Stand alone name or nickname?

Only a couple of weeks until bub is born and hubby and I are struggling with names. One of the contenders on the short list is Samara Evelyn. I like Samara but have never really been in love with it. I do however love the nickname Sami and its the main reason for choosing the name. People have suggested to me to just name her Sami but I've always been in the proper name for birth certificate camp. A friend of mine says what's the point in a having a name that no one uses. So just wondering where everyone else stands on the issue. Can Sami stand alone or does it need Samara to back it up.

Other contenders on our short list right now are
Lucy Evelyn
Elise Evelyn
Alexis Evelyn

Plus of course all the beautiful names my husband vetoed lol.

I'm not sure Sami really stands alone IMO, but if you don't like Samara could you choose a different "Sam..." name? Samantha, for example?

Otherwise, I think you could get away with it, I just don't personally like Sami as a name by itself. Sami/Sammy is a cute nickname though :)

If you have no intention of using a name except on official records, I wouldn't use it.. I can't see how Sami can't be a full name!

I love Elise. I prefer having a proper name that can be shortened to a nickname. While Sami is cute, it may not suit her at certain times in her life. But that's just my opinion.

You need to think about it when she is older, a friend of ours has a little girl Samantha and she gets called Sammy but when she is older and she needs a 'grown up' name (job interviews or even the type of profession she may enter) she can then go by her full name.

Nicknames are great IMO for nicknames but can you see a 60yr old called Sami, but ultimately it's up to you what feels right for your baby.

Good luck.

My children's names are Isla-Mae and Amelie. 90% of the time we call then by their nicknames - Isley and Amey. I like their full names and their nicknames, and as previously stated, they might identify as their nickname but be grateful for a full name for official things.

I would also go for Samantha to shorten to Sami. Samara is quite different already to choose and then just shorten. I have a Samantha who gets Sami -- by her mum all the time.

That's pretty much what I thought. I've never really liked nicknames as full names anyway. Will have to decide whether I love Samara enough to make me happy to use it for Sami. Samara is the name we like best of the Sam names, which is why we have gone with it so far. Naming this baby has been so frustrating. Nothing seems right.

One of my sisters best friends is Sammy - that's just her name. She's in her early 20s and it suits her just fine at this age too.

I also love Lucy and Elise off your list - they've been short listed for us :)

My boys are all known by shortened versions of their names, even at school. I like the idea of them having choices in the future. If you want to call her Sami then Samara or Samantha would both be lovely names.

Sami is fine if she wants to be a flight attendant or an electrician when she grows up but if she aspires to be a High Court Judge or the Dean of Medicine at Oxford she might want something with a little more resonance.

My criteria for a name is that if you put a Sir, Lady, The Honourable, Dr etc in front of it it won't sound comical.

Call her a big name and shorten it. IMHO that's much much better.

What about Evelyn Samara?

I think Evelyn is a beautiful first name.

one of my 'rules' for naming my childen is lots of choice. so as a result they have/will have 3 names, and names that can be shorten/played around with. so they then can decide whst thry identify as and ib what situations. Dh never calls Spock vy her first name he always calls her by her third name.

in saying that I do love Sami tho ;)

My two oldest boys are known by their nicknames (both shortened versions of their full names) 95pc of the time. I prefer to give my boys a "proper" name and then use the nickname. Then they have a choice when they're older as to what they prefer to be known by. The only son who probably won't get a nickname is my third son ... it's hard to shorten Rory!

All three of my girls have quite formal, traditional names. Two of them have shortened names that are used all the time - except for when DD1 is in trouble and then she gets the whole thing ;-)

DD2 does get her name shortened occasionally but she herself has chosen - at the very mature age of 4 - that she wants to be known by her "real" name. I tend to go by her mood as to what I call her - if she's just called me "Mummy Moo" then she'll get her nickname. Otherwise, the whole thing.

I too think its important for adults to have what I call a serious name. I'm pretty old fashoned, but I think things like that are important career wise

We have both our girls full names that can be shortened. Dd2 tends to get hers extended (full first and second name because it is so beautiful) whilst DD1 gets gets shortened. We intended the full names would be used for formal occasions or if they felt they wanted the full version. Dd1 finds it nice having the option as there are 3 girls in the school with her name - but all are the short version only. It makes her distinguishable.

I really considered what it would be like for them in their senior years. We gave them names that are adjustable for each phase if their lives.

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Call her a big name and shorten it. IMHO that's much much better.

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Just don't call her a big name - that really is a short name with fifty million extra unneeded letters lol.

Both my girls have old traditional names. They both get shorten down, and then they have a nickname as well. Although my 5yo says that I'm not allowed to call her her nickname anymore because I should know her name, lol.

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 :D 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.

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.

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 ...