Hello!
First time poster here, hoping to get some feedback on the name [name]Vincent[/name]. I absolutely adore this name, but very much dislike the nicknames- [name]Vinny[/name], [name]Vin[/name], etc. [name]Vince[/name] is the only one that I am sort of OK with…
My question is, do you think it is possible for a [name]Vincent[/name] to actually be called [name]Vincent[/name]? Or, will the nicknames always win?
Thanks for the feedback!
I think if you only call him [name]Vincent[/name] then everyone else will too. But as he gets older he may decide he likes to be called [name]Vince[/name] or [name]Vin[/name], and all his friends and people he meets on his own will call him that. I babysat a [name]Raymond[/name] who was always called [name]Raymond[/name] until he turned 12 or 13 and only wanted to be called [name]Ray[/name].
I seriously dislike the nicknames for [name]Vincent[/name] (especially [name]Vince[/name] and [name]Vinny[/name]), but I love the name. I guess you can’t ensure that he’ll always be called [name]Vincent[/name] though, maybe he’d even want to shorten it down himself. [name]Chente[/name] is a lovely nickname for [name]Vincent[/name] by the way.
You can always use a middle name that has a nickname you like and introduce that as the possible short form or alternative. I think you can largely control it if you provide/designate the alternative but if you just say “no nickname” you might lose. I like how the Germans will often use the first two letters of each name to make the nickname i.e [name]Karl[/name] [name]Konrad[/name] is Kako. You could come up with something like this:
[name]Vincent[/name] [name]George[/name] = [name]Vigo[/name]
[name]Vincent[/name] [name]Tomas[/name] = [name]Vito[/name]
[name]Vincent[/name] [name]Michael[/name] = Vim
That really depends on the kid.
My father insisted that he would only ever call me [name]Rebekah[/name], but as a kid I went through a phase when everyone except my parents called my Bekah. As I got older I started going by [name]Rebekah[/name] more and more. Though some people still call me Bekah, I almost prefer [name]Rebekah[/name] now. [name]Vincent[/name] seems like it would be similar unless he totally loves his name from the get go. Nothing against [name]Vincent[/name], but sometimes people need some time to warm up to their name. He might go through a [name]Vince[/name] phase or stick with [name]Vince[/name]. :eek:
My suggestion to you though, is if [name]Vince[/name] is the only nn you like then only “allow” that one if he insists on a nn. Let me explain. My parents didn’t want me to have any nn but the only nn they could tolerate was Bekah, no [name]Becky[/name]. They just came out and told me that they thought Bekah was prettier than [name]Becky[/name] and that they really didn’t like the sound of [name]Becky[/name] at all (no offense to Beckys, this is only a personal opinion). So when I was little, I found myself thinking, “I do like the sound of Bekah more and it sets me apart from all the Beckys.” So tell your son when he’s begging for a nn that you think [name]Vince[/name] sounds much more handsome and manly then [name]Vinny[/name] or [name]Vin[/name] and chances are he’ll end up agreeing, especially if he’s under 13 and there aren’t any other Vinces in his classroom.
Sorry for my ramblings. [name]Hope[/name] that was helpful.
I think if you primarily call your child [name]Vincent[/name], then MOST people will follow suit. However, my son is [name]Vincent[/name], and while we call him [name]Vince[/name] and [name]Vinny[/name] most of the time, some people randomly call him [name]Vin[/name], too. I’m not against [name]Vin[/name], it just isn’t one of the nicknames we use for him, but some people do. The point is, I think if you choose a name like [name]Vincent[/name] with really obvious nicknames, you have to resign yourself to the fact that at some point, he might be called by all or any one of the names.
That aside, I obviously think [name]Vincent[/name] is a really great name and we get compliments on [name]Vinny[/name]'s name all the time. Good luck!
[name]Love[/name] [name]Vincent[/name]! [name]Vincent[/name] [name]Van[/name] Gogh is one of my favorite painters. Unlike you, I do like [name]Vin[/name], but agree with others that most people will follow your lead and use [name]Vincent[/name] instead of a nickname.
Thank you for the feedback, all. [name]One[/name] of my other issues with [name]Vincent[/name] is that my married last name is quite Italian. I am not at all Italian, and my husband is half (and he has a very Italian first name as well, [name]Gasparo[/name]). Although there is some desire to honor my husband’s Italian heritage, I fear that it may be ‘too’ Italian, if that makes sense. I do still absolutely love the full name [name]Vincent[/name], though. Hmm. I still have quite some time to consider, and do appreciate the thoughts.
oh and emmyk12, [name]Vincent[/name] [name]Harrison[/name] is so lovely. My maiden is actually [name]Harris[/name], so that combination really got me. 
I am the same way! [name]Love[/name] [name]Vincent[/name], but not the nn. I think nn can be avoided. We have a [name]Bennett[/name] and he is NEVER [name]Ben[/name]! When he is older I guess it is possible, but he or us always enforce that his name is not [name]Ben[/name].
Alright confession time. I love watching awful CW show. The Beast from the new “Beauty and the Beast” is named [name]Vincent[/name] and I don’t think anyone calls him anything else. I always figure if the CW can handle that rule normal people can too.
I’ve also meet a Vicent (Vie-cent) which isn’t as easily nn in my book. Though I do prefer having that n in there.
I agree wholeheartedly with this. My name is [name]Catherine[/name] and I never went by any nickname and no one ever called me anything other than [name]Catherine[/name]. When I meet someone new, sometimes they ask me what I go by and I say [name]Catherine[/name] and that’s the end of it. I have honestly never understood people’s opinion that nicknames are unavoidable. That has not been my experience. Of course, as pp said, he may decide to go by a nn later in life, but that’s up to him. If you only ever call him [name]Vincent[/name], no one else will nn him.