My wife and I are expecting #3 this summer. We do not know if it is a boy or girl. We are set with a girl’s name and are 99% of the way there if the little one is a boy. Our surname is two syllables, and big both have classic/vintage names that have strong nickname associations. We both love the name [name]Oliver[/name] for a boy, but aren’t wild about the nickname [name]Ollie[/name]. We don’t actively dislike it, just aren’t in love with it, particularly for an older boy/man.
We thought we’d post here to get your thoughts on other potential nicknames for [name]Oliver[/name]. We both love [name]Levi[/name] (all the letters are in [name]Oliver[/name], but the sounds are different with the long “E” and “I” sounds. We have seen some parents use this nickname for [name]Oliver[/name] on other boards with mixed reactions.
I also thought of just using the first letter “O” as a nickname too.
ps - We realize that [name]Ollie[/name]/[name]Olly[/name]/Oli is the most common nickname for [name]Oliver[/name], and that people would likely call him that and we can’t control it - we were just wondering if you thought any other nicknames would work that we could call the little guy! Or maybe you can help convince us to fall in love with [name]Ollie[/name] just as much as we love the more formal [name]Oliver[/name]!
pps - It’s also possible that we’re being slightly neurotic here too. We both got nervous about our chosen names shortly before the births of our first two kiddos, and now we absolutely love both their names and can’t imagine them being named anything else.
The only unique nickname for [name]Oliver[/name] I’ve ever heard of is a little boy that went by Rev/Revi (the ending backwards) occasionally. Mostly I just hear Olivers go by, well, [name]Oliver[/name]!
Along the same lines of [name]Levi[/name], [name]Eli[/name] could also “work” (Yeah, the letters are in there, but that sound is quite a stretch). If you do pick [name]Oliver[/name], I think Oli will grow on you, haha.
My husband and I are having the same issue. We also [name]LOVE[/name] the name [name]Oliver[/name], but really don’t care for the NN [name]Ollie[/name]
No real advice here since we are in the same boat lol
[name]Noll[/name] used to be the traditional nickname for [name]Oliver[/name] (like [name]Nell[/name] for [name]Ellen[/name], [name]Nan[/name] for [name]Anne[/name]).
Olle
Ovie
[name]Ori[/name]
[name]Liv[/name], [name]Livie[/name]
[name]Ver[/name], Very
depending of the middle name, you could come up with more varied names: [name]Oliver[/name] [name]Benjamin[/name] “[name]Obie[/name]”, [name]Oliver[/name] [name]Thomas[/name] “[name]Otto[/name]”, [name]Oliver[/name] [name]Zachary[/name] “[name]Ozzie[/name]”…
another opton is a word nickame like [name]Ace[/name], [name]Bear[/name], [name]Buddy[/name], etc.
You could always give him a completely unrelated nickname of your choosing (like [name]Scout[/name] for [name]Jean[/name] in To Kill a Mockingbird), but in my family’s history, the Olivers go by [name]Oliver[/name].
I know an [name]Oliver[/name] that goes by the nickname pronounced “[name]Avi[/name]”. I’d go with it if you’re that sure with your wife also on board. You could nickname any child [name]Buddy[/name], [name]Trip[/name], or whatever. What’s great about nicknames is that they can evolve throughout life. I know a [name]Henry[/name] whose gone through his life as [name]Harry[/name], [name]Hank[/name], and [name]Hal[/name]. If you both love the full name, that seems more important.
My partner and I named our baby [name]Oliver[/name] and it doesn’t seem to suit him very well. I’m hoping to find a nickname that will fit (although we’re considering a name change as well).
Anyhow… I liked the nickname [name]Noll[/name], but wondered how to pronounce it. Is it [name]Noll[/name] that rhymes with troll (like N-OH-L)? Or [name]Noll[/name] that rhymes with doll (like N-[name]AH[/name]-L)?
What about [name]Lee[/name] - it’s said as O-lee-ver. I would pronounce [name]Noll[/name] as the first syllable of [name]Oliver[/name] - [name]Ol[/name] - with an N on the beginning, not really rhyming with either. But that’s a guess.
I bet [name]Ollie[/name] would grow on you, especially for a little baby. He would most likely just be called [name]Oliver[/name] in school and as a grown man. I’ve only met a handful of Olivers, but they were all just [name]Oliver[/name]. I don’t think it really needs a nickname.
If it feels like too much name when he’s a little one, you’ll either fall into calling him [name]Ollie[/name] and like it, or you’ll come up with some other cute nickname for him not derived from his name at all. I never intended to call my daughter [name]Maura[/name] [name]Mo[/name], but my FIL does it and it rubbed off on me. I love it now! It suits her. My parents never called me [name]Kathy[/name] or [name]Katie[/name] or anything for short, but they nicknamed me [name]Gertie[/name]. It evolved from my older sister refusing to call me by my name as a baby, she just referred to me as “the girl” (and my twin brother as “the boy”, of course). They started calling me Girly and that turned into [name]Gertie[/name]. I’m sure your older kids will have some cute way of saying his name or something that could turn into his nickname
