My husband and I are having a very hard time agreeing on names! We’ve ended up with a very short list of “maybes,” but even those are iffy. Last night, we hit upon the name Willow, which has been one of those on my list of “I like it but probably wouldn’t use it” names, but the more we talked about it, the more it grew on me. My husband said the same. We ended up tossing around Willow Brooke, and we both really liked it. Then he asked what we would call her for a nickname, and we talked about Will or Wills, which I’m fine with, but he offhandedly mentioned that people would probably call her Willie, and it kind of stopped me in my tracks because I think I would hate that!
I know nicknames are inevitable, and my kids may end up going by something I don’t like but they do, and that’s okay. But if there’s a really obvious nickname that you know you hate, is that enough to nix the name for you or do you move forward and just hope it doesn’t catch on?
My husband is absolutely unconcerned about nicknames or rhyming words and says I’m thinking too much about names and worrying too much but yet vetoes a lot of my names because there’s a character in a show somewhere with the same name. For example, I love Gemma, but he says there’s a Game of Thrones character with that name, but YET he wants to name a son Buck, which I refuse to because it rhymes with, well, you know… Help!
Given what [name_u]Willie[/name_u] can mean, i don’t think it will be people’s first thought as a nn for a girl called [name_u]Willow[/name_u] . I’ve met lots of little [name_m]Williams[/name_m] and none of them were Willies so you should be okay. [name_m]Wills[/name_m], [name_u]Will[/name_u], [name_f]Lolo[/name_f] feel more likely
I’ve never heard of a [name_u]Willow[/name_u] going by anything but [name_u]Willow[/name_u]. I think you would be able to avoid any nicknames just fine.
Yes, I can’t imagine [name_u]Willie[/name_u] would be anyone’s first thought, especially if you already have a nn like [name_m]Wills[/name_m] you are using.
[name_f]My[/name_f] daughter is [name_f]Frances[/name_f] and we call her [name_f]Franny[/name_f] but I don’t like “Fran” at all. I worried about that but she’s in middle school now and literally no one has ever called her that.
i don’t think that a bad nickname is a reason to get rid of the name! i agree that willie isn’t the best, but willow is beautiful and none of the willows i’ve known have had nicknames.
[name_u]Willow[/name_u] is lovely! I agree that very few people would naturally WANT to call a little girl [name_u]Willie[/name_u] because of its associations–besides, it’s not a very chic nn… people generally aren’t fond of it? [name_f]My[/name_f] favorite nns for [name_u]Willow[/name_u] are [name_f]Lola[/name_f] and [name_u]Billie[/name_u], although honestly, I don’t think you need a nn at all–the [name_u]Willow[/name_u] I know goes by [name_u]Willow[/name_u] 100% of the time.
Meh just go with [name_u]Willow[/name_u] and get [name_f]Lolo[/name_f] in as the nickname early one. You can’t control all the things people will maybe goof on your child about, not to mention you can’t anticipate what new slang or killer hurricanes will happen and wreck a perfectly nice name for future generations. It’ll be fine people live through it.
[name_m]Buckley[/name_m] is a cute name and so is [name_u]Willow[/name_u]. [name_u]Willie[/name_u] is a funny nickname and you have no idea what bizarre humor your child will develop.
I think that would be enough to put me off tbh. It might never happen, but I think I’d be anxious in case it did. For balance, I know a [name_u]Willow[/name_u] who never gets anything but her proper name.
[name_u]Willow[/name_u] is very cute !! I don’t think she will get called [name_u]Willie[/name_u] . I know one [name_u]Willow[/name_u] who goes by [name_f]Willa[/name_f] as a nickname name
I’m sure this depends on where you live but I wouldn’t expect her to get a nickname if you consistently call her [name_u]Willow[/name_u]. It doesn’t have an obvious nickname and is short enough that I don’t think people will seek one out. You can keep one up your sleeve that you like in case though. I like the suggestions of [name_f]Willa[/name_f] and [name_f]Lola[/name_f] but would encourage [name_u]Willow[/name_u] straight up.
As similar as they are in sound, I definitely wouldn’t default to calling a [name_u]Willow[/name_u] “Willie.” If the situation was a long name with a very obvious nickname that you disliked, I’d probably vote for picking a different name. But [name_u]Willow[/name_u] just doesn’t feel like the kind of name that lends itself to nicknames in such a natural way, so I doubt it would be an issue!
For example, I love Gemma, but he says there’s a Game of Thrones character with that name, but YET he wants to name a son Buck, which I refuse to because it rhymes with, well, you know… Help!