would you use the "nickname" as name instead of the usual full version?

Ok, sorry if that heading made no sense :) I find out what sex bubba no 2. is on the weekend & am currently playing the name game with DH. We are 100% set if it is a boy, but having a big more trouble with girl names. I really like a name that I found on ahhh facebook I think LOL as a girls nickname. Each time I've looked it up in baby books it is listed but as.....short version of ????? IYKWIM.

So I'm wondering will people always think it should be the longer name, & will it just seem silly?

For example, someone had a similar thread re: using just Ollie...not Oliver or a friend of mine recently had a baby & called her Jaz......not Jasmine - am I making sense,he,he.

Hey Erin,

My best friend is called Rosie..just Rosie and not short for Rosmary or anything else. She doesn't seem to have a problem with people assuming it's short for something. I also know of a toddler called Frankie too, that's the name on the birth cert and not a nick name.

If you are always going to use the shortened name then I can't see the point in putting the long version on the birth cert if you don't want it.

i was considering it for my bubba but we decided to call him james on his birth cert and call him jamie which isnt really a short version lol but DH's mum calls him james and i dont like it grr so im already having issues with his name but my whole family calls him jamie

My personal preference has always been to christen them with the full version of the name; that way, later on in life when they are adult, they can choose whether they want to be known as the full name or the shortened name. If they are christened the shorter version of the name, they don't have that option.

Besides, having a longer name provides an important cue to children regarding how much trouble they're in... LOL

Well depends.
Nate is Nate, not Nathanial or Nathan so I guess his name is a shortened version.
However, that said, in my personal opinion only some names are too cutesy to use as real names. I'd hate to think my kid would be embarrassed by their name later when there could have been an easier option.

One of my friends is a Rob not a Robert because his mother didn't like Robert. Then he became a ski instructor and started calling himself Roberto PMSL. So I guess if they like the longer name they'll use it anyway....

There are heaps of shortened versions of names that I think suit little kids better, or I just don't like the actual name but I love the nickname, but I'm the type that would put the full name on the birth certificate and then just use the shortened version. I think for me, I say to myself, 'What if the child doesn't like the 'kid' version when they get older?' or 'What if they end up in a professional sort of job and want a more 'serious' name in order to be taken seriously by colleagues/clients/employers etc?'

Then there's always the situation where you love the nickname, but it doesn't 'flow' so well with your surname but the long version does.

My prime example is the name Katherine - not a big fan of 'Katherine', but I LOVE Katie and wanted to use it for one of the girls (DH didn't like it so it was out). But Katie can sound quite juvenile, so I thought if I put 'Katie' on the birth cert, she might want a more formal name later in life. And, Katie and Kate just don't go with our surname, but Katherine sounded lovely with it.

If that makes any sense... :)

I also find it really annoying that BIL's name on his birth cert is 'Chris' - not Christopher or Christian. Just Chris. It's a pain for when I'm cranky with him or am about to launch into a lecture hahaha - 'Chriiiissss...' just doesn't have quite the same ring as 'CHRIS-to-pheeerrrr...' lol. I would have liked it better if his parents had put Christopher on the birth cert and then just called him Chris hahaha.

My sisters name is Amanda but she's been called Mandy since birth. She hates Amanda and my Mum has always said she wishes she'd called her Mandy instead. I also know alot of people who are called shortened versions of their names and have no issues ie: Sue/Susan Chirs/Christine. It's a tough call. Can I ask what the name is?

Makes perfect sense to me and the answer is "Yes"! We called DS2 Zander, which is traditionally short for Alexander but not in our case! We call him Zander and Zan for short...

Ok, thanks for replies....it might help if I come out & tell you the name LOL! Was going to keep it secret but I love getting everyone's opinions.

The name is Lottie, commonly a shorten version of Charlotte. Thing is I am not going to use Charlotte as we already have a Charlie (also a known nickname for a girl IYKWIM)....so it's either Lottie or another name. I've been in love with it since I saw it but just not sure what others will think. I did think it could be a short version of Violet, which I love also but DH does not.

I love the name Lottie.

I don't think there is anything wrong with calling your baby the shortened version. That way your little one gets called the name that you picked out .. not the long version .. you wish people would shorten!

I like Lottie but I really like having options so personally I would try to think of another name that it's the shortened version of - if not Violet, what about Violetta?

After much head-scratching, I called DD Katrina. Initially, we called her Kittykat, after a few months she graduated to Kitty and now at nearly two, we're thinking about using her full name. But when she's older, she can choose to use Kitty, Kat, Katie, Trina or Katrina or maybe even Rina. But that's just me, I'm a bit addicted to having options!

I'd go with Lottie. I know Dr Katie who never uses Kathryn an Dr Mandy who is NOT Amanda really. People either like their name or they don't and giving a child a name but never using it seems a bit of a waste of time to me. I use DS's full name - all six syllables (yes, those include his middle names) a lot, and not when I'm cross with him either! I love DH's name, but everyone else (including DH when not at work) uses a nickname. Not always DH's chosen one either (my grandad comes up with some corkers for him!). If you want the short name, use it.

Like the name Ellie. We liked that name. But DH wanted a "for long" name. He hated all the "for long" names I could find. Ellie was no longer girl's name #1 on the list. OK so Ellie Zaidie would have sounded a bit daft, one reason I wanted a "for long" too, but DH hated them all even if he was never going to say the name himself!

I used to work with a guy that was baptised Pete, so it's not uncommon.

i love the name Lottie, i don't think it sounds like a shortened version, plus it's a name that suits all ages..

I'd call my child the name I liked. I probably would consider if there were any other 'full versions' that I liked, as in - if I wanted to call my child Jo but didn't want them to be Joanne/Joanna I'd look around to see if there were any other 'Jo' names I liked, like Jolie, Josie, Joelle. But if there was nothing, then I'd use the nickname, as opposed to a name I didn't like.

All my kids have longer names but use the shortened names. My older 2 even go by their shortened names at school.

i think that you should call your child the name that you want them to be called. i wouldn't bother with longer names- particularly if it's one you don't really like. it just causes confusion.
Lottie is a great name- if it what you really want, then just go for it!
our ds2 is named Jimmy- not James, just Jimmy...and we love it. it suits him perfectly. he's not a James and it would've annoyed me if people called him James, so i'm glad we stuck to our guns with the name 'we' wanted him to be called.

I am Victoria...Pffft! I HATE that name and am nothing like what I imagine a Victoria to be. Vicky, Vicks, Vic - now that's me!!!:lol:

I knew a guy who was Jamie on the birth cert.....and his Mum called him Jame....

I don't think you will have control over what kids get called as they grow up. At the end of the day it is entirely up to you (and DH)....My DH is Richard and his family call him Rich or Richy but he introduced himself to me as Rick and that is what I and my family and all our friends call him. His Mum hates it and even phoned my Mum up to tell her "I baptised him Richard NOT Rick"!:jawdrop: Mum did not tell me about it for years though as I think she was embarrissed.

Lottie is sooooooooooooooooo cute though! xxxx

The same thing happened to me Vixtar. My DH introduced himself to me as the shortened version of his name but his family call him by his full name. They hve never said anything to me about it though. My son has a longer name which can be shortened, we always call him by the longer name but his friends use the shortened version all the time. It doens't bother me, we were going to call him by the shortened version but just never have.

this is really interesting. I can completely see the point (which is also my DHs) to give the full name so when the child is older they have options...

but i'm a bit in the camp of "if you want people to call the child X then name them X''.

I think shortened names and nicknames will happen whatever you name them. For example my user names is Grub because from about 1yrs old that's what my dad started calling me... as a result NONE of my family use my christian name (yes in 28 and i answer to Grub). But if my parents had of officially named me Grub... well hmm. But my chrisitan name is virtually unshortenable iykwim.

My brother is Benjamin and only gets called that when in trouble otherwise he's Ben or Fred (another dad gem there!).

Suppose what i'm saying is there's positives and negative. I would personally call a child whatever the parents did. So if bub's name on the certificate is Charlotte but you only call her Lottie (which i just love by the way), then I would use lottie.

If you are worried,I would just tell everyone her full names is Lottie Middle Surname and leave it at that. don't mentioned the long version. I do like the suggestion of using violet... very pretty too.

good luck!

DH and I love nicknames, we have one for everyone we know! We actually picked most of the baby names on our shortlist from the nicknames but we are definitely going with the longer names. I would much prefer our children have a 'proper' more formal name to use when they are adults and it also gives them the choice of picking which name they'd prefer to be called - their full name or their nickname.

Many of the nicknames are awfully cute for little kids but not so cute for a 28 year old lawyer, IYKWIM. Oliver is on our list for a boy as we love Ollie but I personally don't think Ollie is that appropriate as the 'full name' for an adult.

In saying that, there are some names that sound fine when shortened but I still think giving a child a 'full' name gives them the option to choose which name they prefer when they're older.

HTH!

I know two Stevie's, a Vicki and a Trina as their full names. Give your daughter the name you want to give her I reckon!

My DD is Beth, just Beth.
I constantly get people saying, "what a lovely name, is it short for Bethany/Elizabeth etc?" and even one idiot FIL who insists on calling her Bethany (a name I hate).

She still has a nickname- "Bug" - long story.

But I'm with Feathertop, give your child the name you want them to have, either way you will still get people assuming to call them something else, long or short!

I would use Lottie- I actualley went to school with a girl called Lottie, it was her real name not a nick name.

My DD is Tori, someone suggested we call her Victoria, I didn't like it as much as I liked Tori. At the end of the day you call your baby whatever it is you choose, dont worry about what other people say.

LOVE Lottie!

Ah, yes so love LOTTIE :loveshower:

... I prefer the idea of perhaps telling anyone that might ask that it's a short version of Violet (rather than Charlotte) ;)

Totally a personal preference I think.
If you really like the short version, and will not like the sound of the long version when it's written on all the official paperwork, then just go with the short!

thanks for all the replies everyone.....turns out we are having another boy LOL, so I have started a thread on that name he,he. Ahhh I do love the name Lottie though, oh well.

Congratulations Erin_25 - I was going to put a spanner in the works and say I don't like nicknames so you should chose whatever name you want the child to be called. Whether that be Lottie or Charlotte - it should not be shortened either way.

I deliberately chose my daughters name as it cannot be shortened.

My boss once shorted my name (not Tess!) and I told her that my name was *** - the full version - didn't go down very well but ho hum. They are an ex-boss now!!

Congrats on the little blue bundle, at least you have a name decided for a boy ;)

Tess.