babynames | (no subject)

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I need help arguing with my husband. We're 10 weeks out from baby day and having trouble with girl names (we don't know what we're having).

There are names that we both like, but I don't like nicknames, if I give my child a name, it's because I want them to have that name, so I need arguments to support my cause :-)

This is coming about because one of my favorite names is Abigail (Abigail Rebecca Crosby, would be the name) but I HATE, HATE, HATE the nickname Abby (and all of it's various spellings). Katherine is another option, but he is insisting on nicknames (don't want a Kat, Kate or Katie, either), and it's really hard to find girl names that CAN'T be shortened...well girl names that we like...the only one so far is Hailey (but Hailey Crosby?).

Apparently it's because his name is Brian and he always wanted a nickname, but I'm an Elizabeth who would have prefered that to being called Beth my whole life...I just don't like diminutives.

ETA: It can't just be a me vs. them thing where I'm always saying Abigail and he's allowed to use Abby at home, b/c he would introduce her that way and his parents would call her it just to piss me off. *sigh* I guess it's just going to have to be off the table :-( I really wanted a little Abigail. Maybe this one will be a boy and by the time we have a girl he will have removed the stick from his ass :-)

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OK, girls' names that can't be shortened. I'm sure SOMEONE could find a nickname for these, but they wouldn't be obvious the way Abigail/Abby is, so it's unlikely they'd get called anything but their actual name unless they said differently.

Sarah
Sophie
Laura
Lauren
Hannah
Eliza
Jordan
Rachael
Genevieve (Jen-i-veve, or if you want to be French - Jean-vee-ev)
Courtney
Erin
Nadine
Megan
Shana
Audrey

The bold ones are ones I like the best with the mn Rebecca and your last name.

Genevieve is often shortened to Jen or Gen.

Megan can be shortened to Meg, and is.

One more...
Ann can't really be shortened, but it can be lengthened - Annie.

My grandmother Genevieve was called Jean, probably because that was more common than Jen in 1930. Whatever that's worth.

My grandmother Katherine was called Kae.

It's funny how "normal" nicknames change between generations.

Sarah gets Sez or sometimes Sassy.

My name is Sarah, and I detest it because there are 10 Sarahs anywhere I go.

I get called Sezzie or Sezza or Sezzibel occasionally, but mostly just Sarah.

I am tempted to go by Amy, my middle name.

I'm similar to you, except for the fact I do like nicknames but the idea that a gorgeous name, for example Anastasia, would become Stacy makes me sick!

I really hate both Abby and Katie too. All Abigail' i have known go by Abby but less so with the Katherine's. perhaps it's because Abby is already in the name Abigail whereas Katie is seen more as another name. If i was introduced to a Katherine I wouldn't automatically call her Katie. I dislike Katherine a lot, but I do like Caitlin and Kate.
Names I like that don't have any obvious shortenings.

Amelie
Lily
Esme
Kasia (slavic version of katherine)
Freya
Ayla/Isla
Leah
Pheobe
Sophia
Felicity
Aria
Juliet

Actually Kasia is more like Kate or Katie - already a diminutive :)
In Polish at least, Katherine is Katarzyna, and the short form from that is Kasia. Still a nice name if someone wants to use it on its own, though. :)

ahhh i see :-)
Well i don't usually like any forms of katherine but i think it stands fine as a name by itself, probably because it's 3 syllables so more than katherine....pretty.

Alanna
Amelia
Anna
Autumn
Evangeline
Gabriella
Gwen
Isabella
Josephine
Lucia
Lucie
Norah
Selina

There are some more names that maybe you can suggest to him that aren't really nickname material.

actully Josephine can be shortened into Josie.

or Joey.

Isabella= Izzy
Gabriella= Gabby

Those are two of my favorite names but I will never use them simply because I hate the inevitable nicknames.

Isabella could also be shortened to Bella.

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I agree. Just about every name will be shortened by someone sometime down the line! (Also, the child might like the nickname, even if you don't!)

I like Kasia. But Kasia is not really the Polish version of Katherine - that's Katarzyna! Kasia is *already* the short form for Katherine, like Kate :) I do like it, though, and I think it can work :)

Or, Cassia is very nice.

As far as nicknames for Abigail... do you hate Gail too? I think it's very elegant. It's doesn't sound like a cutesy little diminutive, but your husband would still get his nickname :)

The reason I don't like Abby, is that I've never really liked one that I've known. It's mostly the fact that I like the name Abigail and want to use it, I don't want it shortened at all. If I wanted to name my child Abby or Gail, I would just go with one of those, you know?

If you call your child Abigail, chances are people will probably call her that too. When she gets older she may decide if she wants to go by a nickname or not.

Adrienne
Alicia
Aurora
Ava
Elyse/Elise
Faith
Ivy
Jasmine
Lydia
Natalie
Sadie
Sienna
Sydney
Talia
Violet

Jasmine = Jas or Jassy

Natalie = Nate

Sydney = Syd

Who would call a girl Nate?

I've never heard Jas or Jassy for Jasmine.

I meant Nat... oops. I always called my cousin Natalie "Nat"

Oh...I've never heard of that either.

I know several Natalies that go by Nat.

My friend Adrienne is called Ade or Adie by most people she knows.
Jasmine = Jazz
Aurora = Rory
Sydney = Syd
Violet = Vi...

And so on. Just about every name will be shortened :-)

Agreed; I hate nicknames. I never had one myself, and never really wanted one either. But of course, my husband keeps trying to find the worst nicknames possible for every name I suggest. I think the only way to really combat your husband is whenever you speak of or to your daughter, use her full name. Every.Single.Time. Also, correct anyone (even family) if they call her Abby. They might get pissed, but say, "If I wanted to name her Abby, I would have."

Eventually, shell either love her name and tell people off when they call her Abby, or shell grow out of her nickname.

I agree with this. My 7 year old niece is named Liliana... people have tried to call her Lily, but she will correct them and my sister will correct them. Most of the time though, simply introducing her as Liliana, rather than Lily gets the point across.

I think you should pick whatever name you and your husband can agree on. It would be a shame to not use such beautiful names like Katherine and Anastasia just because you are afraid. I think, like some of the other commenters, that if you continually use her given name then others will as well. Once she's in school or older, if she wants to go by a nickname, that's her choice, but you can always use her given name- after all, you gave it to her!

I can't abide Stacy though, it's probably the most awful common cheap tacky name in the world and if it was my name i would legally change it.
wow i really hate it don't i lol.

I love the name Anastasia, but my biggest fear is her being called Anna. I DESPISE the name Anna... I'd live with Stacey before Anna even (I don't like Stacey either, though).

I agree with you. I don't really like nicknames. With my sister and I (she's Jennifer and I'm Amanda) my mother would insist we be called by our full names. She was quick to correct any Jenny's, Mandie's, Jenn's or whathaveyou. Give your child a name and then insist that others use that name. :)

I don't know if this makes you feel better, but my daughter Abigael Catherine is always called Abigael by strangers, daycare people, and family members. The only ones who call her Abby are my husband and I.
Names I like with no obvious nicknames are:
Mira, Ainsley, Maeve, Meredith.

the best way to avoid people coming up with nicknames is to pick a name that's one or two syllables. it doesn't matter what the name is, if it's easy to say, you can talk people out of using a nickname. if it's a mouthful, people will try to shorten it.

otoh, the father of the baby is 50% of the baby's parents, so I don't know that you can fully work around his want for a nickname. maybe you can let him call the baby whatever he wants, so long as he introduces her to others as her full name, and only uses the nickname at home.

I agree with what a lot of people have said, which is that if you name your child something and only call them that and insist others do the same, people catch on and nicknames won't stick. For example, my cousin's name is Christopher, and after he was born, my aunt corrected anyone who tried to call him Chris. He's 22 now, and the only people who call him Chris are his friends because when he got older, he decided he wanted to go by the nickname. But everyone in the family still calls him Christopher, and I think it's so weird to hear someone call him "Chris" even though that's such a common name. And until he was old enough to make the decision to go by Chris, everyone called him Christopher [strangers, teachers, classmates, family, etc.]. If you reinforce it enough when people try to shorten the name, I don't think it'd be a problem.

go to Barnes and Noble and look through the Baby Name Wizard. They have a whole list of nickname-proof names. :)

I agree with the person who said, if you call her ONLY Abigail, she will be more likely to go by Abigail. My husband is Daniel. you call him Dan, he pretends he doesn't know who you're talking to. "hmm, what? are you talking to ME? i thought i heard you say DAN, my name is DANIEL." Our daughter's name is Kira--not really shortenable. I am a big fan of nicknames. I always wanted a nickname, but it's hard to shorten Sarah. My husband, because of how everyone automatically assumes he goes by Dan when he tells them "Hi, I'm Daniel," doesn't like nicknames, like you.

plus, you can pull the popularity card with Abigail to your DH. i imagine most of the Abigails (seeing as it's the 4th most common in the US right now) will go by Abby. You might be able to convince your husband that it should be Abigail so she doesn't have to compete with a million Abbys.

Or, you can call her Abigail, and he can call her Abby.

Just correct people if they try to shorten her name or use a nickname. My neice's name is Liliana and people always used to try to call her Lily. My sister hates nicknames, though, so she'd just politely correct them. It's not a big deal and because my sister always referred to her as Liliana and corrected people who said Lily, nobody really got into the habit of using the nickname anyway.

Anyway, trying to find a name that has NO possible nicknames or shortenings and that you and your husband can both agree on is going to be extremely difficult. So I say go with what you guys like, ALWAYS refer to her as her full name, and correct people who try to shorten it.

Does your username have anything to do with Hanson? If not, forget I asked. :-)

It does. :) Nice icon!

Thanks! LoL

oh, also, my name is Lorelei and I used to shorten it to Lori. When I went to college, I decided to go back to full Lorelei. I would always introduce myself, 'Hi, my name is Lorelei.' Everyone calls me Lorelei, pretty much. The longer someone knows me, they MIGHT want to call me Lori or Lor, but I just say, 'No no no. My name's Lorelei. I don't like the nicknames.'

It works! :D

Any name comes with many nickname possibilities IMO.
If you love Abigail, call her Abigail and let your husband call her Abby... I don't really see what's so wrong about that? When your daughter is old enough to chose for herself what she likes she can decide if she wants to a "full-time" Abigail, or if she likes to be called by a nick-name... either way, whatever name you choose, someone, somewhere down the road is going to find a nickname for her - one you may despise, so why not just choose a name based on you liking it, as opposed to it's ability to be easily shortened or not? Just a thought.

You know, if someone wants to call her by a nickname, and they can't come up with an obvious one from the first name, they are just going to make one up. We had plenty of people in my high school that were called nicknames that were totally different from their first names. If you want to call her Katherine (my vote - I'm Kathleen) call her Katherine! If you want to call her Abigail, call her Abigail! You'll just have to be firm at first that the people you introduce her to call her that and most people will take your lead.

Good luck!

I've honestly never known an Abigail who didn't go by Abby, but I've known loads of Katherine's who haven't used nn's.

Names that are "nickname proof" according to the Baby Name Wizard book:

Adrienne, Aida, Alma, Amber, Amy, April, Asia, Athena, Aubrey, Audrey, Autumn, Ava, Avery, Avis, Brenda, Brenna, Charity, Chelsea, Chloe, Clara, Clarice, Colleen, Daisy, Dalia, Darlene, Denise, Devin, Donna, Eileen, Emma, Erica, Erin, Fallon, Farrah, Giselle, Gloria, Gretchen, Haley, Hannah, Harmony, Hazel, Heather, Hillary, Holly, Isis, Justice, Justine, Kara, Karen, Keisha, Kelsey, Kendra, Kyra, Lila, Mallory, Mara, Margo, Mariah, Marian, Marion, Marley, Marlo, Maura, Maya, Mia, Mira, Morgan, Muriel, Myra, Nadia, Naomi, Nia, Nina, Norma, Paola, Paris, Paula, Payton, Phoebe, Piper, Portia, Rachel, Regan, Rhoda, Robin, Sarai, Shana, Shania, Sheila, Sienna, Sierra, Simone, Sonia, Summer, Tanya, Tara, Thalia, Theda, Tova, Vera, Wanda, Whitney, Willow, Zelda, Zoe

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