Hello friendly name conoisseurs. We have an [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] and haven’t come up with a decent nickname for her yet. Helpfully, she’s now come up with her own: [name_f]Fifi[/name_f]. This is not good. As the Nameberry experts say, it’s a perfect name…for a poodle.
We tried Ophie for a while and people said it sounded like Oafie, i.e. an oaf. I’m not super keen on any of the other nicknames I’ve seen here – it can’t be something too far from the actual name. What are your thoughts on this? [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] is starting to stick and while I’m all for being baby-led in most departments… it is just not very “us” and is very fluffy, especially for an adult who may want a serious job one day!
I’m biased on this score because one of my closest friends and I have always called each other [name_f]Cece[/name_f] and [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] as jokey pet names, so for me it was very positive connotations.
But honestly? I’d imagine if [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] is the name she’s chosen for herself it’ll probably mature into Phee or Fi as she gets older anyway?
[name_f]Lia[/name_f] seems the most obvious to me? I wouldn’t worry about job interviews using her baby nickname, she can use full name with colleagues or another shortening. We are going with name derived shortening nickname of [name_f]Elfie[/name_f] atm, which is quite juvenile. I also call her Chimp-Face but am not worried about this heading into the workplace with her!
I quite like [name_f]Fifi[/name_f], short for [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f]. I do suppose I can relate to people thinking it a given name but (as for [name_f]Elfie[/name_f]) I personally could live with that!
Seeing post above, yes Fi is quite an obvious one too!
It’s cute when she’s little. When she’s older I’d recommend [name_f]Lia[/name_f] or [name_u]Elia[/name_u]. Or maybe even fully [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] - the one [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] I’ve met went by her full name
[name_f]Leah[/name_f], [name_f]Lily[/name_f] or [name_u]Lee[/name_u]-[name_u]Lee[/name_u]? [name_f]Poppy[/name_f]? [name_u]Ollie[/name_u]? Phia or [name_f]Pia[/name_f]?
First off, how old is [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f]? As she grows up, she (or her friends) will choose her own nickname anyway, so there’s not much you can do if she does like [name_f]Fifi[/name_f].
That being said, you may still try to give your own preferred nickname. [name_f]Fia[/name_f], [name_f]Lia[/name_f] or even [name_u]Ollie[/name_u] work.
I had to smile at this post because [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] is what my two-year old named her stuffed rabbit. (:
Honestly though, I would just let it be. Nicknames have a way of taking on a life of their own. [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] is really sweet for a family nickname, and I don’t think there is any risk that it will follow her to college or job interviews.
I mean, my niece Charlotte wanted to be called Chicken for like three years but now she’s 13 and nobody calls her that anymore… I wouldn’t worry about Fifi sticking around for too long, and even if it does, you can always just shorten it to Fi.
[name_f]Fay[/name_f], [name_f]Fay[/name_f]-[name_f]Fay[/name_f], or Faylie?
Bc sometimes [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] is pronounced Oph-ay-lia
I also thought of [name_f]Phelia[/name_f]/[name_f]Felia[/name_f] and [name_f]Leelee[/name_f].
[name_u]Fee[/name_u] or [name_f]Lia[/name_f] stand out. [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] is fine, though, for a kid. She’ll outgrow it sooner than later. Then [name_u]Fee[/name_u] might suit her. Like [name_f]Fiona[/name_f] or [name_f]Felicity[/name_f]'s nickname. [name_f]Lia[/name_f], or [name_f]Leah[/name_f], is a pretty common, dated name which is probably a turn off for someone who named their kid [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f].
From looking at your past threads, it seems that your daughter is under 2 years old? What she likes now, she’s unlikely to find cute even 10 years from now, let alone when she has a serious job.
My sister and I called each other various cutesy nicknames as kids, but even then we went by our actual names at school, let alone now. If your main worry is how [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] will sound on an adult, I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure most of us here on Nameberry had/called other people by nicknames that would be silly on an adult, or used these names for our childhood toys, but wouldn’t think of using them now!
But at the end of the day, your child will choose what she wants to go by. [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] is a gorgeous name, and hopefully she’ll like it more as she gets older, but for now I would just call her [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] if she wants.
Thanks all for your wise input. She’s 1.5, so just starting to use her name. I’m not only concerned about [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] on an adult, I don’t want to be calling her that now as it’s just SO frilly and poodle-y. Phe / Fi is an option for now and later as an adult, but sounds dated to me as I know lots of people of a certain generation named [name_f]Fiona[/name_f].
As one person pointed out, [name_f]Leah[/name_f] / [name_f]Lia[/name_f] is not the sort of name we would have chosen - plus a close friend just named her baby [name_f]Lia[/name_f] so that’s out.
I like Phia but wonder whether people will hear “Fear”. I also like [name_f]Pia[/name_f] a lot and will float this and see if it could work.
We should have thought of this before naming her, but what can I say, I thought I was having a boy and settled on this name quite quickly without that much forethought . I love the full name - I’m sure some Olivias go by [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] and it’s similar to that, right?
I think at not yet two, she’s likely just unable yet to say [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f], and thus refers to herself as [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] due to it being easier for her to say at her 1.5yrs. In my opinion, if you’re just not too fond of any potential nicknames yourself, just continue to call her [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] in full (she has a gorgeous name, by the way), and soon enough, when she’s at an age where she can actually say her name in full properly, she’ll likely use that instead of her first attempts of [name_f]Fifi[/name_f].
[name_m]Hi[/name_m]! I think you shouldn’t worry. Her name is still [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] and I doubt that her having a nickname for herself right now as a baby will lead to her being called it in a professional setting years from now. I understand that you don’t like [name_f]Fifi[/name_f], but if that’s what she’s calling herself, it’s her name and there’s nothing you can do about it except for not call her [name_f]Fifi[/name_f] yourself. Who knows, maybe it’ll grow on you.