What's with the trend of classic boy names being simplified down to nicknames?

General Name Discussion
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I love many of the classic boy names… one of these being the name [name]Samuel[/name]. If it wasn’t such a trend to make names like [name]Samuel[/name], [name]Michael[/name], [name]Matthew[/name], [name]Benjamin[/name], [name]Maxwell[/name], [name]Timothy[/name], [name]Elijah[/name], [name]Daniel[/name], [name]David[/name], [name]Jacob[/name], [name]William[/name], [name]Joshua[/name], [name]Andrew[/name], [name]Gabriel[/name], [name]Joseph[/name], [name]Zackary[/name], [name]Thomas[/name], and [name]Charles[/name] into [name]Sam[/name], [name]Mike[/name], [name]Matt[/name], [name]Ben[/name], [name]Max[/name], [name]Tim[/name], [name]Eli[/name], [name]Dan[/name], [name]Dave[/name], [name]Jake[/name], [name]Will[/name]/[name]Liam[/name], [name]Josh[/name], [name]Andy[/name]/[name]Drew[/name], [name]Gabe[/name], [name]Joe[/name]/[name]Joey[/name], [name]Zack[/name], [name]Tom[/name], and [name]Charlie[/name]… then I’d be so excited and tempted to use a name like [name]Samuel[/name]. But just really not a nickname fan at all! Looking through the list of classic boys’ names, it’s really hard to find names that society doesn’t eventually shorten. Why do so many friends, family, etc… feel the need to shorten strong, classic boys’ names?

Can a [name]Samuel[/name] really stay a [name]Samuel[/name], or will I eventually not be able to avoid the inevitable [name]Sam[/name]?

If the case, what ‘no nickname names’ do you think stand as strong as some of the classic boy ‘nickname’ names above? My problem is I love so many of the full names above! Can’t find a ‘no nickname boy name’ that competes with those above!!!

My oldest child’s name is [name]James[/name], and thus far, I’ve been able to keep his name [name]James[/name] (though I did overhear a few of his elementary school friends referring to him as [name]Jamie[/name]… definitely not my preference!). But at least it’s not [name]Jimmy[/name].

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Well, I hate it too, and would love to be able to help you more, but I’m afraid that there really aren’t any names that people aren’t going to try to shorten. Really, the battle is in telling them not to and being persistent. I’ve known plenty of [name]William[/name] whose names weren’t shorten. I went to high school with a [name]Thomas[/name] who never went by [name]Tom[/name], a [name]Timothy[/name] that never went by [name]Tim[/name]. My stepdad is [name]Michael[/name] who never goes by [name]Mike[/name] and my real dad is [name]Steven[/name], and I have several cousins named [name]Steven[/name], who never go by [name]Steve[/name]. My grandfather is [name]Arthur[/name] and never goes by [name]Art[/name]. There’s a [name]Jacob[/name] at my daycare that never goes by [name]Jake[/name].

So you see, it can be done. You just have to be persistent in telling people not to shorten his name and making sure to only call him by his full name.

Here’s some names that are considered “no nickname”

[name]Aaron[/name] (but could be [name]Ron[/name])
[name]Beau[/name]
[name]Miles[/name]
[name]Jack[/name]
[name]Owen[/name]
[name]Felix[/name]
[name]Justin[/name]
[name]Dean[/name]
[name]Jude[/name]
[name]Shane[/name]
[name]Joel[/name] (but I guess could be [name]Jo[/name])
[name]Simon[/name] (but could be [name]Si[/name] or [name]Sim[/name])
[name]Grant[/name]
[name]Gavin[/name]
[name]Adam[/name]
[name]Adrian[/name]
[name]Blake[/name]
[name]Collin[/name]
[name]Derek[/name]
[name]Emmett[/name]
[name]Everett[/name]
[name]Graham[/name]
[name]Heath[/name]
[name]Jasper[/name]
[name]Kyle[/name]
[name]Luther[/name]
[name]Mark[/name]
[name]Milo[/name]
[name]Neil[/name]
[name]Ruben[/name]
[name]Todd[/name]
[name]Trevor[/name]
[name]Tristan[/name]
[name]Warren[/name] (this is classic but I’ve never heard it shortened)

[name]Do[/name] you like any of those?

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Here are some nickname-proof boy names:

[name]Adam[/name]
[name]Avery[/name]
[name]Bryant[/name]
[name]Carter[/name]
[name]Colin[/name]**
[name]Dawson[/name]
[name]Duncan[/name]
[name]Elliott[/name]
[name]Ethan[/name]
[name]Evan[/name]- my favorite
[name]Gavin[/name]
[name]Griffin[/name]**
[name]Ian[/name]**
[name]Miles[/name]**
[name]Milo[/name]
[name]Noah[/name]**
[name]Oscar[/name]
[name]Owen[/name]
[name]Porter[/name]**
[name]Rowan[/name]
[name]Ryan[/name]
[name]Trevor[/name]
[name]Walker[/name]
[name]Wyatt[/name]

does this help at all? I put stars by my favorites. [name]Evan[/name] [name]James[/name] is my ds name and he has NO nn… I am a no-nickname Mom myself - ha ha

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Edited for privacy.