I’ve noticed that this debate sometimes comes up in other threads.
My opinion is that giving the child a longer name can be good. It gives the child the option to later decide what he or she wants to be called. For instance, [name]Amelia[/name], who has grown up being called [name]Mia[/name], could decide in middle, high school, or college to tell her family and friends to call her/start introducing herself as [name]Amy[/name], [name]Amelia[/name], [name]Milly[/name], [name]Lia[/name], etc.
My opinion is if you like the longer name feel free to use it and the nickname, but if the shorter name is a legitimate name on its own and you like it but not a longer form then don’t feel like you must lengthen it. For example if you like [name]Finn[/name] on its own then use it as such and don’t feel like you must name him [name]Finley[/name], [name]Finnegan[/name], etc.; on the other hand if you like one of the longer forms then it’s fine to use them too.
Personally, I go for full names with fun nicknames. I would opt for [name]Josephine[/name], nn [name]Posey[/name], rather than naming a little girl [name]Posey[/name], for example. It’s (obviously) just a preference. I tend to like the longer, classical names in general.
I personally prefer longer names, especially with nicknames that are maybe “cutesy” sounding. I go be [name]Jenni[/name] but I appreciate that I have the more “formal” name of [name]Jennifer[/name] legally. I think of [name]Theo[/name] when I think of this argument. Maybe little [name]Theo[/name] is cute, but when he gets older, maybe he thinks [name]Ted[/name] is a better name to go by. He has that option with [name]Theodore[/name], but not really with [name]Theo[/name]. Or PPs example of [name]Josephine[/name]. I like the nn [name]Josie[/name] but I feel like it might be too cutesy. Maybe she grows up to be a tomboy and prefer the nn [name]Jo[/name]. I guess she can do that with [name]Josie[/name] too, but [name]Josephine[/name] is a nice “formal” name to put on resumes instead of using [name]Josie[/name].
I think it’s up to each person though. And it depends on the name. It’s one of those things where I’d have to hear the name. But in general, I prefer longer given names.
I prefer giving the name the child will be called with few exceptions. My husband prefers a more formal name on the birth certificate. Example would be [name]Kate[/name]-I think that’s fine as a given name whereas my husband does not think it is but the name [name]Laney[/name] we both agree is not really suitable for a birth certificate. My sister is [name]Jenny[/name], not short for anything. [name]Jenny[/name] is her given name and that makes her distinct from all the Jennifers (there being many Jennifers born that year). Met a little girl named [name]Jesse[/name]-her given name, not a nn. I love it except for the part of [name]Jesse[/name] being a girl ([name]Jesse[/name] is one of my favorite boys names). I am not concerned about giving my child “options” and feel that is just way over thinking the matter. Give the child the name you love that you think is the right name. Nicknames are not necessary though I now find myself seeing the appeal of them which I hadn’t in the past. I still prefer the full name over the nn for a lot if not most names. Nicknames [name]DO[/name] NOT have to come from the given name.
If it’s a cute nickname like [name]Kiki[/name], it would probably be better as a nickname.
If it’s slightly less cute and can kind of stand on its own but is still cute, like [name]Lexa[/name] or [name]Mia[/name], I would go for [name]Alexandra[/name] or [name]Amelia[/name] with the nns [name]Lexa[/name] and [name]Mia[/name].
If I like the nn as a given name, I would say a more formal middle name would work, like [name]Lexa[/name] [name]Emmeline[/name] or [name]Mia[/name] [name]Isabelle[/name].
For me it depends on the name in question. I’m fine with longer, more elaborate names and with many nickname names, so I take each one on a case-by-case basis. For example, I’d put [name]Eliza[/name], [name]Margo[/name], or [name]Tess[/name] on a birth certificate, but my [name]Liz[/name], [name]Maggie[/name], or [name]Treat[/name] would be an [name]Elizabeth[/name], [name]Margaret[/name], or [name]Theresa[/name].
I have a hard time buying into the idea that anyone really needs the option of multiple nicknames…or even any nickname, to be honest. A lot of my favorites are no-nickname names, including the name I gave my son. Despite this, he still has options if he someday decides his name doesn’t suit him.
I do have to say I agree that it depends on the name. Names like [name]Lexi[/name], [name]Maddie[/name], [name]Jo[/name], etc I think should be nns for say, [name]Alexis[/name], [name]Madeline[/name] or [name]Josephine[/name]. But [name]Eliza[/name] or [name]Kate[/name] work ok for me as a given name. Also I should add that I agree that not everyone NEEDS a nn or needs options. Most of the names I have in my siggy, I wouldn’t give a nn to. I think the reason I like the idea of giving options is because I don’t prefer what my parents call me. My whole family calls me [name]Jennifer[/name]. I prefer to go by [name]Jenni[/name], but they all still call me [name]Jennifer[/name]. It’s fine for them to do it but I don’t like when other people call me that. So I guess I’m sensitive to the fact that maybe [name]Theo[/name] wants to go by [name]Theodore[/name] or [name]Ted[/name] someday.
Without a shadow of a doubt full names with nicknames available if needed, or wanted. My mother chose mine and my siblings names because they had the potential to be shortended in some way, and I’m kind of following with that. I would never give my child a cutesy nickname as their full name, something like [name]Lexie[/name], [name]Frankie[/name], [name]Millie[/name], [name]Josie[/name] doesn’t work for me but it does for some parents and their families. I just couldn’t imagine being a grown up named [name]Millie[/name] or [name]Ellie[/name]! Surely it would be best to give them a full name with the option of being called [name]Millie[/name] or [name]Ellie[/name]?!
It does depend on the name, because although [name]Eliza[/name] can be a nickname, it can also stand on it’s own.
I just wanna know how they got [name]Posey[/name] from [name]Josephine[/name]. I will be using [name]Posey[/name], but I despise [name]Josephine[/name].
I definitely reccommend people give their kids full names instead of “nickname names”. My name is [name]Maggie[/name], plain and simple. It isn’t short for [name]Margaret[/name], [name]Magnolia[/name], or anything like that. [name]Every[/name] time I meet someone I am asked what my “full” name is and I have to explain that [name]Maggie[/name] is my full name.
Most of the time I prefer the longer version. I’d opt for [name]Eleanor[/name] over [name]Ellie[/name] and [name]Evelyn[/name] over [name]Evie[/name].
That said I prefer [name]Kate[/name] to [name]Katherine[/name]/[name]Catherine[/name] and I think that [name]Rose[/name] is fine as a stand alone, and doesn’t need [name]Rosalie[/name]/[name]Rosamund[/name]/[name]Rosemary[/name] to be complete. It just depends on the name for me.
I vastly prefer seeing the full version of a name. Nicknames are nice, but a lot of them sound juvenile and not serious enough to hold up in a professional setting and a lot of them don’t last well into adulthood and it’s alway’s best to have more options and something to fall back on.
@ [name]Strawberry[/name] Shortcake - some “nicknames” work fine as full names since they have become established. [name]Kate[/name] and [name]Rose[/name] are fine - as are things like [name]Lucy[/name] and [name]Eve[/name].
It’s thing’s like [name]Lexie[/name], [name]Maggie[/name], or [name]Ellie[/name] that really do need a full name because they sound juvenile. (Juvenile sounds negative, I suppose, but it’s not meant to.)
I was pondering this yesterday and made a list of names I think are always better as nicknames.
Nicknames can evolve into legitimate standalone names, obviously, but people will still disagree about which ones sound like real names. For example, I think [name]Megan[/name] sounds like a legitimate name but cringe when [name]Jamie[/name] or [name]Kate[/name] is someone’s given name. I also think -ette names sound like “real” names, possibly because they’re longer than the originals (and could actually offer the original name as a nickname, if someone wanted).
There are short names to choose from that aren’t commonly associated with nicknames. Echoing what others said, longer forms (when possible) are usually better on a person’s birth certificate. If someone is given a common nickname like [name]Kate[/name] or [name]Josie[/name] because their parents liked a shorter form better, they might grow to resent not being able to go by the long form.
I think it depends on the name. ‘Cutesy’ names always seem inappropriate to me…particularly ones that end in “ie”. [name]Posey[/name], [name]Poppy[/name], [name]Penny[/name], [name]Katie[/name], [name]Lizzie[/name], etc all seem like ones that the child will be annoyed with eventually, because they’ll want a formal name to put on applications or CVs or exams. That said, I have an aunt who named her daughter [name]Ellie[/name], because that’s what they wanted to call her.
So there are plenty of names that might have originated as a nickname but stand on their own ([name]Kate[/name], [name]Eliza[/name], [name]Ben[/name], [name]Matt[/name]). Personally, I usually prefer the ‘full’ name…I’d use [name]Eleanor[/name] or [name]Penelope[/name] or [name]Josephine[/name] instead of a nickname you get from those.
