Naming a baby

Wyndham

Your name is so personal, and such a part of who you are, but it's also something that (generally) someone else chooses for you. By giving a longer name that can be shortened, at least there is some element of choice in there as the child grows up.

Flugelhorn

Wyndham said:

Your name is so personal, and such a part of who you are, but it's also something that (generally) someone else chooses for you. By giving a longer name that can be shortened, at least there is some element of choice in there as the child grows up.

absolutely - second child has quite a long first name, named after others in the family. For the first 10 years she  had  a very childish diminutive at home and amongst friends, when she was going to senior school we suggested she decided what she wanted to be known as long term and she decided on a rather more grown up diminutive and that is basically what she is on everything bar the passport and driving licence

TBagpuss

Yes, I think it's often to give the child more choice, and so they don't get stuck with a childish diminutive when they are older, if they they don't want to be.
and of coruse for some people, family pressures or traditionas can carry a lot of weight.

I alswys feel very slightly sorry for kids who are given a diminutive as their given name and so don't have the option of using a more grown up version if they want to, without doing a formal change of name. 

JustAnotherSaver

Choirgrl said:

• feel that the official legal name should be a ‘proper full name’ rather than the diminutive 
• 
  

Yeah. I think it'd be a bit weird going to see a solicitor for example & everyone called him Dave, or Rob or Mick/Mike.

Nothing wrong with it, not against any rules I imagine but it's just not what you'd (I'd) expect.

For the record, I wouldn't care either way. I'm not talking about what bothers me or doesn't bother me, just saying what I would expect.

Spendless

TBagpuss said:

Yes, I think it's often to give the child more choice, and so they don't get stuck with a childish diminutive when they are older, if they they don't want to be.
and of coruse for some people, family pressures or traditionas can carry a lot of weight.

I alswys feel very slightly sorry for kids who are given a diminutive as their given name and so don't have the option of using a more grown up version if they want to, without doing a formal change of name. 

Not all diminutives are childish though plus names evolve. Jack for example was originally a diminutive for John. Today people see Jack completely as a name in it's own right and wouldn't consider it childish.

https://www.behindthename.com/name/jack

My daughter's the longer version is very dated. I feel she wouldn't use it even now at 18+ if I'd  given her it. Her diminutive is also a regional variant, rather than  a 'cutsie' shortened name.


There's also that certain names come into the public eye. DH wanted to use a short version for our son after an ancestor, I refused on the grounds you give and disliked the long version. Not long afterwards a character in a soap was given that name, it became very popular and loads of males called it, so few will still take the view I did. 

I do remember as a child my Mum and a friend having a conversation about how 'frivolous' mine and friend's daughter's names were - both of us known by the full long versions of our names. By the time I was 10, my name was in the top 3 names for girls. That has meant there's so many of us, the name is in all walks of life, MPs, chief police constables, coroners, solicitors, vicars, I've come across with my full name. So much for it being frivolous 40+ years ago. 

pollypenny

I was christened with a diminutive and I loathe it.

It's a little girl's name. 😬

I regret missing a few opportunities to change it. 

From my experience, both grandsons have been christened with the full names, but use the diminutive. DIL is similarly inflicted, although hers is a 'perky' name, rather than a diminutive. 

Ms_Chocaholic

Thanks for all the replies, it makes interesting reading.  Just glad nobody said mind your own business lol

TBagpuss

Spendless said:

TBagpuss said:

Yes, I think it's often to give the child more choice, and so they don't get stuck with a childish diminutive when they are older, if they they don't want to be.
and of coruse for some people, family pressures or traditionas can carry a lot of weight.

I alswys feel very slightly sorry for kids who are given a diminutive as their given name and so don't have the option of using a more grown up version if they want to, without doing a formal change of name. 

Not all diminutives are childish though plus names evolve. Jack for example was originally a diminutive for John. Today people see Jack completely as a name in it's own right and wouldn't consider it childish.

https://www.behindthename.com/name/jack

My daughter's the longer version is very dated. I feel she wouldn't use it even now at 18+ if I'd  given her it. Her diminutive is also a regional variant, rather than  a 'cutsie' shortened name.


There's also that certain names come into the public eye. DH wanted to use a short version for our son after an ancestor, I refused on the grounds you give and disliked the long version. Not long afterwards a character in a soap was given that name, it became very popular and loads of males called it, so few will still take the view I did. 

I do remember as a child my Mum and a friend having a conversation about how 'frivolous' mine and friend's daughter's names were - both of us known by the full long versions of our names. By the time I was 10, my name was in the top 3 names for girls. That has meant there's so many of us, the name is in all walks of life, MPs, chief police constables, coroners, solicitors, vicars, I've come across with my full name. So much for it being frivolous 40+ years ago. 

Yes, I don't think there is a single right or wrong way ofdoing it, and you are right both that not all diminutives are childish (one reason I specified that my thoughts were about childish ones specifcially) and that names do change, as does the way a specifc name is perceived. But it's not easy to predict whch names will change in those ways 

Drawingaline

My daughters name is pretty uncommon, but the shortened version became more popular after someone became well known with the name. We have certainly met a few more girls of the same name who are a few years younger than her. 

ripplyuk

My parents did the opposite and officially called me the shortened version. I wish they hadn’t. It’s the name on my birth certificate but with everything official, people assume that I’m wrong and my real name must be the longer version. At school, teachers would argue with me that my name isn’t my ‘real’ name. Some would never accept it. This also caused problems with the hospital. I only found out about 10yrs ago that I had been listed under two different names (both short and long versions) and therefore had two completely different sets of medical records. That drama took forever to sort out. 

Worse still, my parents decided to spell my name differently so not only do I have to correct the name itself, but I have to spell it out and people never remember. Even my own granny still spells it the more common way. My name is also very similar to several other names so it gets mixed up with those. My entire life I’ve been correcting people but it’s got to the point where I just let them call me whatever they want. I’m now known by a variety of names, some bearing no resemblance at all to my real name. Of course, this isn’t an option for some official things. 

My advice to any parent-to-be is to name your child something that can’t be confused with anything else and to spell it the usual way. Don’t try to ‘make it unique/special’. It’s a real PITA.