So I’m 26. And my name is not [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], but it does start and end with A. [name_f]My[/name_f] nickname, which almost all my friends and family have called me my entire life, is [name_f]Annie[/name_f].
I’ve never liked the name [name_f]Annie[/name_f]. Its always sounded frumpy and shy and chubby (probably because that has described me for a lot of my life). Also in grade school my teachers would always sing “the name game” and [name_f]Annie[/name_f] rhymes with [name_f]Fanny[/name_f], and I was always mortified.
People who don’t call me [name_f]Annie[/name_f] call me by my full first name.
When I was born, my mom had planned to call me by my initials, AJ. I don’t know why she never stuck to the plan.
I’ve been kind of making a lot of changes in my life right now. Trying to open up more, be more confident, I’m losing weight, trying new hair styles, etc. Trying to be on the outside the “me” I feel like on the inside.
So…should I change my nickname? Is that even an option at my age? AJ feels more me, but I’d be willing to accept [name_f]Anna[/name_f] as well.
Is this silly and frivolous and stupid? And if so, can someone help me love [name_f]Annie[/name_f] as a nickname.
I think it’s perfectly acceptable to change your nickname, if that’s what you really want.
I always hated my name, and changed my nickname when I went to university. It’s definitely much easier to do if you are making a big change in your life (e.g. starting a new school / new job / moving house etc) as you introduce yourself to new people, you can start using the new nickname.
If you don’t have any big changes coming up, try ‘testing’ the nickname on a few of your closest friends. “Hey would you mind calling me AJ (or [name_f]Anna[/name_f]) instead of [name_f]Annie[/name_f]?”. To reinforce the change, start signing all your text messages/emails etc with the new nickname. Be prepared for the fact that many people might continue to call you [name_f]Annie[/name_f] regardless. If that’s what they’ve always known you as, it may feel weird for them to suddenly call you something else. It may be a long process, it may take a few years, but the more you use AJ (or [name_f]Anna[/name_f]), (everytime you sign your name, everytime you introduce yourself to a new person, everytime you call someone “[name_m]Hi[/name_m] it’s AJ” etc) the faster people will come round to it.
It took about 5 years to get everyone using my new nickname! I do still hear my full name or my old nickname occasionally (e.g from my oldest friends and my grandparents). It doesn’t bother me at all though, as it’s only now and again.
Good luck! And always remember, your name does NOT define you. There’s no reason why you can’t be “open and confident [name_f]Annie[/name_f]” rather than “frumpy and shy [name_f]Annie[/name_f]”.
Go for it! I happen to love the name [name_f]Annie[/name_f], but if it doesn’t feel right, change it. It might take a while for it to catch on, but it will eventually. I was known almost exclusively by a nickname my entire childhood and teenage years, and it’s now been so long since anyone called me that it doesn’t feel like my name anymore. A friend started pushing to have us call her something else a couple years ago (she’d always gone by middle name, and she wanted to use her first name), and it took about a year before her new name was what we called her, though her mom still slips and calls her by her middle. [name_m]Just[/name_m] be persistent. Oh, and some people might be jerks about it. I’m not sure why, but there are some people who get really pushed out of shape about stuff like this, even if it is just nicknames or going by middle/first and not an actual legal name change.
Good luck, A.J.!
That is very important to remember.
Definitely not too late! While [name_f]Annie[/name_f] is lovely, AJ sounds more cool and modern and could never go frumpy! I love it!