I think it really depends too on what you call your kids. DH and I both have long first names. I have never gone by nickname and he has always gone by a nickname.
@westslopemama@baseballismyfavoriteseason see my husband wants to call our daughter Annie if it's a girl, but I told him that was a nickname and insisted on Anne as the official name (but we can still call her Annie). I just don't want to give her a kiddie nickname as her full name that she can't grow out of it she wants to. Jack and Max don't have that same problem though, at least I don't think.
My mom hated her nickname as a kid so insisted on all her kids having names that couldn't be nicknamed. I can share the names she used in a PM if you want, but they are all pretty old school/80s-90s.
@carrotsandpeas3 That was another part of my husband’s reasoning with John/Jack, and I was like, “what’s wrong with Jack?” And now when people hear it they’re like, “Ooh, Jack, what a nice strong name.” I get that with Anne/Annie.
I wish I could just be less picky! Having so many rules combined with working with children for the past 20 years make it very challenging for me to choose a name.
I agree that names that have a kiddie nickname can be difficult as a child grows up. My nephew’s name is Samuel, but he is called Sammy now. That name will not sound very mature as he grows so it is nice to have the more adult version. My major problem is I often like the full name, but dislike the nickname. For example, Juliette, but not Julie or Walter, but not Walt.
Sorry for my rant!! I know we will figure something out eventually!! I just hope it happens before the baby is born! 🤣
@westslopemama I get the rules, I always liked having a name that wasn't easily nicknamed and that not many people have. Means I can never find keychains with my name though lol
@aefsparrow and @mamahosch Me either. And my daughter won’t find her name as well. Unless maybe if we go to Sweden because we picked a very popular Swedish name. 😂
Add me to the list of never finding keychains with my name. I don’t know if our girls will either with the names we’ve picked, but Etsy exists now so that helps 😂
My son’s name is Patrick and I was very firm his name was *Patrick* and not Pat, I didn’t like the nickname... but now I even call him Pat 🤦♀️ He calls himself that so I guess in the end they get to decide.
We had a name with an intended nickname...and always call my son by his full name except maybe in text messages - or bug, bugga, little boy, smalls, etc. 🤷🏻♀️ Nicknames just happen. My best friend's son's name is Wyatt and he gets called Wyo or Wylie (Okay, that one is mostly just me lol) all the time. My old co-worker was super anti nickname but named her sons Zachary and Alexander. She calls them that and was firm with it...but as they got older they could decide. My husband went by a nickname of his middle name until he was 18, then started going by his first name, which then became a nickname for his first name.
My dad has always gone by his middle name Christopher, but really by just Chris. He has more credit cards etc that say Chris or Christopher than his legal first name. 😆
It's definitely rough finding a name that won't get nicknamed.
I love hearing all these examples. I am the complete opposite, I have a name that really can't be nicknamed and I grew up being so jealous of kids who had these long "formal" names with cute nicknames. It just happened that DH and I wanted to try to use family names and settled on his grandma Josephine and we will for sure be calling her Josie. I hope she doesn't hate having a long name, hopefully she will like that it is a family name. We didn't truly intend to choose a J- name either, but it also happens that each of our names start with J-o- and we have always called eachother Jo or Jo-Jo throughout most of our relationship. Many of our friends just call us jo-jo as a unit. Now we will be three Jo's. I do kind of feel bad because I don't plan on naming any additional children with a J name so hopefully they don't feel left out...
@ginevere Growing up I knew a couple that were Daniel and Danielle. They had a son and named him Daniel Jr. I’m guessing he went by DJ (they moved away soon after he was born, so I’m not sure). So I think all names start with Jo will be a-okay.
Also on the nickname discussion even though my dad was against nickname names, my brother’s name is one that is very commonly shortened (he named him after his childhood best friend). The only time it got shortened was by a teacher in elementary school that shortened any name she could. So I think it is possible to have a long name and not shorten it.
@ginevere my name can’t be nick named either, and I remember being jealous of that as a kid. So weird to care about but I did.
My name is also more traditionally a “boy” name, especially when I was a kid. I *always* got accidentally sorted into the boy groups for things at school, any keychain stuff would be the boy colors, etc.
@coldbrew same!! I used to get paired up with boy groups before teachers had met me and I was always so mad. Now my name has definitely become a little more popular for girls (Jordan). Gender neutral names are pretty popular now and people like naming their girls traditionally boy names like Charlie or Ryan, but I just can't handle it personally. I still think they're cute names for girls but growing up it made me so mad and I couldn't do it to my own kids. It's funny how much we're affected by our own experiences growing up and often want to do the opposite for our own kids.
I feel like any name could be given a nickname, and I usually do like nicknames. I did name DS thinking that we would call him by a nickname, but after he was born, the nickname never felt right. I ended up never using the nickname.
My experience growing up with a complicated name definitely affected the naming of my kids. One of my goals with naming my kids was to make sure that their names are easy to say and spell. Having a complicated name is a pain in the butt from my personal experience, so I didn't want my kids to have to deal with an uncommon or complicated name.
I love the discussion regarding names that turn into nicknames. I’m a personal proponent of what you name your kid should be their name. Which leads to our dilemma of boy names- Caleb vs Jacob. I have always adored the name Jacob but I know there’s a huge chance he’ll become Jake. We have a one syllable last name. Although, it could be a girl so may not matter!
@slr1229 If it's any help, my older brother (who I didn't grow up with so I'm not sure about when he was a kid but...) is named Jacob and no one calls him Jake at all. I've seen "J" once or twice but in text form so it might have just been short hand. So I think it's doable.
We are going with Bennett Michael. We went back and forth between Bennett and Benjamin for the longest time. My late uncle's name was Benjamin (Ben), so I liked the idea of giving our son his namesake, but I also wanted something that isn't very popular. Ultimately, we chose Bennett for the unique factor and he can still be called Ben. Michael is my husband's middle name and his dad's first name, so it was important to him for the middle name to be named after someone in his family.
@slr1229 I’ve had the same issue with all my kids and nicknames.
kid 1) Ronin, no nickname kid 2) Elsie, no nickname kid 3) Ryley, he often gets Ry but not by me kid 4 otw) Sydney, May get Syd but not from me
my first name is Anna and I never had a nickname. My brother is Andrew and always has gone by Andrew. When people tried to call him Andy or Drew, he quickly corrected them. It’s never been a thing for him.
@annarach I love that your brother stuck to Andrew, I love that name too but not the shortened versions. I’m hoping if we do get a boy and it’s a Jacob he’ll do the same and correct people. We have a Reagan and Morgan and they’re not really cut short...”Ray Ray” from her little sis and “Morgy” from older sis but that’s about it. My husband likes the name Hadley and I like Audrey for a girl and both of those can’t really be cut off so phew!
We've been working down a list but I think it's down to Trevor or Parker at this point. I think they're both cute and can't decide! Also, I feel like I've totally forgotten about middle names. We want to give our son one but have literally not talked about it at all. I'm worried we're going to wind up at the hospital with a baby in our arms going "uh oh yeah, I guess we need one of those..."
Many people have commented about the topic, so not going to tag for this part, but I HATED whenever someone shortened my name because I didn’t feel like there was one the ever “fit”. Gosh now I realize nicknames are a touchy subject for a lot of other people too 😆 I think ultimately whatever you decide, your child will end up having people call him/her what they would like to be called. It seems like you either really want a nickname to be used, or you really don’t want one used at all 🤷🏻♀️
@poppyseed314 It’s good that you’ve narrowed it down at least! I’m guessing if you’re still not sure, you’ll have your answer once you see your sweet boy 😊
I totally agree that nicknames can be a tricky subject. I guess I never understood why people would assume it's okay to start using a nickname for someone out of the blue. If someone introduces themselves as "Michael" I just wouldn't think to call him "Mike" unless he said it first or signed emails with it or something. My dad had a nickname for me growing up and recently my mom has started using it and it's feels so weird, so I guess for me it even matters who I'm talking to 😂
We've chosen the name Oliver Penn for our little guy. Oliver because we both just liked it, and my husband actually finds the nickname, Ollie, to be important (not something I even thought to consider for my first son, Ethan). Penn is for my husbands friend who passed away about a month ago.
@poppyseed314 I agree... some people at school decided that my 3 syllable name was too much and shortened it.. one was even a teacher! Oh well. I liked that teacher so I let it slide 🤷🏻♀️
And yes, the person definitely matters. I’ve really only been ok with a handful of people using nicks names for me.
I always introduce myself as Angela and it's what most people use. I sometimes get Angie or Ang but it doesn't bother me. As long as I know they're talking to me hahaha.
But I always ask someone what they prefer, especially if they have a name that's easily shortened. Especially at work where I usually see their full name on paper before I speak them in person. Some folks are particular about their name, and it's such an easy thing to accommodate.
Re: Baby Names
My mom hated her nickname as a kid so insisted on all her kids having names that couldn't be nicknamed. I can share the names she used in a PM if you want, but they are all pretty old school/80s-90s.
My dad has always gone by his middle name Christopher, but really by just Chris. He has more credit cards etc that say Chris or Christopher than his legal first name. 😆
It's definitely rough finding a name that won't get nicknamed.
Also plus 1 on never having my name on keychains.
My name is also more traditionally a “boy” name, especially when I was a kid. I *always* got accidentally sorted into the boy groups for things at school, any keychain stuff would be the boy colors, etc.
My experience growing up with a complicated name definitely affected the naming of my kids. One of my goals with naming my kids was to make sure that their names are easy to say and spell. Having a complicated name is a pain in the butt from my personal experience, so I didn't want my kids to have to deal with an uncommon or complicated name.
Married 6/15/13
BFP #1 5/8/16, EDD 12/31/16- DD born 9/10/16 at 24 weeks
~In our hearts forever~
BFP #2 10/14/17, EDD 7/1/18
kid 1) Ronin, no nickname
kid 2) Elsie, no nickname
kid 3) Ryley, he often gets Ry but not by me
kid 4 otw) Sydney, May get Syd but not from me
my first name is Anna and I never had a nickname. My brother is Andrew and always has gone by Andrew. When people tried to call him Andy or Drew, he quickly corrected them. It’s never been a thing for him.
I totally agree that nicknames can be a tricky subject. I guess I never understood why people would assume it's okay to start using a nickname for someone out of the blue. If someone introduces themselves as "Michael" I just wouldn't think to call him "Mike" unless he said it first or signed emails with it or something. My dad had a nickname for me growing up and recently my mom has started using it and it's feels so weird, so I guess for me it even matters who I'm talking to 😂
And yes, the person definitely matters. I’ve really only been ok with a handful of people using nicks names for me.
But I always ask someone what they prefer, especially if they have a name that's easily shortened. Especially at work where I usually see their full name on paper before I speak them in person. Some folks are particular about their name, and it's such an easy thing to accommodate.