Unconventional Nicknames

[http://users.livejournal.com/-----citylight/]

At my daughter, Veda's, day care centre, there are a set of sisters, called Lulu (Full name Clementine) and Billie (Arabella) and it got me thinking.

I was wondering what your thoughts were on unconventional nicknames. Gone are the days of all Frances's being Frankie or Fanny, and Jacob's being Jake. These days Frances's can be Fancy, and Jacobs can be Coby.

So what are your favourites?
Which one's don't you like?
Would you ever use a nickname as a full name?
And do you ever think that sometimes people can be stretching a bit too far for a nickname?

Comments

[forthemorrow.livejournal.com]

My son got a more conventional nickname Deso from Desmond. (He gets Des a lot too, of course. But Deso suited him).

And my daughter gets (nearly exclusively) Glowey. Her name is Margot. It came from Mar-glow (cuz she`s always smiling!) to Glow-ey. I've tried Mara, I've tried Mo (I love Mo) but Glowey is what comes out. I think if it comes out organically, it works. I'd love to know how Lulu and Billie ended up with those nicknames, and whether or not it was intentional before birth or just arose. :D

[forthemorrow.livejournal.com]

And I want to have Frances all to call her Fancy. Haha. XD

[http://users.livejournal.com/-----citylight/]

Glowey is a very cute nickname! Do you think she'll use it in school? And for the record, I LOVE Moe too.

I have actually asked the girls mum about the kids name. Billie (who is five now) was called Arabella till she was three, then mum decided that she actually wanted to call her Billie. She wanted to change her birth certificate but Dad said no. So then everyone had to try to remember to call her Billie. When Billie got a bit older, some of the kids were telling her it was a boys name and she wanted to go back to Arabella, but her mum insisted she still be addressed by Billie. The teachers that have looked after her since she was very small still sometimes call her Arabella by accident.

With Lulu, even before she was born, her mum wanted to call her Clementine, but her Dad hated the nickname Clem (i don't blame him) so I think mum must have just pulled it out of thin air to satisfy dad??

Lol. Each to their own, right?

[chillinbabejodi.livejournal.com]

I find it soo strange that the mother would insist the child go by something that is not the child's preference. I had a similar experience. We called my daughter Elsa, but ended up always calling her Elle/Ellie. When she started school and found her self one of four little Elle/Ellie's she said "I'm Elsa mummy, not Elle." She's nearly six now and we call her Elsa, occasionally Els, because that's her name and its what she likes to go by.

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

I like Lily for Elizabeth, and Jamie for Benjamin.

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

Jamie for Benjamin is very different. I like it as well!

[chillinbabejodi.livejournal.com]

I love Jamie for Benjamin! And I reeally dislike Ben. :)

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

I think anything works... I'm Jennifer and I went by Jenny in school. Now I go by Jenn. But my family sometimes calls me Penny or Penners which derived from Jenny Penny.

I LOVE the nn Etta. I thought it could work for Juliet. My great-great grandmother was Julietta, which would work as well.

I love nn's in general. I plan to use names that have a lot of nn options. Rosemary is our pick for a girl, and I love the nn's Rose, Rosie, Romy, Ro... lots of them! I will have to meet her when and if we ever have a girl to decide which one I like the best.

I call my cats all kinds of strange things. I have a Stella who goes by Stell, Tell, Tella, Stelly Belly, Tell, Tellers... the list goes on. And Magnolia goes by Maggie, Mags, Nola, Shmerg. The funny thing is that I always wanted to use Elle, Ella, and Ellie for Stella but it just didn't fit! She's not an Ellie, she's a Tell to me.

[freakingcrups.livejournal.com]

For me personally, I think some nicknames don't so much come out of a person's name (at least not fully), but a personal experience with someone they love. For example, my name is Megan and my dad and brother call me Mugzy. I don't even know where the nn came from, but I've been called that since I was young and they are the only two people who call me that. They call me that in public and so I'm sure people would wonder where they got that nn from. But I love it when they call me that because it's something between me and my family. I think I like the uniqueness of it as long as the nn isn't crazy. I would never have thought of Coby from Jacob, but I like it quite a lot, just as much as I love Jake as a nn from Jacob.

I always thought that if I had a little girl I'd name her Arabella and give her the nn Ari just because I love Ari so much. But then I know people would call her Bella and that's not a personal favourite of mine. So I'm thinking of going with Arianna instead when I have a daughter if I could.

[piperwest12.livejournal.com]

My name is Aida, but it is also my aunt's name so my cousins, her children, named me Nani (nah-née)

[eveyalecia.livejournal.com]

I really like Cole or Chol from the name Nicholas, instead of the typical Nick.

[opalgirl28.livejournal.com]

My mother, Annette, was nicknamed "Net" (instead of the more obvious Ann/Anne) when her little sisters couldn't manage her full name. It's stuck, to the point that my teenaged cousins call her that.

Nicknames at least in my experience, usually spawn because of something (ex. a living relative with the same name, or a sibling who can't pronounce the full name) or when a parent or relative looks at a kid and (consciously or not) decides that "they're an 'x'!"

I have at least one distant cousin named Roland, nm "Rolly".

[rubberducky1467.livejournal.com]

Ah, Roland! My boyfriend's grandfather is named Roland, a name I really like. His nickname is Rollie, but I don't know if I'm terribly fond of that. I like Lando or Rory better for it.

[lipsty.livejournal.com]

My husband's aunt Jeanette is also Net.

[winterjameson.livejournal.com]

I'm the only one of my siblings with a nickname (Cindy for Cynthia) - in fact, my mom put her foot down about no nicknames for my sister Christy. She just decided that if she wanted my sister called Chris she'd have been named Chris (or Christine or Christina).

[twitchywoman.livejournal.com]

My friend's sister is Annelise but was called LeeLee growing up.

I like the nickname Ettie for Violet and Ellie for Aurelia.

[chillinbabejodi.livejournal.com]

I'd never thought of Ettie/Etta for Violet. I like it a lot. Especially since Violet is one of my favourite names. :)

[jadedinnocent.livejournal.com]

My cousin's youngest daughter has always been Mimi, her name is Naomi. Mimi just fits.

The men in my partners family have a habit of changing their first names entirely, does that count as a nickname? His granddad, whose name is Harry, has always gone exclusively by Jim as an adult, and his 'Uncle Rick' is not a Richard. He also has a mate who i thought was a Charles as they always call him Chuck, but his name is actually James. (they nicknamed him that for Chucky, as he's a redhead!)

[chillinbabejodi.livejournal.com]

I tend to try to find names that don't have obvious nicknames, for example Sophie. I like that the only nicknames are like Soph/Fifi, and I've never really known someone actually go by those names, they tend to me more.. pet names I suppose.

I know a Lucas who goes by Lu/Louie, his brother Charles goes by Arly/Arlo. I tend to prefer the unconventional nicknames or the full version of the name, for example I prefer Jacob over Jake or Coby, but if I had to choose a nn then it would definately be Cobe/Coby. I don't like Fancy for Frances, but I also don't like Frances. I do however like Francesca.

Both of my daughters names Elsa and Lucy could be considered nicknames. However, I feel that they are common enough to not be like Bobby/Billy where you're not sure if they're a nn or the full name. Personally, I would not use a name that I consider to be a nickname.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

My Mom had a student named Katherine, and she went by Rin, which I think is really cute.

Also, I really love the idea of someone named Victoria, nn Rory.

[buttonmoulder.livejournal.com]

My daughter's name is Tegan, but she goes almost exclusively by Tiggy. She much prefers to be called Tiggy. My son is Sullivan so he goes by the obvious Sully.

[xnaivetex.livejournal.com]

My son's name is Treyton and his main nickname is Tree. Which may be stretching it, and may be a weird nickname but I like it, and so does he. :)

The ones you mentioned I think are cute, I'd rather a kid have a semi normal name with a weird or stretching it nickname than the influx of Myyckynzy's out there!

[xnaivetex.livejournal.com]

Oh and my name is Cristi, but my nickname growing up was Titi. (Pronounced Tee Tee, lol) My mom still calls me that. My middle name is Nicole and my other nn was Nickel.

[allie-sheppard.livejournal.com]

At school I had a classmate called Sabrina, and her nickname was Sally.

Then there was a girl in my neighbourhood who went by Kati and I always assumed it was a nickname (for Katherine or something similar), until I happened to see her passport and she was really named Kati (no middle name).

[autopsycorpses.livejournal.com]

Nicknames, where I am from, are not always short versions of a given name but new names associated with habits or inside jokes. I have a cousin, Evan, goes by Lester. A other cuz, Angela, goes by Ree-Ree. Jeremy was Bubba for a long time. There are no hard and fast rules to nn's. We call my son, Lennox, Lex. But also Crash because he falls over all the time.

[raze--the-rose.livejournal.com]

I rather like traditional nicknames.
Though I really came here to say, I used to work with a woman who named her daughter Veda and I'd never heard it before! How cool to meet another. I love the name.