Do any of you have kids (or you yourself?) who have a nickname and a formal name and taught or were taught both? I’m thinking of that time when kids are 4-6 years old, learning to spell and signing their name on everything at school.
We gave my daughter a name that is uncommon in our area and find we are using her more familiar nickname a lot. We love both her names! We might want to send her to school with her nickname so she can just be called one name at school.
How did this go for you? Is it strange having two names?? I’ve never had a nickname and my son doesn’t have a nickname, it seems like it would be confusing!
Please advise!
Thanks,
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Hello!
[name_f]My[/name_f] brother has a nickname, and he decided to go by it when he was in Kindergarten. He used it when learning to write and on all his assignments, and his name at school was [name_m]Jack[/name_m]. (His documents had his full name) but it made it easier for him. Of course he learned how to spell his full name, though.
I guess what I would do is ask your daughter what she prefers!
[name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps xx
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Yes! Thank you. I just don’t want it to be a burden on her to have to choose between two names. Did your brother feel good about his choice ongoing through his life?
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So I’ve always gone by my nickname (Abby) but I grew up surrounded by things with both my nickname and my full name so I never had an issue spelling either. I also have an uncommon spelling of my full name. [name_f]My[/name_f] youngest sister goes by a nickname at home and has gone by both her full name and her nickname at school and on her soccer team. It was a personal preference for her, whether she decided to correct teachers on the first day or not, and it came after we called her by the nickname almost exclusively. It was never confusing for her to go by both.
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He has changed a few times actually! And it’s never been a problem. Certain people will call him [name_m]Jack[/name_m] and others will call him his full name. I feel that people will call her whatever you introduce her as even if later they learn she has a nickname or full name. [name_f]My[/name_f] brother never regretted being called [name_m]Jack[/name_m] at school though, it was just a little easier for him.
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I have a non-intuitive nickname (that nickname actually happens to be [name_m]Jack[/name_m], like the example given in the comment above, but it’s not short for [name_m]John[/name_m] or [name_u]Jackson[/name_u], for instance). I go by both my nickname and my “formal” name, and although it can be a bit of a headache sometimes, honestly people mostly adjust pretty well. YMMV, but in my experience it’s best to get the name you (or in this case, your child) are most comfortable with being called out there early, especially if there’s a strong preference. Most people don’t tend to alternate, I’ve found, they pick one and stick with it, which makes sense but it also slightly surprised me when I realized it.
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I think she’s at an age where she’ll kind of figure it out on her own? [name_f]My[/name_f] name is [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] but only my family calls me that. Everyone else calls me [name_u]Abi[/name_u] but it’s kind of what I decided for myself in first grade. I think your daughter will be fine with using both names and she’ll
Probably decide for herself if she prefers one or not!
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When I was four or five and started Kindergarten, my teacher always called me by a nickname. However, i remember writing my full name and nickname on things. I was very aware that one was a nickname and the other was my full name. It never confused me or anything. My brother also had a nickname when he was a kid and he didn’t have any issues, either
So I imagine you’ll be totally fine
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I have two sisters who both use nicknames!
[name_f]My[/name_f] oldest sister almost exclusively uses her nickname. I actually feel really weird calling her by her full name! In school my sister first learnt how to write her full name, and then learnt the nickname later. It’s never confused her, but she definitely feels more comfortable with her nickname.
[name_f]My[/name_f] younger sister goes by both actually! [name_f]My[/name_f] family has always called her by her nickname, she didn’t know her name was ‘Bêatrïce’ until she was maybe 3 
None of us used it! We made more of an effort to make sure she knew what her full name was after that…
What surprised us though was that when she started school she decided to go by her long form, which she hadnt ever gone by at all! Now she goes by her nickname at home and with family, but uses her full name at school. It doesn’t seem confusing for her at all, she seems to switch quite seamlessly!
Both my sister’s have quite different relationships with their nicknames/full names, I think I’d recommend asking your child which they’d prefer to go by (or if they’d just like to go by both!) But I think you should be just fine!
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Let her decide, she’ll be fine. As long as she can spell both versions, she can decide for herself it she wants the nickname in school. I remember being around 5 and all my teachers tried calling me the short form of my name, I corrected EVERYONE! (‘that’s not my name, I prefer this’).
I was also an extremely petty with it, if anyone used it accidently I wouldn’t answer, I’d just stare at them till they corrected themselves 
like at 4/5, I knew they were referring to me, and I knew it was a nickname, but I decided not to use it
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[name_f]My[/name_f] parents just called me by both. 
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Most of the teachers at the school system I grew up in asked kids about name preferences. Other than a few older “your name is [name_f]Katherine[/name_f], not [name_f]Katie[/name_f], so I will call you Katherine” type teachers, they worked with you. Haha. One kid went by Pudge and even teachers called him that (by his own wishes)! I don’t recall anyone having issues… she can probably voice her wishes.
I used to go by a nickname when I was younger. It was just something I was used to. I knew my name and I knew my nicknames and learned how to spell both early on. It was a bit confusing at times because my parents all spelled my nickname differently (Ali/Aly/Ally). Not a big deal though.
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I think you should be fine!
I had given myself two nicknames by the time I was three. Both were not names and not related to my actual name (think something like “Lady Bird”) but I went by one of them in preschool while still knowing that my given name was my name. It was never a source of confusion for me.
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[name_f]My[/name_f] kids all have formal names and official nicknames. They’re homeschooled, so I can’t attest to the classroom side of things, but all write their formal names on assignments and so on, mainly by choice. They go by both names equally but generally introduce themselves by their formal names. I taught the to write their formal names first, except my poor [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m], who started with Bash 
No one has seemed confused by the two options.
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One thing I’ve learned is that kids will tell you what they want to be called.
In working with kids I’ve had a child whose parents introduced her as Emmy but then she piped up that actually she wanted us to call her Emerson. I’ve also had a girl introduce herself as “Charlotte but I go by Lottie.”
So I would definitely play it by ear and let her pick what to go by. If you want to make sure she knows both you can always write out her full name to have her practice writing and spelling it or call out her full name sometimes to make sure she’ll respond enough.
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