[name]Do[/name] you think a girl named [name]Lillian[/name] would be able to avoid the nickname [name]Lily[/name] if she so wanted? I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Lillian[/name], but not so much [name]Lily[/name] since it’s so so popular, but since it’s such an obvious nn I am worried she would just be called [name]Lily[/name] all the time
The same goes for [name]Jillian[/name] (which I love) - would she just be called [name]Jill[/name] (which I greatly dislike) all her life? I did know a girl called [name]Gillian[/name] who went by [name]Gilly[/name] (prn [name]Jilly[/name])/ [name]Gillian[/name], but my second cousin goes by [name]Gill[/name].
So what are your experiences in this area? Any help would be appreciated!
I really like both [name]Lillian[/name] and [name]Jillian[/name]! A week or so ago I had a serious crush on [name]Lillian[/name]… just [name]Lillian[/name]. I’ve loved [name]Lily[/name] for forever, but using [name]Lily[/name] as a nn just seemed to take away from [name]Lillian[/name] to me, at the time. I do think the nn [name]Lily[/name] is pretty unavoidable, though–every single [name]Lillian[/name] I know goes by the nn [name]Lily[/name]/[name]Lilly[/name]/[name]Lilli[/name]. I do remember someone on another name forum, though, who named her last daughter [name]Lillian[/name] [name]Josephine[/name]… all of her children ([name]Nathaniel[/name], [name]William[/name], [name]Abigail[/name], [name]Sophie[/name], [name]Noah[/name], [name]Andrew[/name], and [name]Lillian[/name], I believe) didn’t go by any nicknames… after she decided on [name]Lillian[/name] [name]Josephine[/name] and her daughter was born, she hasn’t really been around the other board, so I don’t know if she was able to keep people from calling her daughter [name]Lily[/name], but if her [name]Abigail[/name] never became [name]Abby[/name] I would think that maybe it worked for her…
I think [name]Jillian[/name] is much more likely to just be [name]Jillian[/name]. A little girl named [name]Jillian[/name] goes to my church, and I think she’s just [name]Jillian[/name] 85% of the time… I think her grandmother might call her [name]Jilly[/name] occasionally, but for the most part, she’s just [name]Jillian[/name]. I think, to most people, [name]Jill[/name] feels a bit tired/dated/worn out, at least here, whereas just [name]Jillian[/name] is more refreshing…
I think the older they get, the easier it would be to go by just [name]Lillian[/name]/[name]Jillian[/name]/[name]Gillian[/name], especially because they could introduce themselves specifically as such.
One thing we all forget about nicknames though…we might dislike a certain nickname but there’s no telling if the child might even prefer it!
I knew a [name]Lillian[/name] that went by [name]Lillian[/name]. She’s in her 50s or 60s. [name]Lily[/name] is just so popular. There are so many long versions for [name]Lily[/name] in the top 1000.
I agree that it will be easier to keep [name]Jillian[/name] from [name]Jill[/name]. She’d be [name]Jilly[/name] if anything.
[name]LOVE[/name] both those names- considering them if baby #3 is a girl!
I love my full name and hate the nickname. I only had a few times growing up where I had to say to people “It’s [name]Rebecca[/name], not [name]Becky[/name]”. I think people assume kids want the nickname! But YES it is possible to avoid- even probable. I was an extremely shy child and I managed to make it known
I think it’s certainly avoidable as long as you or your daughter correct people right away. I know many [name]Jennifer[/name]'s that never went by [name]Jenny[/name] or [name]Jen[/name]. I also know a [name]Jillian[/name] who always went by [name]Jillian[/name]. Of course in some instances people may use shortened version, every once in a while close friends will call me Chels but no one has ever continually called me Chels. There’s a woman I know who introduces herself as [name]Jess[/name], so she has always gone by [name]Jess[/name] and never [name]Jessica[/name].
I think you could avoid it being shortened to [name]Lily[/name] or [name]Jill[/name] if you just made it a point to only call her by [name]Lillian[/name] or [name]Jillian[/name]. If you don’t call her by a nickname, nobody else will either and she won’t refer to herself by the nn either. People usually take cues from what the parents call the child. I definitely think you can avoid the issue of the nickname if you really do not like it. I have several friends who managed to avoid having nicknames and are still called by their full name, [name]Matthew[/name], [name]Thomas[/name], [name]Christopher[/name], [name]Jennifer[/name], etc. I even know a [name]Lillian[/name] in her twenties who has never gone by [name]Lily[/name]. [name]Lillian[/name] is such a pretty name I think you shouldn’t let nickname worries get in the way : )
Aside from just asking not to be called those nn’s, the next best suggestion I have is to add an “an” at the end. [name]Lilliana[/name] and [name]Jilliana[/name] could go by [name]Anna[/name] or [name]Annie[/name].
[name]Both[/name] names are lovely and both had their time on my own list I think a lot of Lillians go by [name]Lily[/name], but I have never met a [name]Jillian[/name] who went by anything other than [name]Jillian[/name] So I highly doubt that [name]Jillian[/name] would be forced into [name]Jill[/name]. I think with either name though, if you politely ask/tell people that they prefer to be called [name]Lillian[/name] or [name]Jillian[/name] it will be fine. One of my brothers’ names is [name]Matthew[/name] and he has always hated [name]Matt[/name]. So everyone at first tried calling him [name]Matt[/name] and he would look at them and say I like [name]Matthew[/name] better and everyone was fine with it. He is a teenager now and no one every calls him [name]Matt[/name]
I have a 2 1/2 year old [name]Jillian[/name] that is pretty exclusively called by her full name. We’ll sometimes call her “[name]Jilly[/name]” at home, but people tend not to shorten her name at school, in play groups, etc… which makes me very happy! It took me [name]FOREVER[/name] to choose her name, but we absolutely love it on her! I thought about using [name]Gillian[/name] instead of [name]Jillian[/name] to discourage shortening it to “[name]Jill[/name]”, but so far this hasn’t been a problem and the J spelling seems more familiar to people (in a good way) and I worried about pronunciation with [name]Gillian[/name]. Now our HUGE challenge is finding a name we love equally and has some of the same qualities for her little brother! As for [name]Lillian[/name], I think it may be more likely to be shortened to [name]Lily[/name] only because [name]Lily[/name] on its own seems to be pretty popular right now.
I have a cousin with a daughter named [name]Jillian[/name] and that’s what they always call her. She isn’t in school yet so I’m not sure what nicknames she’ll pick up there. Most of the time people will go with what they want to be called, but there are some people that might shorten it out of habit or because it’s faster. I work with a [name]Kimberly[/name], and that’s what she prefers. I accidentally called her [name]Kim[/name] once because I was talking fast, but since we know her preference we call her by her full name. So as long as you keep calling her [name]Lillian[/name] or [name]Jillian[/name] (I love this name), it should catch on.
All the [name]Lily[/name]'s I know are shortened versions of [name]Lillian[/name] or [name]Lillianna[/name], but if you don’t like the nickname, tell people not to use it. I have a cousin called [name]Rebecca[/name], and that’s all she’s called, not [name]Becky[/name] or [name]Becca[/name]. She’s almost nine now, and she’s still exclusively [name]Rebecca[/name].
Also, I adore the name [name]Gillian[/name], and fell in love with the nickname “[name]Gilly[/name]” the first time I watched “Practical [name]Magic[/name],” lol. I’m not a fan of [name]Gill[/name], though, it’s tired to me.
