If you plan on calling a child by a nickname, is it better to make their legal name the full name or the nickname?
DH and I are planning on shorter names for our children: [name]Jude[/name], [name]Molly[/name], [name]Lily[/name], etc. But with our short last name ([name]Rey[/name]), I worry that having short first names might sound awkward. Because of this, I would prefer to give them longer names: [name]Judah[/name], [name]Margaret[/name], [name]Lillian[/name], etc. in order to flow better.
Are there any opinions on what would be better/sound better? also, how do I convince DH that longer names are OK?
Personally I prefer giving full names and then just call the kids by their nicknames.
Nicknames are nicknames for a reason, it’s sweet and affectionate versions of the full name.
It must be so boring for a [name]Dolly[/name] for instance, instead of naming her [name]Dolores[/name] (or whatever) and then nicknaming her [name]Dolly[/name], she’ll have to live with a nickname and most likely wont have a nickname because a nickname for a nickname just sounds silly.
It’s also kind of hard to take a President [name]Dolly[/name] something serious. I often refer to [name]Prince[/name] [name]Harry[/name] of [name]Wales[/name]’ old girlfriend, [name]Chelsy[/name]. That would just never work, [name]Princess[/name] [name]Chelsy[/name]? I don’t think so.
But that’s just my opinion
I feel like there was a similar discussion earlier this week. You might enjoy reading the posts in that thread.
Personally I’m for a formal given name and separate nick names. I particularly enjoyed being able to change my masculine nn to a more feminine one when I was starting college and I went from my tomboy only phase to a girly-er me.
I prefer giving the full name and just using a nickname. That being said, if you genuinely despise the full name and/or another common nickname of it, I could see justification for just using the nn as a given name. I had a friend in school that was just [name]Christie[/name] because her mom loathed the idea that she’d wind up getting called [name]Tina[/name].
I think it also depends on the name. Some nicknames are almost always assumed to be nicknames, while others are more commonly used on their own. Of the ones you listed, I think [name]Lily[/name] is the best as a stand-alone name and [name]Molly[/name] in most need of a full name back-up. [name]Jude[/name] sounds the most choppy with a short last name since it’s the one that’s the shortest on its own.
[name]Judah[/name] and [name]Lillian[/name] would give the kid another option should he/she want it later in life. [name]Margaret[/name] not only is a really solid, adult-sounding name itself, it is a wealth of nicknames.
I think this generally divides people. There will be the ‘just name them what you plan on calling them’ and I certainly know people named [name]Tom[/name], [name]Will[/name] etc. Personally, I’m on the full name is more professional bandwagon, as well as provides children with an alternative as they get older. What if [name]Charlotte[/name] want to be a [name]Lottie[/name], not a [name]Charlie[/name].
I also think (and this might be weird) it depends on the name.
A guy named ‘just’ [name]Tom[/name] is not going to bother me as much as ‘just’ [name]Charlie[/name]. [name]One[/name] is a NN, one is a shortening if that makes sense.
[name]Lillian[/name] [name]Rey[/name] has stunning flow btw. Winner!
I think children should have full names on the birth certificate, but [name]Jude[/name], [name]Molly[/name] and [name]Lily[/name] are fine on their own and grow into great adult names.
With the short last name, though, I would say give any one syllable name, a longer name. [name]Molly[/name] [name]Rey[/name] and [name]Lily[/name] [name]Rey[/name] sound better than [name]Jude[/name] [name]Rey[/name].
I prefer giving a formal/full name and using a nickname. To me it doesn’t matter if you use the nn 90% of the time vs 10%. It is a nickname! I love [name]Betsy[/name] as a nn for [name]Elizabeth[/name]. But if I have a little girl and name her [name]Betsy[/name], she might HATE is and wish she was an [name]Elizabeth[/name] so she could be an [name]Eliza[/name] or an [name]Izzy[/name]! That’s just my opinion, many people feel the opposite way. I have a longer name with many nickname options and I absolutely love it. Then again, I like having options in every aspect of life - I cannot use the same shampoo/conditioner/bodywash/toothpaste two days in a row.
I think all three names you’ve listed work fine on their own. The two girls’ names are well established as names and are regularly used without a full name to the extent they’re in the top 50 - [name]Lily[/name] at #3 in the UK and [name]Molly[/name] at #46. [name]Jude[/name] was #83 on the boys’ side. For the US, [name]Lily[/name] is #15, [name]Molly[/name] is #78 and [name]Jude[/name] #155 - not quite as popular, but still pretty well used. I’d say [name]Molly[/name] [name]Rey[/name] and [name]Lily[/name] [name]Rey[/name] are fine as they are, though [name]Jude[/name] [name]Rey[/name] is a bit choppy - and if you gave one a full name, would the others feel left out that they haven’t got one as well?
I prefer formal names with nicknames than nicknames bestowed as given names.
I have a one syllable last name and I find longer names flow better than short names. I like [name]Jude[/name], but I couldn’t use it with a one syllable first name. All of my first names for boys are two syllables and all of my girls names are four.
