Nickname fear!

Kelleplusone · October 2013

My husbands name is James and he's got his heart set on the name Jameson for our first son. I was all for the name until his family started using "Jamie" as a nickname. I absolutely do not like the name Jamie. My question is if you knew/know a boy named Jameson what would you nickname him? My fear is that even if I get my in laws to stop calling him Jamie, eventually kids in school/other people will call him Jamie too...

neverblushed · October 2013

My name is Melissa, but I have NEVER gone by "Missy." If people called me that as a kid, my parents just stepped in and said, "Oh, she doesn't go by Missy. She's Melissa." As I got older, I figured out how to diplomatically tell people that I'm not "Missy" or "Mel." Similarly, my daughter is Tabitha. We NEVER call her "Tabby." A few relatives tried to use "Tabby" because they thought it was cute, but it never stuck.

If you like Jameson but dislike Jamie, just tell the ILs "We're not using Jamie as a nickname" or "He doesn't answer to Jamie." Don't make a huge deal out of it. Even if a few relatives insist on calling him Jamie at first, they'll figure it out when he doesn't respond to it and eventually it'll fade away.

thetheisens · October 2013

I don't call people by names that they don't use themselves, but some people do have the annoying habit of making up nickname for others. Jameson is a longer name and seems likely to have nn's made for it. Are there nn's you prefer or do you want him to just go by Jameson? I personally prefer James a x100s more than Jameson. Have you considered just naming him James after your dh?

strawberrytree · October 2013

Aw, I like Jamie too. But if you don't, it should be off the table. I taught a Jameson nn Jay, which I also really like.

Kelleplusone · October 2013

thetheisens said:
I don't call people by names that they don't use themselves, but some people do have the annoying habit of making up nickname for others. Jameson is a longer name and seems likely to have nn's made for it. Are there nn's you prefer or do you want him to just go by Jameson? I personally prefer James a x100s more than Jameson. Have you considered just naming him James after your dh?

This. Yes. I love the name James but it's a family name on my husbands side and there are so many James' that some of them prefer to go by their middle names. And DH is all about Jameson. He's corny in that he likes that it's "James son". Perhaps I should suggest we name him "Kelson" as his mama. Ha. Kidding.

divinemsbee · October 2013

Joy2611 said:

aw, I love the nickname Jamie. James with the nickname Jamie would be high on my list if James wasn't already used in the family!

But, anyway.. that's not the point. You can correct your husband's family and say he will go by Jameson. But, once your boy grows up and goes to school, he'll pick whatever nickname he likes. It's entirely possible that he'll go for Jamie. It's also possible that he'll correct people and say his name is Jameson.

Jay seems like the most obvious nickname to me, honestly.

Everything she said and especially this. Once they hit school, they'll probably go by what they and their friends call them. If there's a nn you really hate for a name, you just have to make your peace with it if you like the full name more. For the record, I love Jamie and have a cousin who has used it exclusively as a nn for James from the time he was a kid and now he's in his 30s. I will also say that Jameson is a bit long to not have any sort of nn for, but that's just me. He could also end up Jim or Jimmy.

Pepper6 · October 2013

Joy2611 said: aw, I love the nickname Jamie. James with the nickname Jamie would be high on my list if James wasn't already used in the family!

But, anyway.. that's not the point. You can correct your husband's family and say he will go by Jameson. But, once your boy grows up and goes to school, he'll pick whatever nickname he likes. It's entirely possible that he'll go for Jamie. It's also possible that he'll correct people and say his name is Jameson.

Jay seems like the most obvious nickname to me, honestly.
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This. I have a coworker whose name is James and his parents were adamant growing up that it was James, not Jim, he liked Jim better and that's what he went by in school and at work. He said his mom is the only one that calls him James and she still gets mad that no one else does.

Paradisemoon · October 2013

My 3 older kids all have names that could be easily shortened. I was dead set against them having nn and to this day no one, not family, friends or school teachers, dare to try to give my kids nn. I gave them a name for a reason and it wasn't so someone could call them by a different name. If you feel strongly about not using a nn then don't let it start from the beginning.

Barbercharm · October 2013

Kelleplusone said:

thetheisens said:

This. Yes. I love the name James but it's a family name on my husbands side and there are so many James' that some of them prefer to go by their middle names. And DH is all about Jameson. He's corny in that he likes that it's "James son".
It's also a great Irish whiskey.

But that aside, my daughter is Adelaide and by introducing her as that and making it a point for people to call her that and not Addie, we have been successful.. Also, DH is Gabriel and upon my MILs insistence, that is what his entire family calls him. Once he was old enough, he let friends call him Gabe (he really doesn't care).

msmerymac · October 2013

You could use Jameson for the middle name - it would still have meaning.

I agree that Jay, Jim or Jimmy could work.

FutureMrsCaesar · October 2013

I love Jameson and I think the correlation with your hubbys name is super cool. It's like almost naming him after your husband but not quite.

I am dealing with a similar issue, in that we love the name Oliver but really dislike the nn Ollie. Our first two boys are named Matthew and Andrew and we call them by their full names. My DH is also named Matthew, but goes by Matt, so that's how we taught people to differentiate between the two (ie son is always Matthew). And then with Andrew, we just never shortened it and no one else has yet either. I'm sure when he gets school age he may go by Drew or Andy, but by that point its up to him. I guess my point is (that I'm also trying to convince myself of) that kids do not HAVE to go by nicknames.

diamondduck13 · October 2013

I also have never liked the NN Jamie. I think Jay is a great choice if you feel a need to identify a preferred NN to avoid people using Jamie.

While usually I think you can make the full name stick if you're clear and consistent about that preference (for example I've know Elizabeth's and Katherine's without NNs) Jameson feels to me like one that will be harder to fight off the nick names. Perhaps it feels that way because James is such an established stand alone first name, I see it being very tempting to people to drop the "son" and call him Jay, James, or Jamie on their own. I think Jim or Jimmy would more likely happen if you dictated it.

Laura_Elaine · October 2013

Some friends of mine named their son Jameson because they liked the name James, but not the nickname Jim... so they use James as the nickname. James Junior might get nicknamed JJ...

allardr · October 2013

I love full names too! I say just be adamant from the start, don't let a nn gain momentum. Correct every time and eventually it'll become second nature. I do agree once kid is old enough it's their decision but hopefully they'll just be so used to their full name they'll go by that. I do like Jay as a nn though if one was needed.

Ours is Annabelle and 1st Question everyone had was will she go by Anna or Belle. I was like neither, she's Annabelle. No issues thus far, but we're still early in the game

crystaelizabeth · October 2013

I was going to name DD1 Madeleine because I LOVE the name. However, I strongly dislike the NN Maddie, so Madeleine didn't make the cut.

Same thing with DH's #1 pick: Elizabeth.

We went with a not-easily nicknameable name- Noelle

I will do the same for any future children. I know that even if we were to call them by their full name they could easily choose their own NN.

L0L0 · October 2013

My brother is Jeff to everyone in the world except immediate family. My mom has been losing the nn battle since 1981. If you hate the obvious nn, either establish another one firmly or choose a different name. My dd is Margaret nn Maisy and a lot of people seem to want to call her Maggie, including my MIL who introduced her as that on Facebook at birth, but since she has another nn, Maggie hasn't stuck. Getting people to perceive the difference between Maisy (rhymes with daisy) and Macy is another matter...

CarrieB. · October 2013

My DD1 is Amalia and both my MIL and my grandma tried to call her Molly when she was born which I hate. They both stopped pretty quickly when they realized we weren't calling her that.

My friend has a son named Jameson and I've never heard anyone shorten it yet, so it can be done.

Excitedmum35 · October 2013

I know two jamesons, one had nn Jamo and the other occasionally gets called jam.

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