After 2 girls ([name]Annabelle[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name]), we just found out #3 is a boy! Our boy’s name is and always has been [name]John[/name], it’s my husband’s and his late father’s name. Here’s the thing: I hate “[name]Johnny[/name]”. I have two Uncle [name]John[/name]'s and a cousin [name]John[/name] that always went by [name]Johnny[/name] growing up. It makes me gag a little bit. And, my husband’s sister still calls him [name]Johnny[/name]. I don’t want him to be “[name]Baby[/name] [name]John[/name]” or “[name]John[/name] ___(mn)” either.
My husband is against calling him [name]Jack[/name], (“If we want to call him [name]Jack[/name], we’d name him [name]Jack[/name].”) He doesn’t see how it’s ok for [name]John[/name] to be [name]Jack[/name]. [name]Jack[/name] would sound so cute with his sister’s names and our last name too!
So… help me learn to love [name]John[/name], give me tips on how to avoid [name]Johnny[/name] (or any other nickname that’s meant to distinguish him from his father), or even better, how do I convince him we’ll call him [name]Jack[/name]? ([name]Just[/name] start doing it when he’s born? I honestly think my dad might do that!).
My little boys mn is [name]John[/name] - named after my partners father & great-grandfather. His great-grandfather always went by [name]Jack[/name]. I personally love [name]John[/name] with the nn [name]Jack[/name]. Infact im really trying to convince my partner that if our next baby is a boy to call him [name]Jacob[/name] nn [name]Jack[/name]. We dont want [name]Jacob[/name] nn [name]Jake[/name] as [name]Jake[/name] is my partners name, and he said himself he would prefer nn [name]Jack[/name] after his great-grandad.
I really dont think [name]John[/name] nn [name]Jack[/name] is bad at all, plus it goes lovely with your 2 daughters names. Im trying the old keep pestering him and he will give in trick for my partner, maybe try that if your hearts set on [name]Jack[/name]
& congratulations on your little boy!
[name]John[/name] is eternally sweet. Ok I’m biased since I married one! His father is [name]John[/name], goes by [name]Jack[/name]; and his father’s father is [name]John[/name]/[name]Jack[/name] ect time a million generations. My hubby has never been [name]Johnny[/name]. I think [name]John[/name] [name]John[/name] as a kid but really just [name]John[/name].
There’s always Johno. A baby [name]Jack[/name] would be so so cute!
[name]How[/name] bout [name]Ian[/name]? It’s [name]John[/name]'s Scottish variant (i think).
Cheers!
˙·٠•” [name]Poppy[/name]
[name]John[/name] is a classic.
You will never have to worry about someone not pronouncing his name right or misspelling it. You can also almost always find personalized items with this name. Plus it’s a name that transitions well through ages. It will not be hard to imagine a baby [name]John[/name] as an adult as it is with other names.
I love [name]Jack[/name] as a [name]John[/name] nickname! Have you thought about [name]Tre[/name]? As in French for 3? When my family came up against naming a child [name]Coy[/name] [name]Wallace[/name] the third they decided to go with [name]Tre[/name] as the nickname to totally distinguish from grandpa and dad. You still get all the family history of [name]John[/name] without the confusion. Plus, since you aren’t sold 100% on the name you can actually call him something different.
I think [name]John[/name] is timeless, but has been out of the top ten for long enough to become fresh (if not unusual) again. I have known several Johns, including one who is still a child, who have never been [name]Johnny[/name], so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. I think the first time someone says, “[name]Hi[/name], [name]Johnny[/name],” you can gently say, “He/we prefer(s) [name]John[/name],” until he’s old enough to say it himself (or to say otherwise, haha!).
Maybe to convince your husband of [name]Jack[/name], you could argue that [name]Jack[/name] is just as traditional a nickname for [name]John[/name] as [name]Johnny[/name] (and way cuter). If [name]Annabelle[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name] go by nicknames sometimes, then this would be a perfect option for your son (you don’t have to call him [name]Jack[/name] all the time). My uncle was definitely [name]Little[/name] [name]Royden[/name] until he was grown and then my grandfather started going by his middle name so people wouldn’t confuse them! Since there are so many Johns in your family, [name]Jack[/name] IS a nice way to let little [name]John[/name] distinguish himself from his father until he wants to be [name]John[/name], too. It could be confusing (I mean, tons of families do it, I guess, but still) for you to yell, “[name]John[/name]!” and have two different people come running… Or maybe not all of you have to call him [name]Jack[/name]. (Maybe just you could. My sister was always [name]Catherine[/name] sans nickname, except that my mom sometimes called her [name]Bunny[/name].) Or maybe the pestering/do-it-anyway move will work just fine
[name]Tre[/name] is a good suggestion, too.
I don’t know if any of those will work or not, but congrats!
I’m kinda on the same page as your husband about naming your son one name and then calling him another. It doesn’t make sense to me. But I do have a short story that might help. [name]One[/name] of my co-workers married a [name]John[/name] and he wanted their first son to have the same name. My friend hated the idea and convinced him to go with [name]Aaron[/name] instead because she loved the name [name]Aaron[/name]. But when he was born he looked so much like her husband she changed her mind and named him [name]John[/name]. Now she has three sons none of which she named [name]Aaron[/name].
If you decide to nickname your kid “[name]Tre[/name]” be sure not to tell people that it means “Three” in French.
I feel bad for making sound like I don’t love the name [name]John[/name]. I am totally onboard with it. It’s just the whole nickname/distinguishing him from dad thing…
btw… funny about the [name]Tre[/name] suggestion- we have friends who have a little guy who is the III and he goes exclusively by [name]Trip[/name]!
I don’t know if your husband is familiar with the fact that there is a whole community of people who are mildly annoyed when children are given nicknames as their full names. While [name]Jack[/name] has evolved enough to be a stand alone, it absolutely is traditionally a nickname for either [name]James[/name] or [name]John[/name] so it’s not so weird - there’s more than the weirdness of calling him something he’s not - there’s giving him options when he’s older.
Anyway, whether you can win him over or not, I’ve known tons of Johns who don’t go by [name]Johnny[/name]. I really admire this classic, strong name. If you want another nickname I actually think [name]Joe[/name] or [name]Jojo[/name] is perfectly reasonable, although people will then assume he’s [name]Joseph[/name] and I’d imagine your husband not being into it. There’s also [name]Jay[/name]/J, JJ.
Good luck!
I know a [name]John[/name] whose given name is [name]Johnny[/name]. It causes him all sorts of paperwork problems…
To avoid [name]Johnny[/name] I think the easiest way would be to get a standard nickname for him right off the bat . [name]Jack[/name] would have been perfect. There’s also [name]Jay[/name], or popular initials like JJ, [name]JR[/name], JC that could work.
[name]How[/name] about [name]John[/name] [name]Patrick[/name], nn [name]Jack[/name]? (Or do you already have the mn picked out?)
[name]John[/name] is so classic and handsome. I think it goes really well with [name]Annabelle[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name]!
My reservations are exactly as yours are. There are probably 15 Johns in my family tree and all the living ones (with the exception of my dad) ALL go by [name]Johnny[/name]. I hate [name]Johnny[/name], lol. I won’t even consider just [name]John[/name] to honor them with the nn [name]Jack[/name] because I’m terrified by some awful fluke he’ll get the nn [name]Johnny[/name] instead of [name]Jack[/name], and I’m so tired of hearing [name]Johnny[/name]. It’s not cute to me at all. I think [name]Jack[/name] is a perfectly acceptable nn for [name]John[/name]–historically, [name]Jack[/name] has tons of history as a nn for [name]John[/name]!
I wish I had better suggestions for you to be able to use [name]Jack[/name]–maybe it could be mommy’s nickname? Others could call him [name]Jack[/name], too, or he could just pick between [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] as he gets older. Or maybe show him this thread and what everyone is saying about [name]John[/name] nn [name]Jack[/name], haha. Otherwise, I can’t really think of any nns that haven’t been mentioned. I think [name]Joe[/name]/[name]Joey[/name] or JJ are cute options, too, although nothing really seems to compare to sweet [name]Jack[/name] (imo, anyway).
Good luck!
Sorry the old fashioned custom of making every [name]John[/name] a [name]Jack[/name] drives me nuts. What is wrong with just [name]John[/name]? I know a [name]John[/name] and his nn is [name]John[/name] Boy and he is the father of two boys, so the nn is fine for adults too, and very cute as well.
I absolutely love the combo of [name]John[/name] [name]Henry[/name] it just sings.
rollo
[name]Just[/name] about every [name]John[/name] I’ve ever known has gone by just [name]John[/name], no nickname. In fact, I’ve only known one [name]Johnny[/name] and that was his given name, so I think the nickname [name]Johnny[/name] is completely avoidable. [name]Just[/name] introduce him as [name]John[/name] and the majority of people will call him that.
I knew plenty of guys named [name]John[/name] growing up who were just [name]John[/name], no nn. Why does everyone have to have a nn? [name]John[/name] is short, classic, and so rare these days as to be unique (especially spelled correctly! My students think that [name]John[/name]/[name]Jane[/name] are spelled [name]Jhon[/name] and Jhane) My stepdad is [name]John[/name] [name]Peter[/name] and he has always been [name]Jack[/name] and was [name]Jacky[/name] as a boy. His grandson is [name]John[/name] [name]Peter[/name] II and that’s what he’s always been called, [name]John[/name] [name]Peter[/name]. I can’t stand the nn [name]Tre[/name] (which is NOT French, btw, but Latin) because of a student I currently have, but I certainly went to school with many guys nn [name]Trip[/name] and [name]Chip[/name] because they were the Third. I’ve know one Jonno and one [name]Jock[/name] who were both [name]John[/name]. Then there’s [name]Iain[/name], [name]Ion[/name], [name]Sion[/name], [name]Sean[/name], [name]Evan[/name], [name]Ewan[/name], [name]Euan[/name], [name]Jan[/name] etc. I think with your daughters’ names, [name]John[/name] by itself is perfect.
[name]Jack[/name] for [name]John[/name] reminds me of [name]John[/name] ([name]Jack[/name]) F [name]Kennedy[/name].
Could you also consider [name]Jonathan[/name]? I love that name and know several little boys who go by that full name.
I don’t see any reason why a [name]John[/name] couldn’t be just [name]John[/name]. If someone calls him [name]Johnny[/name], correct them and tell them your son’s name is [name]John[/name].
I like [name]John[/name] as a name, but it seems a little short in your sibset. Could you go to [name]Jonathan[/name] and then use [name]Jon[/name] or [name]John[/name] as the nn?
[name]John[/name] is so…well, you know…[name]John[/name]? You could not think of anything else? If that’s what it is, then it’s a fine name.