(no subject)

[let-letitbe.livejournal.com]

First, a question.

I've seen many people here ask about nicknames. I'm not saying it's wrong to think of nicknames for your child, but why not just give the child the nickname as a name (like Ted instead of Theodore or Meg instead of Margaret)?


Adam
Adrian(f)
AJ
Alexandria
Alicia(x3)
Alikina
Alison
Ally
Allyson
Alyssabeth
Amanda(x3)
Amber(x2)
Amy
An
Angela
Archie
Ashleigh
Ashley(x2)
Ashliegh
Audrey
Author
Bailey
BJ
Blake(x2)
Bobbie(f)
Brandie(x2)
Brandon(x2)
Brandy
Brenda
Brent
Brian
Britney
Brittany(x3)
Bryce
Cairo
Candace
Cara
Carisma
Carlisha
Carrah
Casey(x2)
Chad
Charles(x2)
Chase
Chris(x3)
Christie
Christin
Cristine
Christinia
Chrys
Clay
Clint
Cody(x2)
Colleen
Contance
Courtney(x2)
Craig
Dez
Dae
Daniel
Danielle(x2)
David(x2)
Domenique
Donna
Draethan
Dru(f)
Duran
Dustin
Emily(x3)
Erica
Erin
Eva
Faison
Glenna
Greg
Gwen
Haley
Hank
Hannah
Heather(x5)
Hillary
Howard
Jackie(f)
Jake
Jakki
Jamie(f)
Jammie(f)
Janet
Jasmine
Jay
Jazsma
Jenn
Jennifer(x2)
Jenny
Jeremy
Jessica(x6)
Joanna(x2)
Joe
John(x3)
Jonathan
Jonathon
Jonna
Jordan
Josh
Jourdan(f)
Justin
Kaitlyn
Kara
Kasey
Kate
Katherine
Katie(x3)
Kayla
Keenan
Kellin
Kelly(x2)
Kelsey(x2)
Kenneth
Kerrie
Kevin
Kim(x2)
Kimberlie
Kristan
Kristen
Kristian
Kristy
Kyel
Kyle
Kyra
Kyrie
Laci
Lacie
Larry
Laura
Lauren(x4)
Laurissa
Leanne
Lee Ann
Linda
Lindsey
Lisa
Logan(f)
Mallory
Margarita
Maribel
McKinsey
Meagan
Meg
Megan
Meghan
Melissa
Michael (x2)
Michelle
Mikki
Molli
Morgan
Nadine
Natalie(x2)
Nicole(x3)
Nikki(x2)
Nute
O'Jay
Paige
Pamela
Patches
Patric
Patrick
Paul
Phillip
Phyllis
Portia
Precious
Quilla
Rachel(x2)
Reba
Reid
Rena
Renae
Robby
Robert(x4)
Rosita
Russel
Sallie
Sally
Samantha(x3)
Sara
Sarah(x4)
Shanda
Shandi
Shawn
Shawna
Sherrie
Siobhan
Stacy
Star
Stephanie(x3)
Sylvia
Tommye(f)
Tabitha
Tammera
Tanesha
Tanya
Tara
Tatianna
Taylor(f)
Teddy(m)
Terra
Tiffany(x3)
Toland
Tom
Tony
Tracey
Travis
Trisha
Tye(m)
Tyler
Valerie
Victoria
Wendy
Weston
Whitney


I will post the ones I like in the comments.

Comments

[let-letitbe.livejournal.com]

I like:
Adam
Alexandria
Alikina
Archie
Blake
Brandon
Brent
Chad
Clay
Colleen
Dru
Glenna
Jonathan
Jonna
Katherine
Kyle
Laurisa
Michael
Michelle
Molli
Patrick
Paul
Phillip
Sherrie
Terra
Tracey
Wendy

[loanwords.livejournal.com]

One thing I can tell you based on my father (both his first and middle name sound like common nicknames for longer names) is that people ALWAYS assume his "real" names are the longer versions. He's had many problems with things coming to him in the wrong name. I also remember having to fill out those cards at the beginning of every year and I put his name in. My teacher whited it out and wrote in the common longer names and told me nicknames weren't acceptable. I had to argue with her that the shortened names WERE his names, did she want me to bring his birth certificate?

[let-letitbe.livejournal.com]

Wow, that teacher sounds really mean!

[skittles22088.livejournal.com]

Same thing with my mom's name. Her real name is Cindy, but everyone assumes it's really Cynthia.

[arbus.livejournal.com]

yes! my brother and father are both chris. just chris. NOT christopher. they both got called christopher constantly!

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Because sometimes you'll want to call your child by their full name, and sometimes by their nickname. And even if you plan to exclusively call your child by their nickname, it's nice to give them the option of a more formal name, in case they'd prefer not to be stuck with a nickname for the rest of their life. I say 'you' in the general sense, because I know some people disagree... but I don't think it's really fair to the kid to not give them the option of having an actual first name, especially for when they're older.

[let-letitbe.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I personally am not one for nicknames, but I do understand that logic.

[familyrodriguez.livejournal.com]

I agree. My name is Samantha but in all seriousness, NO ONE calls me that. My family/very close friends call me Sammy, and everyone else calls me Sam. Even if I specify to someone that I prefer to be called Samantha, it never happens, people end up shortening it every time. I am to the point where I am slow to respond when I hear Samantha because it is so incredibly odd to hear someone address me that way.

However, I would really hate for my legal name to be Sam/Sammy. I would feel incredibly unprofessional listing that on a job application/resume. And Sam/Sammy are nicknames and should be left as such, imo.

[quitmyscene.livejournal.com]

I am to the point where I am slow to respond when I hear Samantha because it is so incredibly odd to hear someone address me that way.

Haha, I definitely hear that. I'm a Jessica and was strictly Jessica (well, one of my grandmothers occasionally called me Jessie) up until middle school/6th grade.. I literally knew no one in the school so one of the first girls I met asked me my name and asked if I went by Jess at all, I said no but she said she's gonna start calling me "Jess" if I didn't mind... since then, it's always Jess and it's incredibly rare to hear Jessica.

[kort-ni.livejournal.com]

this. My parents have never ever called me Courtney. They exclusively call me Corey (yes, spelled this way even though I am a girl - I was named after this song: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corey%27s_Coming>this song).

However, I decided that I preferred Courtney and that it is more professional (I publish my research under Courtney)

I am so glad I had a choice and was not just given the nickname. Now, my brother Ben has never gone by Benjamin but I am sure he feels like it's nice to have a full name.

[skittles22088.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't name my kid (for example) Ted because I like it. I would use Theodore, that way, when they're older, they can choose which name they want to go by (Ted, Theo, Theodore).

I like:
Bailey
Cairo
Dustin
Eva
Gwen
Jessica
Kate
Kayla
Kelsey
Mallory
Morgan
Natalie
Tabitha
Victoria
Weston

[indicinderelly.livejournal.com]

why not just give the child the nickname as a name

I don't know. I just really like having a 'professional' name I guess for school, work, etc as well as a nick name to call them by.

Also, this name made me wtf:

Tommye(f)

[lind-saay.livejournal.com]

Because you might choose to name your daughter Lizzie instead of Elizabeth, but she might really really hate that later in life, when she'd rather not sound like a five-year-old. Maybe she wants to be just Liz, or Beth, or Betsy, or Eliza, or just plain Elizabeth with no nickname. Naming your child a nickname as a given name -- especially a common one, like Jim or Tom or Ed or something -- is just asking for trouble.

[kilobites.livejournal.com]

I go by Tasha. Nobody calls me anything different. However, my given name is Natasha and I like that I have a nickname I go by and a longer name I can use more professionally.

Also, what if you name your child Lizzie, as lind_saay said, and later in life that child decides they'd prefer to be an Elizabeth, a Beth, or an Eliza? Naming them Elizabeth allows them to have all those options, and you can still call them Lizzie.

I just like the idea of there being options. If you're named a nickname, it lowers those options.

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

1. People will always assume that the child's name is the longer version anyways. That's not a good reason, but it's something to keep in mind.
2. Because Margaret looks better on a resume than Meggles.

I don't like parents who plan ahead what their kids' nicknames will be, even when they use the whole name for the paperwork. Nicknames kind of develop as a result of the kid. Some are standard, yes, but your squidlet might be more of a Maggie than a Meg, and then what? It's not a huge deal, but I guess only a few people in my family went by nicknames related to their real names anyways so the whole idea is pretty foreign. *shrugs*

[let-letitbe.livejournal.com]

I, too, don't like parents pre-planning their child's nicknames.

I guess I just never understood nicknames because I've never had one. I've always been Hunter or Hunter Michelle. My brother's name is Paul but everyone calls him PJ..sometimes I forget that his name is Paul actually.

[falls2climb.livejournal.com]

I don't understand the planning of nicknames, either, unless it's something like giving your son the same name as your husband and wanting to call them something different. Even then... like you said, sometimes the person just doesn't fit the "chosen" nickname.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I am one of those people who preplans nicknames ... sort of.

Just about all of the names that I like have multiple nickname possibilities (Elizabeth, Katherine, Alexandra, etc.), but I do have particular ones that I would hope to use *if* they fit the child, like you're saying. Or, more specifically, I have particular ones that I *don't* like. (But not many).

But I definitely agree with you that a lot of the nicknames in my family are not really related to given names, and certainly weren't preplanned.

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

I'm considering it in my plans, since the nickname possibilities for my name suck. But, yeah. bleh.

[soundofbusiness.livejournal.com]

Allyson
Audrey
Dez
Eva
Mikki
Victoria

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

My parents named me Jessica even though they planned to call me Jessie because they wanted me to have the option of a more formal name when I got older. However, all of my dad's family initially insisted on calling me Jessica and refused to call me Jessie despite my parents wishes, and it annoyed them so much that when my sister was born they just called her Katie, no longer name. I actually used to call her Kaitlin all the time, as a nickname, but that was just me. :) Really, it seemed to work either way - I do go by Jessica now, but that's more a product of giving up on correcting people in college and in the workplace and just getting used to it. :)

[stummyflies.livejournal.com]

hunter! i had no idea you were in this community!

i like:
bailey
christin
colleen
david
eva
hannah
katherine
leanne
natalie
robert
shandi
valerie
whitney

i asked myself "wtf?" on a lot of these.

[let-letitbe.livejournal.com]

I forget how i found it, but i love names!

i have a lot of friends with "creative" spellings.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

If a nickname comes up after the kid is born and sometimes they get called that, that's fine, whatever. But when people pick names based on the nicknames they want to use, that's ridiculous. Or when like, every time somebody posts a little different name on here, "what would you even call that kid?" Well, probably call him by his name, I think. I see it all the time for Atticus. I think pre-planning nicknames is the worst part of them.

I like:

Blake
Bryce
Chase
Tabitha
Teddy

[lolzabeth.livejournal.com]

My son's name is Theo, not Theodore, just Theo. We didn't see the point of calling him Theodore when he would be called Theo anyway but we call him The a lot of the time so he's ended up with a nickname anyway...*shrugs*

[catean.livejournal.com]

My parents named me Kate but Kathryn is what's on my birth certificate. My mom says she liked Kate but wanted me to have a formal name. I wish she would have just named me Kate (even thought I actually like Kathryn better--go figure).

Most people don't ever realize I'm Kathryn. I work for a magazine so I use my formal name in my byline. But online, half the stuff I've done professionally comes up under Kate, and half under Kathryn.

It's one thing to name someone Jessica and to always call them Jess, but Kate and Kathryn are two different names. It's been pretty annoying/confusing.