Baby Names

ebob1980 · June 2016

My husband and I are trying to decide on a name for our baby girl. What do people think of Erin as a nickname for Catherine?

cayaylonglegs · June 2016

Not the first name I would have thought of, but it definitely works!

ashleaf2018 · June 2016

Agreed, it's not the nn I would have thought of first, but I do think it works.

Christinaruth74 · June 2016

Definitely not the NN I would have thought of for that name. Question: why not just use the name Erin? It seems like an obscure NN for Catherine.
Maybe a UO I always have a hard time understanding the picking names for the nickname thing. My theory is of you like the nickname better, use that.

Christinaruth74 · June 2016

Side note: I think both are pretty names, either way

jennbaylor12 · June 2016

cayaylonglegs said:

Not the first name I would have thought of, but it definitely works!

This

maamawaabangi · June 2016

I'm not sure it's an audible connection most would make (although the nn name is in this spelling) when most people say Catherine it's pronounced "Cath-rin"... Some might say "Cath-er-in" but never hear it said "Cath-erin". Just an observation. But that said, if you love it that's all that matters!

princesslockness · June 2016

I would never think to use Erin as a nn for Catherine, but as a Kathrine I am probably pretty biased in the Kate/Kati/Kathy/Kat names as those are my nns. It is still a beautiful name, and definately works as a nn, I just think it might take everyone time to get used to it.

@Christinaruth74 I picked a name for L that we love, but we also love all of the nicknames that go with it. Lachlan: literary character in several different series H and I adore, is a tribute to our gaelic heritage, and has pretty sweet nn. Examples: Rock head(my dad), Loki (my sisters), and my personal one Lockness/Monster.

Now I couldn't have just named my son Monster, but that is his main name at home. H wanted to use the family name of Richard. I would never do that my little 4th grader: Richie Bitchy or Dick, just don't work for kids in my book.

cjt121413 · June 2016

I think it works, but to avoid confusion I'd just name her Erin. It's a perfectly valid, real name.

ErikandAfton · June 2016

I've not see or heard that as a nn before but I think it works. I have a friend who is Catherine and goes by Ryn which I think is just as cute and different.

cjt121413 · June 2016

Related story....my friend's mom named her "Sarah" and used "Sadie" as a nn. It was so confusing that she ended up legally changing her name to Sadie when she became an adult.

Christinaruth74 · June 2016

@cjt121413 that's so random. See, that's what I'm talking about. Why name a kid one thing if you prefer the NN? But seriously, Sarah and Sadie are so different!

Christinaruth74 · June 2016

@Kate08Young haha come on, monster is a perfectly acceptable alternative. But seriously, fun NNs are a different story. My daughter's name is Adelyn and we call her Punkin. I obviously wouldn't have named her Punkin.. Unless my name was Mama June... but I hate when people assume they can call her Addie. Nothing against Addie, it's just not her name.
Or when people call me Tina. Blech.

Bringmemylongswordho · June 2016

Christinaruth74 said:

@cjt121413 that's so random. See, that's what I'm talking about. Why name a kid one thing if you prefer the NN? But seriously, Sarah and Sadie are so different!

Ugh. Quote box fail.

Sadie is actually a diminutive for Sarah. I can't say how it came about directly, but in medieval times it was common to switch letters to create a nn. Jack from John, Dick from Richard/Rick, Peggy from Margaret/Maggie, etc.

I personally like the idea of having options. I'd feel a bit disappointed if I was given a "cutsey" nickname name like Lizzy or Evie instead of Elizabeth or Evelyn.

juliehollz13 · June 2016

Wouldn't have put those 2 together (nn for Catherine) and I think you'll have a hard time pushing the Erin nn since people will naturally try to call her Cate or Catie. If you love Erin why not go with that? It's a good name. Or Erin Catherine/Catherine Erin.

Zygodactyl · June 2016

I like Erin as a nn for Catherine, and honestly? I think you should name her whatever you like best. Calling her Erin will set the precedent for it as her nn, and it gives her options for nns (or to use Catherine exclusively) as she gets older.

My mom gave me a name that doesn't have a lot of nns associated with it, so I didn't have one growing up. Now, people sometimes default to one nn that is logical, without my parents or me ever introducing it. I guess because of that, I haven't really thought about nns for our LO. My stepdaughter is Julia, and we call her Julia... not Julie or Jules because those names just don't fit her. On the other hand, I have a cousin named Julie, who is called Jules, and the names totally fit her personality! We're looking at Athena for this LO, and I can't think of nns for that.

cgss11 · June 2016

@zygodactyl Attie?

I agree with the others, I wouldn't have put that as a nickname, but it works. If you want to go that route, I would probably just make the name Erin, but this is definitely a harmless crime so to speak.

Semi-related, my brothers name is Gregory, but has always gone as Greg. I think he has such a strong sounding name for buisness and such but he just has Greg on his business cards and all publications. He feels very strongly that he should have just been named Greg if that's what they intended to call him all along. For his son, he got his way though by naming him Alex, no full Alexander in sight.

ashleaf2018 · June 2016

I don't know, I don't really understand naming them a nn. If we have a girl we are naming her Maddox and calling her Maddie. If we named her Maddie, how many times would she get asked "Oh, what is that short for?" Also we just love Maddox. I have a girl cousin named Charlie, and she always hated her name. If they had named her Charlotte, she would have at least had the option to revert back to Charlotte or Lottie or something else. That being said, Erin is a good, solid name on its own. I have friends who are named Erin as the given name, so it definitely doesn't have to be the nn for anything unless there is some family significance to Catherine, but even then that could be the middle name, as pp have pointed out.

princesslockness · June 2016

@Zygodactyl how about Nena as a nn? @ashleaf2018 I'm curious where you found Maddox as a girls name. I have only ever found it as a male name.

ashleaf2018 · June 2016

@Kate08Young FI and I were dead-set on Maddie, but both agreed that it needed a "real name" to be the nn for. And we looked at the girl options liked Madeline, Madison, Matilda, etc. FI didn't like any of them. So then we were looking at more gender neutral names, and I know Maddox is more popular as a boy's name and not many people like it for a girl, but I brought it up to FI anyway and he loved it, so to find something we both agreed on was miraculous.

Middle name was a little harder to pick! Seemed like everything I brought up he hated, but he never really contributed ideas. We both liked James, but when we told my mom, she hated it, which I understand because Maddox James is a little too masculine for a little girl. So back to the drawing board we went, and I ended up writing down all the middle names I liked and he went through and crossed everything off my list except Olivia. So if she is a girl, we will be having a little Maddox Olivia, nn Maddie. I think we're happy with the name now, although I will find it hilarious if we've been through all this girl name drama and it ends up being a little boy.

princesslockness · June 2016

@ashleaf2018 that makes sense. I absolutely adore Maddox for a little boy.

maamawaabangi · June 2016

Ryn is a super cool nick name for Cathryn! I love that.

mattanda2011 · June 2016

My 2 cents - and this is as someone who works in administration at a school. NN that make sense are fine - Charlotte going by charlie, Katherine going by Kate - I get it. I have a Samuel that goes by Sammy.

But the obscure ones just makes life hard for them in school. When a kids name is Michael Richard and I can't find his record for the life of me because he goes by Alex, and everyone in the world write Alex everywhere - it makes life hard. And I am guessing either the kid is going to have to explain it over and over every year when he gets a new teachers who has a roster that says Michael Richard.

If you want to call them by not the first name because its a family name or what not, at least just give it to them as the middle name, something so that people in everyday life (driver liscense, SSN, resumes, school etc) can figure out who this child is.

To me - Erin is not the first name I would think of as a NN, but I would be able to figure it out.

swhiddon33 · June 2016

My head wouldn't have gone there either. Are you opposed to just using Erin as the name?

l9i · June 2016

I agree with some of the other PPs. If all along you intent to call them by a nn I would just use the nn. I personally have a name that is short and has no nn and I love it. All the names we've picked out do not have nn with them. Also, I second working with kids and there being unusual nicknames. I've coached sports and went into the system to find a kids contact information and couldn't find them easily because I knew them as Gabbi, but their real name was Ana. I had another that went by Drew but their name was Andrea, at least that was closer. When I really needed to contact a parent ASAP and couldn't find their information quickly it can be a problem.

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