(no subject)

[politicking.livejournal.com]

what do you think about naming your child something that is commonly known/accepted/used as a nickname?

for example, names such as:
Sam
Tom
Rick/Ricky
Elle
Emmy
Alex

any others...

i went to school with a Rickey, that was his full name. his siblings were: Rachael, Rhianna, Raymond & Robert (lol one of those families with their alliteration). which i just found funny that they would name their other sons with names like Robert & Raymond, but he was just Rickey.

Comments

[glitterberrys.livejournal.com]

I don't like most -y names as full names, personally.

[confusedanswers.livejournal.com]

ehh... I believe firmly in giving a kid a full name so if they don't like the nickname I give them they can opt out of that. Example, I'm having a kid named Aleksei.. and I will call him Lexi... But if he wasn't to go by Lx or Aleksei.. he's free to.

Plus Dr. Aleksei sounds better than Dr. Lexi on a boy.. so why not give him a full name then call him a nick... That's how I feel about it.

[lneef.livejournal.com]

Yep. What she said. Also, I don't ever want a potential employer to wonder if my child was too ignorant to put their full name on a resume.

Some nicknames can legitimately stand on their own but I'd still always give the full version.

[confusedanswers.livejournal.com]

haha, I am the only communty dude on here! haha. But it's all good!

Exactly, Id' rather my kid's future bosses not think them ignorant about such things... plus what middle name goes with Rickey?

[lneef.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, there's a dude in here? Sorry!

Rickey is just bad any way you slice it. What on earth is wrong with Richard?

[confusedanswers.livejournal.com]

I'm resigned to being the only dude and often called a chick in this place, lol.

True.. but any of those.. Sam, Rickey, Tom.. I mean, they just dont' sound complete.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_x_blackroses_x/]

I LOVE Elle.

[bornto-fly.livejournal.com]

I really don't like the idea of using JUST nicknames. I know that if I were an employer, looking at a resume and the person had put their name as Rickey, I might wonder why they didn't know enough to put their full name. It makes the kid look like they're too stupid to know that you should put your full name, because people automatically assume that it's short for Richard, or Samuel, or Thomas.

Besides, you might name your kid Ted because YOU like it better, but he might prefer that his full name is Thedore so that he could also go by his full name, or by Theo. It's just easier on the kid in the long run if you give him the full name. Most people nickname names without even thinking about it, so it's not like little Daniel will have a lot of traumatic experiences in his life trying to get people to call him Dan.

[omgzits--tam.livejournal.com]

I like Sam best just on its own. Samuel makes me cringe.

[poohbaby.livejournal.com]

I'm from alabama and I actually know several people who are named just Ricky/Rickey...maybe it's a southern thing? lol

[bobinwales.livejournal.com]

Generally I don't like it, but there are some names I prefer just the nicknames for.
Such as I may well use Alex, but not Alexander.
Also I love the name Jake, but hate Jacob

[sarahmarie.livejournal.com]

I don't see any problem naming a child a name that's considered a nickname. I mean, I know tons of Samantha's and Amanda's, and Joseph's, that only go by Sam, Mandy/Manda, and Joe, and most of them hate their full first name. So, what's the use of giving your child a name that people consider a full name of Samantha, Amanda, or Joseph, if you're just going to call your child by their nickname? Why not just name your child that name instead?

Sorry if that doesn't make sense.

Anyhow, my favorite names that are usually considered nicknames are: Alex, Ella, Elle, Gabby, Joe, Josie, Maggie, Mandy, Nick, and Sam. There are others as well, I just can't think of them right now. Also, I plan on naming my first born daughter Josie. So, yeah!

[eleanorgrace.livejournal.com]

I agree for the most part that full names are far preferable. I think naming a kid just Mandy or just Bobby infantilizes your child permanently, at least as far as official paperwork is concerned.

Several people have mentioned the looking-silly-filling-out-forms problem, but I also think the benefit of a nickname is to have a special, meaningful name that people close to you can use. My family calls me Ellie, as do friends I've had from childhood. If someone I don't know calls me Ellie, perhaps because they've heard my sister refer to me as such, it feels awkward and overly-familiar. I tell those people, as well as teachers and employers, to call me Eleanor. I like being able to go by different versions of my name in different situations.

However, I think there are some names that stand alone better than others. Elle, I think, is better as a given name than Ellie (but not necessarily better than Eleanor or Elizabeth). Kate/Cate is better, I think, than Katie or Cathy as a given name. I do think those sound incomplete on their own (less so Kate, I suppose, given its common use), but at least they're not blatantly childish. A lot of nicknames are also so clearly derivations of a particular name (Tom, Sam, Nick) that to use them without the original is... silly, for want of a better word.