Possible for Lillian to be nickname-less?

Dumpalumps · January 2012

One last Lillian post

Do you think it's possible for a Lillian to avoid the nickname Lily (if she so chooses)? Thank you so much!

hmp1 · January 2012

I think someone will always call her Lily, she will just need to gently correct them that she goes by Lillian.

TripMomma · January 2012

It is possible...just depends on how much much she wants it, since she will have to be the one to correct people.

We took the risk with Jericho, DH and I both do not like Jerry, we just hope Jericho too doesn't like it and keeps reminding people his name is Jericho.

jessimomma · January 2012

Possible? Of course.

My name is Jessica...I will accept people to call me Jess. As soon as someone refers to be as Jessie, I am on that ***! I refuse to answer to Jessie Ick!

I do like Jesse for a boy though.

RRL2012 · January 2012

My name is Rebecca. My mom HATED the name Becky. When I was little, she was really diligent in politely correcting people and it worked! I was never Becky! As an adult, I've had a few people try the Becky route with me, and once I correct them, it's all good! So I think you have it in your control to keep her Lillian!

LuckyMissus · January 2012

jessimomma:

Possible? Of course.

My name is Jessica...I will accept people to call me Jess. As soon as someone refers to be as Jessie, I am on that ***! I refuse to answer to Jessie

I do like Jesse for a boy though.

That's awesome! And I agree that this is how I've seen people named things like Stephanie, Whitney, Angela etc. handle it.

mrs mosby · January 2012

I think it's possible.

DD is Eloise and we call her Eloise. If someone calls her Ellie, which happens a lot, we correct them. It has worked with everyone except SIL. But she's just an idiot

fish000 · January 2012

Do you think you keep asking this same question in hope that you'll get the answer you want - just maybe? Speaking as a primary school teacher, your child will end up with the nn his/her friends decide on in latter school life. Unless like PP have suggested she is adamant no one calls her otherwise, she will almost certainly get an abbreviated version of Lillian, such as Lil or Lilly. Sometime it might be something totally different such as something to do with her personality or surname. I have come across many mothers who insist on certain pronunciations and reject nn's but school life and friendship groups end up deciding. Especially if it doesn't bother Lillian as much as it bothers you. She may like being called Lily. After all it's a pretty flower.

Dumpalumps · January 2012

fish000:
Do you think you keep asking this same question in hope that you'll get the answer you want - just maybe? Speaking as a primary school teacher, your child will end up with the nn his/her friends decide on in latter school life. Unless like PP have suggested she is adamant no one calls her otherwise, she will almost certainly get an abbreviated version of Lillian, such as Lil or Lilly. Sometime it might be something totally different such as something to do with her personality or surname. I have come across many mothers who insist on certain pronunciations and reject nn's but school life and friendship groups end up deciding. Especially if it doesn't bother Lillian as much as it bothers you. She may like being called Lily. After all it's a pretty flower.

I'm sorry- I didn't mean to be repetitive. My earlier post was regarding whether or not Lillian (as a full name) was popular. Some raised the point that it might not be possible for a child to go by this full name so I wanted to get more opinions. I do not dislike Lily and am fine if she chooses to go by that. Just wondering if it's possible to go by just Lillian.

GirlWithTheMostCake · January 2012

No it's not possible to solely go by Lillian forever in my opinion. It's a 3 syllable name so someone somewhere is going to shorten it. For starters, you can only nickname control as the parent for so long. After that the child goes to school, nicknames develop and he/she may not mind. But, your control isn't the same at that point. I just kind feel like if someone doesn't like the likely nicknames that could come from a name then I would stay away from those names. It's hedging your bet.

GeneGoddess · January 2012

My grandmother and aunt are both Lillian. No one has ever shortened it. We have lots of three syllable names in our family that are not shortened.

Jessa1807 · January 2012

I think if you don't want people to call het that then you will have to tell them. It will come natural and eventually she can decide if she likes the nn or not.

mamahawk12 · January 2012

Absolutely. Nicknames only evolve if you allow them to. Close friends and family may call her Lil on occasion just to shorten it, but they will know her as Lillian.

med380 · January 2012

Yep, definitely possible - I know several people with nickname-prone names that do not go by their nickname (Jennifer, Christopher, Matthew, etc).

LadyXaverian · January 2012

It's definitely possible. I know a Patrick that goes only by his full name. I know a Laura Lee that only goes by her full name. As others have said, it's up to you when she is little. If you "train" her to correct people, she will. As she gets older, it will be up to her, though. I teach middle school, and many of my kids are now deciding that they want to go by something else than what they've gone by their whole lives, and they insist upon it lol.

danseusefrancaise · January 2012

I had a friend that went by Lillian and not Lily. If that's how she's always introduced as then that's what she'll be called. Friends will shorten it eventually, but she and you will just have to correct them.

alohamora · January 2012

I usually veto a name if I don't like one of the potential nicknames because of what happened with my SIL. She named her daughter Gabrielle, and from day one, she said she hated Gabby. When Gabrielle got old enough, she decided to go by Gabby. The family still calls her Gabrielle though.

notfrancie · January 2012

I think in general, people will follow your lead. I wouldn't call her Lily now if you don't want to use it later. It is hard to break habits.

DarcyLongfellow · January 2012

One of my best friends has a daughter named Lillian who always goes by Lillian. She's three and a half, so still young, but she's been in school for a year and a half, and she's still Lillian to everyone. The only one who calls her Lily is her grandmother (my friends mother).

My daughter is named Abigail, and we always call her Abigail -- not Abby or Gail. I get a LOT of people questioning why we call her Abigail and sometimes people just call her Abby because they assume we do that too. I don't get worked up over it -- you can't because you'd lose your mind! If she wants to be Abby or Gail later, it's her name and her choice. But to me and DH, she'll always be Abigail.

If you detest the name Lily and will get upset if people call her that, don't name her Lillian. If you just love the name Lillian and prefer it to Lily, then name her Lillian and know that to YOU she will always be Lillian, not Lily.

FrecklesInside · January 2012

hmp&mrj:

I think someone will always call her Lily, she will just need to gently correct them that she goes by Lillian.

This. But you have to realize she might decide on her own she'd like to go by Lily. So if you are dead set against a NN, it might not work out.

Pictures29 · January 2012

My parents wanted me to go by "Allie" and I did for years... but I preferred Allison. It's definitely possible to not give her a NN & she'll choose Lillian - or maybe one day she'll choose "Lily"

If you HATE "Lily" then avoid Lillian.

beckib353 · January 2012

RRL2012:

My name is Rebecca. My mom HATED the name Becky. When I was little, she was really diligent in politely correcting people and it worked! I was never Becky! As an adult, I've had a few people try the Becky route with me, and once I correct them, it's all good! So I think you have it in your control to keep her Lillian!

This is funny, because I am a Becki and my mom ONLY wanted people to call me Rebecca! I guess she caved...

Want a personalized experience?

Possible for Lillian to be nickname-less?

Re: Possible for Lillian to be nickname-less?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards