We named our children names that are hard to shorten until the last one. She has a 9 letter name and EVERYONE is desperate to shorten but we don' t want it shortened we chose it because we love the full name. She is 18mths old and still has not been shortened in name. I prefer nicknames for my kids that don't require shortening their beautiful name, we use these nicknames and very close friends and family started using them also!