What do you think of nicknames?
I’m not talking about names like “Shadow,” as Henry apparently wanted to be called when he was younger. I’m talking about name shortenings or common nicknames - Jon for Jonathan or Polly for Mary.
I’ve always thought you should name a child what he’ll go by. So if you plan to call him Jon, name him Jon or John instead of Jonathan (my parents called me Jonathan, but I didn’t want to learn to spell the whole thing in kindergarten, so I switched to Jon).
Actually, I think there are some exceptions to this. Joseph is so often shortened to Joe, for example, it gets away with it. And then there are the more flexible Catherines, where people like Katie might go by different names at different times.
But I don’t understand having a child go by her middle name or a name that’s completely different.
One of Katie’s top name picks right now is Jonathan (call him Jack). I’m not so opposed to this idea that I wouldn’t consider it, but I’m just not sure I could do the nicknaming.
Should I get over it?
February 28th, 2007 at 10:49 am
My brother and I are Andrew and Catherine. And we always have been. As adults people sometimes call him Drew or me, Cat, but if either of us introduce ourselves, its the formal name. That being said, I LOVE naming your son after you but calling him Jack. Its no different to me than Katie being well, Katie, if her name is Katherine. Plus, it will make it easier when he starts getting phone calls!
February 28th, 2007 at 10:54 am
One of our baby name books listed the top 10 boys and girls names around the world. The list of England was interesting. Many of the top 10 names were the familiar form - Charlie instead of Charles, Jack instead of John, and Katie instead of Katherine.
So you can tell Katie that giving a child the familiar name on the birth certificate is very European.
That’s what we did with our daughter (who is also named Katie). I suggested the name, but assumed we would put “Katherine” on the birth certificate so she would have a more formal name. My wife wouldn’t hear of it (doesn’t like “Katherine” for some reason) so it’s “Katie” on the birth certificate.
P.S. The familiar form of Thundaar is Daar.
February 28th, 2007 at 11:54 am
I don’t really have a comment to make, but rather a question:
How in the world is Polly a nickname for Mary? First of all, I feel it breaks the nickname rule by actually being LONGER than the original name, and it doesn’t even sound like the original (although that seems to be a somewhat flexible rule).
No, sir, I don’t like it.
Oh heck here’s my comment — It doesn’t really matter to me about the given name/nick name thing. My dad is John and everyone calls him Jack. Except his mom, my grandma, who calls him Jackie. A 65 year old man named Jackie. I guess to your mother, you’re always a little boy.
February 28th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I don’t get the Mary to Polly thing, either. But I’m told that’s a common nickname. Or was, anyway. I don’t guess Polly is so common any more.
I actually kind of like Jackie. Something tells me there aren’t a lot of male Jackies around, either.
February 28th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I don’t get the nickname Jack for John (or Jon). They’re both one syllable. I think another odd one is Betty as a nickname for all kinds of names (like Lauren, for instance.)
But I kinda like the idea of a nickname. Scott’s first name is Robin, but he feels that’s a bit feminine, so he prefers to use the middle name of Scott.
February 28th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Yeah. That’s wise of him.
I still just don’t get why you can’t name people what you want to call them. And you could always do what Les suggested - name the kid Jack if you want to call him Jack.
February 28th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
It seems to overly complicate things and add unnecessary confusion.
February 28th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Along the same nickname lines in comments - Peggy and Peg as a nickname for Margaret - in a turnaround, I know someone named Peggy and on birth certificate as Peggy, whose husband calls her Margaret (shrug).
Well, I still like Jonathan/Jack but I see where you’re coming from.
I will throw in my $0.03 to NOT do the middle name thing. I am a middle name child and spent the first 25-30 years of my life mad every time anyone called me by my first name, and of course in college, etc., it was ALWAYS that.
Then I grew to kind of like it later in life because if salesmen and whatnot called here and asked for “Firstname”, I knew it was someone I didn’t wanna talk to right off the bad. It’s also come in handy for other such situations.
But it still wasn’t worth it and was more of a pain in the neck than anything else. And still kind of irks me that my eye doctor has never gotten the hang of calling me Lynn, but what can ya do, it’s not on my medical record that way, it’s “Firstname L.”.
February 28th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Exactly!
February 28th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I was named Becky at birth after Becky Thatcher from Tom Sawyer. I kind of wish I had been named Rebecca because I like the number of syllables better.
Oddly, I have a lot of customers who just go ahead and assume I’m a Rebecca and prefer to address me with that.
I went to bible camp one summer and told everyone my name was Laura because I loved writing the big loopy L.
I personally think it’s kind of cool to give a child a flexible name, so that they can tweak it to suit their personality as they grow older.
March 1st, 2007 at 8:46 am
See, I’m not terribly against flexible names; I’m mostly anti calling a child by his/her middle name or using an unpredictable nickname.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:10 am
Here’s another thing about my firstname/middlename issues. OK, my first name is Elizabeth. Now, if I’d been called Liz or Beth or anything such - no problem.
Still liking Jack for Jonathan. Tee hee.
March 1st, 2007 at 10:46 am
With the exception of some names that are simply shortened into nicknames (for instance, my husband’s name is Gregory, but he goes by Greg), I think you should name the kid what he/she will be called. It seems it would be confusing to a small child. Even in the instance with my husband, when I fill out documents, I never know if I should put Greg or Gregory. My cousin had a little girl that they “planned” a nickname for, and I just don’t see the point.
But, in the end, it is your kid, so you can do what suits you best!
March 1st, 2007 at 3:57 pm
My son was named Jack, not Jon/John, and he has, true to the name, led a charmed life, so far.
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:02 am
My mother was Jacqueline which I think is really pretty to read (I’m such a girl).
She was a Jackie but it was spelled Jacque.
This caused some confusion when we were in Paris. I wish I was kidding.
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:57 pm
if you name her Polly she will go through life turning down cracker offers.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Good point!