Stand alone name or nickname?

[Taurean]

I love the name Samara, it's DD2's middle name. It has very special meaning to me. The Samara I knew was both Sam and Sami and she was gorgeous. A bubbly beautiful girl I'd go with Samara as her name and shorten it.

DD1's name was picked because we liked the nickname first and worked backwards from there. She's nearly always know by her nickname but she's always introduced first by her real name. Funnily enough, she introduces herself by her real name too.

[Mrs P]

Our daughter is L iana which doesn't really shorten to a nickname. But we've always called her "baby girl" which eventually became "BG". So you can always come up with a nickname that isn't a derivation of their first name.

[CinderToriella]

Don't forget if you so choose to name her Sami , she can always be just Sam if she needs to be when older ..
For names like Samantha , if that were my name I would never let anyone call me it , I would be Sami or Sam ...