Lately I’ve been crushing on the name combination [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] for my some day in the future daughter.
Since I love the nickname [name_f]Maddy[/name_f], I would love for her to be called like that by family members and friends, even tough [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] would be “just” her middle name.
[name_f]Sophia[/name_f] would be the first name, because I like the flow of [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] better than [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]. It should also be the first name, because in the country where I live people have a hard time pronouncing and spelling foreign names right. In that way teachers for example could call her by [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] while close people call her [name_f]Maddy[/name_f].
[name_f]My[/name_f] question: Is it unheard of/confusing to go by the nickname of your middle name? Of course I don’t want my daughter to wonder why some people call her [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] and others [name_f]Maddy[/name_f].
Unheard of? No. I personally know a Francis Edward “Ed,” an Erin Kathleen “Katie,” and an Anne Maureen “Mo,” for instance.
Confusing? I honestly think it depends on context. If someone sees a person’s legal name first, it might be more confusing (like for teachers in school or for dealing with official documents), but in the day to day, most folks get called what they introduce themselves as, so in that sense, it might just require a brief explanation for those who choose to explain or to share their legal first name.
Taking a nickname from a middle name is not something I’d do personally (not my preference), but I don’t see much of anything wrong with it and I think Sophia Madeleine “Maddy” is a fine choice with great reasons behind it.
I know a few people who either go by their middle name at home and first name otherwise or a nickname by family and their actual name by friends - most of them decided to not correct people so they ended up with two names. I don’t know anyone who would be confused by this, even as young children it was normal.
[name_f]Sophia[/name_f] [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] is lovely.
I think it wouldn’t be much of a problem ! I went to school with a [name_u]Michael[/name_u] [name_m]Alan[/name_m] . Who went by [name_m]Alan[/name_m] exclusively