Names for Chrildren - Did You Use Shortened Ones?

NBLondon

Spendless said:

Charles was always going to be King Charles, whatever the media speculated! He was known too well in the public's eye as Charles to suddenly become a different name. I'm of the opinion that William and George will also stick to their own first names when their time comes to be King. 

It cant have been just media speculation about the possibility of him choosing to be George VII - he must have at some point had a reason.  ISTR it was about the association with a previous Charles.  You're right - it would have been very odd in the public eye to change last year.    No reason to think we won't get William V next.

Back to the topic - this is an example of shortened versions being perhaps OK for children but not necessarily kept as adults.  The Duke of Cambridge was known as Wills in the family but that wouldn't work when you add Prince or King.   (Yes - King William III was known as King Billy in some circles).   So I wonder if the generation that have been directly named Alfie, Harry etc will change as they get older.   

Spendless

NBLondon said:

Spendless said:

Charles was always going to be King Charles, whatever the media speculated! He was known too well in the public's eye as Charles to suddenly become a different name. I'm of the opinion that William and George will also stick to their own first names when their time comes to be King. 

It cant have been just media speculation about the possibility of him choosing to be George VII - he must have at some point had a reason.  ISTR it was about the association with a previous Charles.  You're right - it would have been very odd in the public eye to change last year.    No reason to think we won't get William V next.

Back to the topic - this is an example of shortened versions being perhaps OK for children but not necessarily kept as adults.  The Duke of Cambridge was known as Wills in the family but that wouldn't work when you add Prince or King.   (Yes - King William III was known as King Billy in some circles).   So I wonder if the generation that have been directly named Alfie, Harry etc will change as they get older.   

The media fetched it up years ago whilst the Queen was still alive that Charles wouldn't use the name as King due to previous King Charles. AFAIK there has never been any official source that has suggested it.

To your next point. I refused a name that my DH liked, as a felt in suited a baby or child but couldn't imagine calling a grown son it. Not long afterwards the name was used as a main adult  character in a soap who stayed for several years. The name increased in popularity. I doubt anyone nowadays would think the same way and because there's so many of them, they will enter all sorts of professions. That's what happened with my (long) name. So many of us, I've come across Vicars, solicitors, coroners, politicians called the same as me - a name I can remember my Mum discussing as 'frivolous' when I was a child, saying she couldn't imagine my name as an Aunt or Grandma. The same is true of other names such as Jack originally a diminutive of John and now considered a name in its own right. 
 

sillyvixen

I went by a shortened version of my name from about the age of 10, my parents took a bit of time getting used to it (a bit of disappointment I was only using my given name for official purposes), but for most of my life called me by the shortened name. When mum became ill with a brain tumour she no longer recognised me as the shorter version of my name (dad said ***** is here and she had no idea who I was - dad was upset as she had no idea who I was - 10 minutes later I tried again telling dad to tell her ******** was here and bingo she knew I was). 8 years years later my dad is still calling me by my full name and most of my extended family have reverted back to it! I prefer the shortened version but it doesn't really matter in the bigger scheme of things.

Dustyevsky

MalMonroe said:

I've often thought that we should be able to choose our own names when we reach a certain age but then again, it'd cause great confusion and nobody would really know what to call anyone. So maybe not! 

At age 10 one of my pupils decided to change his common English name to one reflecting his overseas heritage.

It took around 2 days for all the other 10-year-olds to make the adjustment.

Adults? Might be a few weeks!

BungalowBel

We gave our son a one-syllable name so that it didn't get shortened.  Guess what?  It gets lengthened.

Mine is a three-syllable name that can get shortened, but I always correct anyone who shortens it so get called by my full name most of the time. I do use a shortened form myself sometimes (as in the last part of my username on here) 

Slinky

My name ends in an A, not an E. I don't like it when people call me name ending E, which does happen quite often with people who don't know me.

I've never understood how Jack can be a diminutive of John, or Harry a diminutive of Henry. Harry is surely short for Harold.

I'm not keen on shortened girls names which could be boys names - Charlie, Georgie etc.

NBLondon

Slinky said:

Harry a diminutive of Henry. Harry is surely short for Harold.

Ask Shakespeare? Cry 'God for Harry, England and St George!' Mind you, that was Henry V as an adult, as a young man he was Hal.

Soundgirlrocks

Slinky said:

I'm not keen on shortened girls names which could be boys names - Charlie, Georgie etc.

I have a long full name (female with an A on the end) which has always been shortened to the gender neutral version and I love it, I work in a male-dominated industry and it been a huge help when dealing with new people via email and its always amusing when they come into the office asking for me and then realising the "he" in their mind is a she! I'm not embracing the pro-noun thing on emails as I have definitely benefitted from the ambiguity my shortened name gives

Titus_Wadd

Soundgirlrocks said:

Slinky said:

I'm not keen on shortened girls names which could be boys names - Charlie, Georgie etc.

I have a long full name (female with an A on the end) which has always been shortened to the gender neutral version and I love it, I work in a male-dominated industry and it been a huge help when dealing with new people via email and its always amusing when they come into the office asking for me and then realising the "he" in their mind is a she! I'm not embracing the pro-noun thing on emails as I have definitely benefitted from the ambiguity my shortened name gives

Same!  I have a solid but not very common name, the short form is fine but it gets further shortened to a boy's name.  It created a more level playing field at work in a male dominated job in the 80s and 90s.
As I've got older I rather like the full name.  My kids have unusual but trad first names, with easy pet versions, and they enter their 30s favouring their full names.
I personally chose names for them with strong consonent sounds...I have a soft voice so a soft name like Ella,  Ruth or Graham or Sean would be impossible for me to project across the playground! We also avoided names that are pronounced differently in the North and south of England...we're  from the North and knew a name like Alexandra would sound different said by their grandparents from their school friends down here!