Hey y’all!
I am needing some help with putting together some nicknames for my daughter. She has recently come to me and asked for a name change (she’s only 13) because a teacher said her name was ‘plain [name_f]Jane[/name_f] like hers’. I reassured her that she has a beautiful name and that it comes from our family, but I told her I would help come up with a nickname for her anyways! Her name is [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Leanne[/name_f]. She does not want to go by [name_f]Leanne[/name_f] because it is her grandmothers name. So far we have come up with the usual, [name_f]Molly[/name_f], [name_f]Em[/name_f], [name_f]Mae[/name_f], [name_f]Ree[/name_f]…none of them have sparked her interest so I would love to hear from y’all, you’re probably much more creative than I am!
We appreciate the help so much!
That’s not very nice of her teacher! [name_m]How[/name_m] annoying! I think [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Leanne[/name_f] is lovely. If she really wants a nickname though how about…[name_f]May[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_u]Lee[/name_u], [name_f]Mimi[/name_f], [name_f]Rianne[/name_f], Maylee, [name_f]Lia[/name_f] or [name_f]Mia[/name_f]? I’m so sorry that stinking teacher said something to her and made her feel badly!
Aw, that’s a beautiful name! Most of the nicknames I immediately think of, you’ve already got (so the connections here are less obvious), but maybe:
[name_f]Marlee[/name_f]/[name_u]Marley[/name_u] ([name_f]MARy[/name_f] [name_f]LEanne[/name_f])
[name_u]Ari[/name_u]
[name_f]Lea[/name_f]
[name_f]Mimi[/name_f]
[name_f]Marnie[/name_f]
[name_f]Minnie[/name_f]
[name_u]Rae[/name_u]
[name_f]Mara[/name_f]
[name_f]Mari[/name_f]
[name_f]Mara[/name_f]
[name_f]Mimi[/name_f]
[name_f]Lea[/name_f]
[name_f]Mari[/name_f]
[name_f]Mara[/name_f]
[name_f]Mimi[/name_f]
[name_f]Lea[/name_f]
That nasty teacher!
The first nickname I thought of was [name_f]Mamie[/name_f], the nickname given to [name_f]Meryl[/name_f] Streep’s gorgeous daughter [name_f]Mamie[/name_f], born [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Willa[/name_f].
If she doesn’t like any alternatives, maybe she’ll see the beauty of her name 
[name_f]Marnie[/name_f] would be my pick. It’s practically [name_f]Mary[/name_f], but with the ‘n’ thrown in there, perhaps as a nod to [name_f]Leanne[/name_f]? [name_f]Marnie[/name_f] is a cool character on Girls, and a chic character in one of [name_m]Hitchcock[/name_m]'s best suspense films. I love the name. I met only one and she was a lovely girl!
You could also do [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u]/[name_u]Marlow[/name_u]/[name_f]Marlo[/name_f].
Oh, since I suggested [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u], I thought of [name_u]Marley[/name_u]. That’s a legitimate smoosh of [name_f]Mary[/name_f] and [name_f]Leanne[/name_f]. Plus, it’s adorable and cool!
What a nasty thing to say, What gives this horrible teacher the right to say such a thing?!?!
Of course [name_f]Mary[/name_f] is neither as unusual as - let’s say-[name_f]Circe[/name_f], nor as frilly as [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f], but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful, especially since it has family ties for you! And I really like the combo of [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Leanne[/name_f]!! Your daughter is definitely in the age in which it is not unusual for her to doubt her name, but her teacher should be old and intelligent enough to know that 1. you chose a name that you liked very much and thought would fit your daughter 2. that while she doesn’t have to be a fan of that name, it’s none of her business, and thus she shouldn’t make comments, if she doesn’t have anything nice to say (seriously: doesn’t she know what comments like this can do to a young girl?!).
Anyway it might take some time, even years, for your daughter to fully like her name, I know I needed a long time, I received quiet a few nasty comments and with my name not being the most usual name, there were always a few problems with the spelling and pronunciation of it - that didn’t make things easier! I’d say: keep on talking about your daughters name, talk about your reasons for choosing it, why you think it’s beautiful, talk about the family members who share this name and why you wanted to name her after these people - what makes them special enough that you wanted to honor them with the name of your daughter and I promise: in time she’ll have so may good associations with her name, that she will like and appreciate it.
Meanwhile, a nn is never a bad idea, especially with a name with family connections, a nn could give your daughter this small special something that’s hers and hers alone.
My best friends name is [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_f]Luise[/name_f] and she is nicknamed [name_f]MaLou[/name_f], perhaps that might work for your daughter as well, since she has the same initials.
Also I saw that [name_f]Meryl[/name_f] Streep has been mentioned before, her full name is [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Louise[/name_f] as far as I know, so [name_f]Meryl[/name_f] might be another option for you.
But there are still a few more:
[name_f]Millie[/name_f]
[name_f]Molly[/name_f] (I know, this was already on your list, but I wanted to bring it back in the game, perhaps your daughter likes [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m], because there’s the charter of [name_f]Molly[/name_f] Weasley, so that might be a reason for choosing this name. But even if not: try to find nn options from books or movies your daughter likes!)
[name_f]Maisie[/name_f]
[name_m]Leary[/name_m] (I think this could be a very unexpected combination of [name_f]Mary[/name_f] and [name_f]Leanne[/name_f], taking the first three letters of her mn and adding the last two letters of her first name to it.
What a nasty thing to say, What gives this horrible teacher the right to say such a thing?!?!
Of course [name_f]Mary[/name_f] is neither as unusual as - let’s say-[name_f]Circe[/name_f], nor as frilly as [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f], but that doesn’t make it any less beautiful, especially since it has family ties for you! And I really like the combo of [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Leanne[/name_f]!! Your daughter is definitely in the age in which it is not unusual for her to doubt her name, but her teacher should be old and intelligent enough to know that 1. you chose a name that you liked very much and thought would fit your daughter 2. that while she doesn’t have to be a fan of that name, it’s none of her business, and thus she shouldn’t make comments, if she doesn’t have anything nice to say (seriously: doesn’t she know what comments like this can do to a young girl?!).
Anyway it might take some time, even years, for your daughter to fully like her name, I know I needed a long time, I received quiet a few nasty comments and with my name not being the most usual name, there were always a few problems with the spelling and pronunciation of it - that didn’t make things easier! I’d say: keep on talking about your daughters name, talk about your reasons for choosing it, why you think it’s beautiful, talk about the family members who share this name and why you wanted to name her after these people - what makes them special enough that you wanted to honor them with the name of your daughter and I promise: in time she’ll have so may good associations with her name, that she will like and appreciate it.
Meanwhile, a nn is never a bad idea, especially with a name with family connections, a nn could give your daughter this small special something that’s hers and hers alone.
My best friends name is [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_f]Luise[/name_f] and she is nicknamed [name_f]MaLou[/name_f], perhaps that might work for your daughter as well, since she has the same initials.
Also I saw that [name_f]Meryl[/name_f] Streep has been mentioned before, her full name is [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_f]Louise[/name_f] as far as I know, so [name_f]Meryl[/name_f] might be another option for you.
But there are still a few more:
[name_f]Millie[/name_f]
[name_f]Molly[/name_f] (I know, this was already on your list, but I wanted to bring it back in the game, perhaps your daughter likes [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_m]Potter[/name_m], because there’s the charter of [name_f]Molly[/name_f] Weasley, so that might be a reason for choosing this name. But even if not: try to find nn options from books or movies your daughter likes!)
[name_f]Maisie[/name_f]
[name_m]Leary[/name_m] (I think this could be a very unexpected combination of [name_f]Mary[/name_f] and [name_f]Leanne[/name_f], taking the first three letters of her mn and adding the last two letters of her first name to it.
I thought of Muffy, used as nn for [name_f]Mary[/name_f] on “[name_m]Arthur[/name_m].” Probably not what a hip 13-year-old is looking for though. Could go with a foreign translation of [name_f]Mary[/name_f], like [name_f]Maria[/name_f], [name_f]Marie[/name_f], or [name_f]Moira[/name_f]. (Or even [name_f]Mairead[/name_f]!) Could also lengthen it to [name_f]Marianne[/name_f], [name_f]Marianna[/name_f], or [name_f]Marietta[/name_f].
For [name_f]Leanna[/name_f], [name_f]Annie[/name_f] could work. Or [name_f]Anna[/name_f]. Or [name_f]Annamaria[/name_f].
Also, what about something random associated with her? If she’s a redhead, she could be [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f] or [name_f]Rose[/name_f]. If she likes the color [name_u]Blue[/name_u], she could be [name_u]Blue[/name_u] or [name_u]Indigo[/name_u].
Overall, though, name hatred and nicknames tend to come and go; I wouldn’t worry too much about it. She’s 13 - how many of us liked anything at 13?
[name_m]How[/name_m] upsetting! [name_f]Mary[/name_f] is my favourite name for a girl, so I hope your daughter will grow to love her beautiful, timeless name again before too long.
Here are some nicknames that might be possible in the meantime…
[name_f]Mali[/name_f] / [name_f]Mallie[/name_f]
[name_f]Manon[/name_f]
[name_f]Mae[/name_f]
[name_u]Marian[/name_u]
Maiwenn
[name_u]Marley[/name_u]
[name_f]Marilyn[/name_f]
Marillee
[name_f]Marigold[/name_f]