Nicknames

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

I've seen some of you express a dislike of certain nicknames, but what about nicknames in general? I guess I don't mind pet names for friends, okay..  call them nicknames (I dunno, we always said so and so went by 'X' "for short" and that seemed different than a nickname), but I've never been a huge fan of shortened names. So, for instance, my name is Meredith and in most cases people call me Meredith, but occasionally people will call me Mer; two of my good freinds in highschool were Valerie and Kathy (already shortened, lol) and I would call them Val and Kat. Anyway, I'm not talking about that kind of shortening (okay, you'd  think I could ask this question more easily!). My childhood neighbor/babysitter/second mother still calls me Merbie.
Anyway.. I guess I don't like it when people go by a nickname permanently. For instance, my husband's name is Albert Edward and he goes by Ted; his sister is Amanda and often goes by Mandy; his mother is Susan and goes by Susie; his father is Albert and goes by Al.

We would have named our first child, if she'd been a boy, David. I was adamant that it would not become 'Dave'. Okay, so we don't like that name as much as we used to and I now love the name Liam, however I don't like it that much as a given name. I also love the name Uilliam, so we're thinking going with Uilliam with the nickname Liam. Anyway, I'm trying to justify using it without opening the door for the family to try and give all the rest of our children nicknames. I also feel kinda dumb that I want to go against my own pet peeve of always using a nickname-- if you wanted that name why not just go with it in the first place? Another name we love is Jonah and I do not like 'Joe' or 'Joey'. Of course, I also like Antalya with the nickname 'Talya'.. perhaps my problem is I just don't like my husband's family's nicknames that much? :(

Anyway.. thoughts/opinions on the use of nicknames? Ever not use a name because you hate the nickname associated with it-- or would you just work hard to avoid it?