys96 · April 2009

Just call her Katherine. People will get the hint. And you will get the question - What do you call her. We get that all the time...I look at them and say BROOKLYNN. I guess a lot of people thought we would go straight to Brook but I LOVE Brooklynn. But be prepared for when she gets older she might want to go by Katie or Kat.

KittenGator · April 2009

I am a Catherine and my whole life, I've had people ask me "do you go by Catherine?" I guess they assume I don't because it's so long and nickname-able. Hardly anyone just started calling me something non-Catherine. Rarely, I get Cathy, which I hate. I toyed with going by Cate for a while but it never stuck. In conclusion, it's a name where people typically ask before the nickname.

HTH?

jebuell · April 2009

Long names will general be shortened to make things easier on teachers/peers/co-workers, etc. So I imagine at some point in her life she'll be called Kate or Katie. Even when spelled with a C someone will still call her Cate or Catie. Just IMO anything over two syllables takes too long to say in a classroom setting. I had a class once with "Maliquisha", "Sebastian", "Clementine", and "Esmerelda" where all four refuse to shorten their names It was a PITA, especially since 3 of the 4 sat together so I frequently said all three names in the same sentence.

soontobecapek · April 2009

I had 2 friends in high school (1 Katherine and the other Catherine) and both of them were ALWAYS called just that...

DarcyLongfellow · April 2009

Will people try to call her Kate or Katie? Yes. (And spelling it with a "C" won't change that.)

Can you stop them? Sure.

I've known several Katherine's who went by Katherine and not a nickname. You just have to correct people. When someone calls her Katie, you say, "actually, she goes by Katherine."

What you do have to prepare yourself for is the fact that when she's older she may choose to be Katie or Kate. You can't stop that.

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