I have wanted a boy named [name]Kit[/name] for the longest time, and now we are expecting our third boy, it’s very much on the table, with my husband finally agreeing it’s a great nickname for [name]Christopher[/name].
Now here’s the dilemma - [name]Christopher[/name] is a great option for us as it honours my father, and it has my favourite nickname attached to it (my Dad goes by [name]Chris[/name]). The thing is that we don’t intend to ever call him [name]Christopher[/name] and don’t wish anyone else to either, unless he himself decides to go by it later.
I’d love to hear from people who have experience with using a different formal name to the nickname, and what annoyances there are with it. Obviously his new teacher at the beginning of every year might start out thinking she has a [name]Christopher[/name] in the class but soon learn he goes by [name]Kit[/name]. My husband seems to think it will all be too annoying and I’m so torn so your stories might help us decide if the annoyances will be too much or not.
We don’t want to put [name]Kit[/name] on the birth certificate either, rather than [name]Christopher[/name].
Our other option is [name]Jarvis[/name] [name]Christopher[/name], which he will be named if we decide against [name]Christopher[/name] for the first name. Thanks so much!
I’m a [name]Christina[/name] who goes by [name]Chrissie[/name] 100% of the time. (If I was a boy I would have been [name]Christopher[/name] :))
I’m a senior in hs and I’ve haven’t really had a problem with it and neither have any of my friends who go by nicknames. Most teachers when they take attendance on the first day of school usually ask what you like to be called because sooo many kids go by nicknames, midle names etc… Sometimes it does take a while for them to start calling you by a nickname all the time but they usually get it by the end of the first month or two of school.
For a more dramatic example I have an [name]Indian[/name] friend who has a very ethnic [name]Indian[/name] name. She likes to go by [name]Ruby[/name] which is not even close to her real name. I’ve known her since I was eleven and everyone, teachers included, know that she is [name]Ruby[/name] 100 %. I doubt they even remember her real name.
I think [name]Kit[/name] will be absolutely fine in school. And I love [name]Christopher[/name] with the nn [name]Kit[/name]! I think it’ll help that they start with the same basic sound too. I doubt he’ll have any trouble.
[name]Both[/name] my husband and I go by nicknames and each have a formal name (think [name]Angie[/name]/[name]Angela[/name] and [name]Eddie[/name]/[name]Edward[/name]), but I see those, like yours, as intuitive nicknames, where the nickname forms part of the actual full name.
I guess I see [name]Kit[/name] as an entirely different name to [name]Christopher[/name] - a bit like [name]Peggy[/name] for [name]Margaret[/name] and [name]Betsy[/name] for [name]Elizabeth[/name] - but you’re right, they do share the same first sound, if not the first letter.
I had a friend called [name]Happy[/name] who I just assumed was only named [name]Happy[/name] for years.
My advice is to send out [name]Kit[/name] birth announcements ( of course include his full, but [name]Kit[/name] in big font)
Introduce him as [name]Kit[/name] in social situations
When you enroll him in daycare/pre-K/Kindergarten or whatever fill out papers as [name]Christopher[/name] “[name]Kit[/name]” _______.
I love the name [name]Christopher[/name], and I don’t see why you can’t call him [name]Kit[/name]! I don’t think it will cause any confusion–all he has to do is say ‘no, call me [name]Kit[/name] please’ and problem solved. If the teacher doesn’t know him, it won’t be any harder for her to learn that is name is [name]Kit[/name] than it would be for [name]Christopher[/name]. In fact, it might be even easier, since it’s an uncommon name but easy to remember.
If people can go by their middle names, you can definitely use a nickname that isn’t completely derived from the first name. My name’s [name]Alicia[/name] and my friends call me [name]Ali[/name] ([name]Ally[/name]), a sound that isn’t in my name at all, and it’s never been an issue. He’ll learn to correct people and tell them that he prefers [name]Kit[/name] to [name]Christopher[/name], and if he’s doing this early on, everyone who meets him will know him as [name]Kit[/name] and it won’t be a problem.
Yes it is a really amazing nickname and I’ve loved it for years and years - British in origin, like my Dad, making it even more perfect as a choice for us. Apparently Christophers can also go by [name]Kip[/name], which is super-cute too.
I agree with taz’s suggestions. I was friends with a [name]Nina[/name] for years before I found out her full name was [name]Kristina[/name]. She disliked the usual nicknames and so [name]Nina[/name] was her name— not [name]Kristina[/name]-call-me-[name]Nina[/name]. [name]Just[/name] [name]Nina[/name]!
At school I was friends with a [name]Christopher[/name] who went by [name]Kit[/name] 100% of the time. As far as I know he never had any problems with his name
Most teachers ask at the beginning of each semester/year what students prefer to go by when they are taking attendance for the first time and make a note of it, so I think [name]Kit[/name] would be ok.
Not to be a downer, but I have met a couple of people who hated the nn that their parents gave them and refused to use it as soon as they could start talking. My mother named my brother [name]James[/name] because she loved the nn [name]Jamie[/name], but he hated it and refused to answer to it and always just went by [name]James[/name]. [name]Just[/name] make sure that you love [name]Christopher[/name] as much as you love [name]Kit[/name]!
As a teacher I had a few students in this situation. I actually taught a pair of twins where neither of them went by their official first names and at this point I don’t even remember what they were. They were always Greig and [name]Sommer[/name] (boy) to me after that first roll call.
I have an acquaintance who picked her own nickname (Froggi, yes Froggi) because she hated her given name ([name]Ramona[/name]). From watching her reaction in classes when different teachers would ask for [name]Ramona[/name], I think it really bugged her. But that was sort of a special case. She despised her name and we had a bunch of different teachers for the same course so she kept having to ‘correct’ them.
My daughter, [name]Mary[/name], goes by [name]Molly[/name] almost 100% of the time. It’s easy with the schools. I just make it clear that she goes by her nickname, [name]Molly[/name], and that’s what they call her. Most of my friends don’t even realize that her legal name is [name]Mary[/name].
I don’t love [name]Christopher[/name] as much as I love [name]Kit[/name] but I have a purpose for using it - to honour my father. So for that reason I would be ok with him deciding to use it when got old enough to choose
None of the people I know that have very different nicknames have ever had any significant problems with it, aside from teachers and such calling them their full name on role call and situations like that. All they have to say is “call me ----” and the problem is solved. In fact, I have found that people actually remember “the one who’s named ---- but goes by —” better than other people with regular names, since they find it more interesting. I have known several Korean boys who dropped their Korean names as soon as they arrived in [name]Canada[/name]. [name]One[/name] went by [name]Justin[/name], another by [name]Kevin[/name], another by [name]Tom[/name]…and no one even remembered their actual names, literally!
People get used to whatever you call your child as a nicname. I prefer a more formal name to giving a nn as a given name, but [name]Kit[/name] is awesome and I like [name]Christopher[/name] as a first or mn in your situation.
I have just posted a similar thread asking the same question!
I want to name my daughter [name]Valentina[/name], but I want her to go by [name]Nala[/name] most of the time. I was wondering whether to just put [name]Nala[/name] on the school registration forms as I don’t want people to start calling her [name]Val[/name] or [name]Tina[/name]!
I like someones idea of putting [name]Valentina[/name] “[name]Nala[/name]” … on the form.
[name]Kit[/name] is a great nn for [name]Christopher[/name]!
