I’m a firm believer in giving a child a ‘full’ name and using nicknames to provide the child with as many options as possible. My 2.5 year old is [name_m]Christopher[/name_m] and right now he goes by his full name but I expect at some point he will become [name_u]Chris[/name_u], and I am okay with that.
Despite being an avid champion of ‘full names only’ I am struggling with [name_m]Charles[/name_m]. I’m 35 weeks pregnant and my husband and I settled on [name_m]Charles[/name_m] months ago. My husband likes it more than I do, but I adore the nickname [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] so I agreed to it. The problem is that I don’t really like [name_m]Charles[/name_m] and it might be because I relate it to [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Charles[/name_m] but I find it very snooty and upper-crust sounding in an unappealing way. [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] seems so happy and friendly. So, what do I do?
• Use [name_m]Charles[/name_m], hate it, and only call him [name_u]Charlie[/name_u]?
• Or break all of my own naming rules and name him [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] and hope he never wants to be called [name_m]Chaz[/name_m]?
• Does [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] sound awkwardly informal as a brother to [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]?
• What MN works best with just [name_u]Charlie[/name_u]? We have chosen [name_m]Charles[/name_m] [name_u]Riley[/name_u] but that obviously won’t work with [name_u]Charlie[/name_u].
[name_u]Charlie[/name_u] does sound too informal next to [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]. Think of him as an adult with his name on a resume. [name_m]How[/name_m] does [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] look to you?
I used to hate hate hate [name_m]Charles[/name_m], it sounded so old-manish and just utterly unattractive to me, however, about 2 years ago I’ve watched several movies with people named [name_m]Charles[/name_m] as main characters, read books with people named [name_m]Charles[/name_m] and I’ve come to really appreciate it since then. Also, when you get to know a little more about [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Charles[/name_m] you’ll find he’s quite funny, a little odd but in a very friendly way.
I do think there are some names that I’ll never properly like, would never settle on either, however, I also think that when a good compromise may be the result, it’s worth trying to make yourself like a name, not simply by saying it 20x a day but by making it appeal to you through great tv, movie or book characters for example.
I also think that reading somebody’s (positive) imagery of [name_m]Charles[/name_m] would maybe make you more fond of it?!
I have to say I do love [name_u]Charlie[/name_u]; and while you don’t call him that or expect him to be called that, I also adore the idea of [name_u]Kit[/name_u] or [name_m]Topher[/name_m] and [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] as siblings.
If you can’t bring to use [name_m]Charles[/name_m], though, I think going with [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] would be entirely fine and doesn’t sound off with [name_m]Christopher[/name_m].
Is there a longer form of [name_m]Charles[/name_m] you might like better? Like [name_m]Charleston[/name_m] or Charleson that you could shorten to a [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] as a nn?
If you do decide to go with [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] and a different middle name maybe it would make you feel better if you considered the nicknames that could be taken from [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] itself? He could have the freedom to go by [name_u]Lee[/name_u] if he chose, or another [name_m]Charles[/name_m] nickname such as [name_m]Chaz[/name_m] or [name_m]Chuck[/name_m]/[name_m]Chuckie[/name_m]. Maybe he could even choose to go by [name_u]Harley[/name_u].
If not and you can’t love [name_m]Charles[/name_m] or feel right about [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] being a formal first name then you should pick a new name.
@opheliaflora’s suggestion regarding books, TV, and movies is just what I’d say - relate the name to some great characters you like, and that will in all probability change your perception of the name itself. I find [name_m]Charles[/name_m] very dashing, partly because of [name_m]Charles[/name_m] Mansel in The [name_m]Gabriel[/name_m] Hounds.
I don’t think you should go with a name that you don’t love. What about using [name_m]Charles[/name_m] as a middle name and something else as a first name as someone suggested? I used to not like [name_m]Charles[/name_m] all that much, like you, I found it “snotty” and prince-ish, which I didn’t like for some reason, but after reading a couple of books with heroes [name_m]Charles[/name_m], I found myself liking it more.
You could also go with [name_m]Charles[/name_m] ____ as a first name, like a two-word first name?
[name_u]Charlie[/name_u] does sound a little informal and short with [name_m]Christopher[/name_m] to me, but if you absolutely love it, go for it.
