I know there’s a game devoted to this, but I’m hoping to see more of people speaking from real life experiences.
Do you have a child or yourself have a name that people seemed to think was unnicknameable? Feel free to share what you ended up using as a nickname related to their name.
My son is Jonas and I was really worried that we couldn’t give him a nickname. We live in Australia where everything is shorten, so he needed a nickname. At 8 months he’s been called all these so far: Jojo, Jonesy, Jones, Joni, Joni Boy and Joni B (I call him Joni even though my Dad hates it .)
Without sharing what it is, I have a name that many people have thought is short for something when it actually isn’t. (Think: if my name was [name_f]Kate[/name_f], people would think my name is [name_f]Kaitlin[/name_f] when it’s actually just Kate.)
So it’s a bit harder to shorten it more although people have tried the equivalent of “Kat” to “Kate” (knocking off a syllable) but most people just call me the whole 2 syllables of my name lol.
my nickname is nearly unable to be nicknamed through pronunciation— on sight and with another pronunciation it’s really easy to nickname! that’s led to some trouble, though albeit not a lot! i’ve ended up with a name unrelated but still so cutesy! think: coco for nicolette but slightly stretchier!
I’m [name_f]Ayla[/name_f] and no one has really ever tried to give me a nickname. I just go by [name_f]Ayla[/name_f]. [name_m]Jonah[/name_m] is a great name on its own and not so long that it needs a nickname imo but I live in the US
My mum tried to pick names that weren’t easily nickname-able. It’s one (of several) reasons why she didn’t pick Eleanor in the end.
My brother’s name does technically have two easy-to-get-to nicknames - however, I don’t think people would intuitively use the obvious ones on someone beyond the age of 10 - unless they introduced themselves as such, or it did just really ‘fit’ them. I haven’t heard anyone use them on him besides family occasionally.
My name is really easy to add an ‘ee’ sound onto the end (Grace → Gracie) - something I don’t think my mum quite anticipated people doing, though now I’m older, people do it less, I think? I do have a nickname at home that sort of links to my name, mostly via beginning sound and alliteration which is Growl / Growly
I think people will find a nickname for anything tbh Not a person, but I didn’t think I would nickname my guinea pig Peyton, and yet she’s Pey, PeyPey, Peytie, Miss Pey… As for real life, I do know several people with nicknames that are loosely attached to their name yet they somehow make it work (an Elizabeth nn Nettie, via Betty because a sib struggled with saying Bs, Amelia nn May, Imogen nn Mimsy)
We thought my sister’s four letter name couldn’t be shortened to anything! But we didn’t factor in the [name_f]English[/name_f] and their love of adding Z onto unnickname-able names to make them into a nickname (think [name_m]Barry[/name_m] = [name_m]Baz[/name_m], Darren/Darryl = Daz etc)! So she used to get called a variation of the above by a few brave uncles until my mum put a stop to it
[name_f]My[/name_f] name is [name_f]Ginger[/name_f] which many have assumed is short for [name_f]Virginia[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] sister is [name_f]Betsy[/name_f] which many assumed was [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]. People called my Ging a lot, though I didn’t instigate it, and my sister, [name_f]Bet[/name_f] or [name_f]Betty[/name_f] A LOT.
I’m not a nickname person at all. [name_f]Pet[/name_f] names, sure. I love that [name_m]Jonas[/name_m] is solid as is without obvious nn potential but realize I’m in the vast minority these days. I think [name_m]Joe[/name_m] or [name_f]Jojo[/name_f] is very doable, though, if that’s what you want. I do like [name_m]Jonesy[/name_m].
[name_m]Son[/name_m] is Grantson and he has never been [name_m]Grant[/name_m]. Daughter is Wellsley and ppl call her [name_m]Wells[/name_m] at least half the time
I think adding an -ie sound to any name or just getting called by first initial “G” to any name that doesn’t have a super intuitive nickname is common!
I work with kids and have found that I can find a way to nickname/shorten even the most unnicknameable names (I respect the kids and the parents, so if they ask me not to do it I won’t).
Some examples I can think of off the top of my head:
[name_f]Hazel[/name_f] [name_m]Zel[/name_m], Zellie, [name_f]Hazie[/name_f]
[name_m]Simon[/name_m] [name_m]Si[/name_m]
[name_m]Dylan[/name_m] Dyl (and [name_f]Annie[/name_f] when it was a girl)
[name_f]Piper[/name_f] P, [name_m]Pip[/name_m], [name_m]Pi[/name_m], Pipes
If it’s a short name, 1-2 syllable name, etc. that seems unnicknameable, I tend to lean into using first initial or adding that “ee” ending sound (think [name_f]Hope[/name_f] Hopie, [name_m]Owen[/name_m] O, etc)
[name_f]Truly[/name_f], though, I’ve found that the “unnicknameable” names tend to get very unique, organic nicknames vs names that have more intuitive nicknames. Both are great naming choices, just depends on your preference. For me, I don’t mind the idea of names that have intuitive/in-your-face nickname options BUT there are some nicknames I just personally despise and therefore wouldn’t use a name that had it as an intuitive/inherent nickname option.
Fellow Australian haha:) Your [name_m]Jonas[/name_m] is going to get every version of [name_f]Jo[/name_f] (as you’ve described ) unless you choose something and run with it! [name_f]My[/name_f] brother’s name is [name_m]Joseph[/name_m], but he’s always been [name_m]Joey[/name_m], which could actually work for [name_m]Jonas[/name_m] too!
[name_f]My[/name_f] name is [name_f]Anna[/name_f], which has proved more difficult to ‘nicknamify’. Most frequently I’ve gotten [name_f]An[/name_f], [name_f]Annie[/name_f], An-dog (from one stubborn individual), Anna-banana and Anna-spanner but (thankfully) nothing but [name_f]Anna[/name_f] really sticks.
.)
Not a person, but I didn’t think I would nickname my guinea pig Peyton, and yet she’s Pey, PeyPey, Peytie, Miss Pey… As for real life, I do know several people with nicknames that are loosely attached to their name yet they somehow make it work (an Elizabeth nn Nettie, via Betty because a sib struggled with saying Bs, Amelia nn May, Imogen nn Mimsy)
[name_m]Zel[/name_m], Zellie, [name_f]Hazie[/name_f]
) unless you choose something and run with it! [name_f]My[/name_f] brother’s name is [name_m]Joseph[/name_m], but he’s always been [name_m]Joey[/name_m], which could actually work for [name_m]Jonas[/name_m] too!