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Personally, I would not. If I named my kid one thing, and was always having to correct people, it would bug me. Nicknames are tricky. I like them, but it's such a personal thing.

We named our daughter an old fashioned, long, often shortened name. We planned on using primarily one of the possible nicknames, but now that she's 18 months, she goes almost exclusively by another nickname. This isn't her name, but it would be similar to if we named her Samantha, planned on calling her Sammy, but ended up preferring Sam.

I think if you do it you have to accept at some point you can't control if they use the shortened name. It's one thing to always introduce your baby/toddler/young child as the full name and ask people to call them that but at some point your LO may decide to ask people to use the shortened name. Your LO may also go through stages of liking both at different times.

We ruled out a few names like this if we really didn't like the shortened version. We did consider names where we preferred the full but were okay with the shortened.

I know two little boys that are full time Williams

I wouldn't.

We didn't want DS to have nicknames so we picked a name that can't be shortened for this reason. One of our contenders, James, was eliminated because we didn't like the nicknames Jim or Jimmy.

In my case, I really dislike the long version of my name and I never ever go by it. So you may be successful in getting others to call your child the long name but they might decide they don't like it and never use it!

This was a concern of mine, too. I have a commonly shortened name that I hate the nickname of and we purposely picked names for our kids with no nicknames. Plot twist: we call the kids shortened versions of their names anyway.

I think it all depends on the kid as they grow up, honestly. When they are young you can exclusively use their full name but if they end up preferring the nickname, that's what people will end up knowing them as.

This is anecdotal, but as a teacher, I see more and more kids who go by their full name and not a nickname (ex: Jacob, Andrew, etc.). There are still plenty of nicknames used too, but full names are much more common than when I was a kid.

There's always the potential he could choose to go by a nickname later on, but I wouldn't worry that it automatically has to be that way.

I wouldn't. I have a name that is ALWAYS shortened . Iif I go to a place where I have to show my ID, people automatically say "thanks (shortened version of name.)" I don't really mind my shortened name so it's fine but if it's one you don't care for, it would suck to fight that battle FOREVER. My son has one of the names you listed and goes by an alternative nickname than the one most obvious because I can't stand it.

My BIL was given a family name with a very commonly used nickname (MIL's father and brother both had it, but went by different forms of the nickname). When he was born they told their family he would be the full version of the name...no nickname. He's never had an issue with people calling him by the nickname version. All of his school work, social media, email addresses, etc. use the full version of the name, so I think people get it.

If you love the name you could make sure your family and close friends (and maybe school teachers down the road) know that you won't use a nickname and I think most people would understand and respect that. And I think if he choses to go by the nickname later on in life, you should respect that. I mean kids can change their names legally when they become adults, so there is only so much control you have over their name at that point!

I think it depends on the name, but no, I wouldn't choose a name I would have to constantly correct people. I feel like it can sound so snooty to correct people too- oh it's Jonathan, not Jon, which I realize is completely unfair because hello, it's their name!

But I think with 1-2 syllable names it is a lot easier. Like I've know William and Daniel and it never seemed that odd, but going by Christopher or Alexander or Jonathan seems to invite nicknaming more.

ETA: I had the opposite problem when inwould like a nickname but not the formal name.

Like @T.H.O.U., I lived next door to a couple whose son was William and his mother HATED the name Will. She would like be snarky towards people who called him "Will." I think once he gets to school and decides what he wants to be called that will be that, honestly. If I were you I'd decide if you would be okay with Chris not Christopher at some point (just using your example, I know it's a different name!)

I do think you have to account for nicknames unfortunately. My favorite boy names are Nathaniel, Daniel, and Alexander but I either really hate the nickname or it doesn't work with our last name so they were just not options.
Funny enough my stipulation for naming lo1 was that he only go by his nickname because I had a bad association with the full name. His full name has several shorter options but it has never been a problem having people call him the wrong one so there is that argument too but for me, I wouldn't unless it was an honor name.

My friend has a son named Benjamin. When he was in preschool, learning how to write, he insisted he goes by Ben bc Benjamin was too long to write out

Just thought of 2 more examples of opposite situations...(duh)...

- One of my good friends has two kids with long names (Benjamin, Josephine). Since we've known them since they were born (and got the birth announcement!), we've never really been "introduced" to them, but she calls them Benny and Jo. So that's what we call them too.

- Another friend has 2 girls with long names (Jacqueline, Alexandra). When she first announced their names, I assumed she would maybe use a shortened version of one/both. But she hasn't/doesn't, and so we don't either!

So again, I guess I just think it's weird when people don't take the lead of the parent/child on what to call the child in the majority of situations.

Keep in mind that your child may at some point decide they don't like the name you've given them period and go by something else - I have three friends (and my mom) who didn't like their first name and started going by their middle. I think you pick the name you like best and cross your fingers that the long version sticks. There's also the possibility that the nickname might grow on you. Or you could come up with a totally different nicklame (like going with Toph instead of Chris for a Christopher) to try to bypass the one you don't like.

My DD has a three syllable name that could be shortened. We introduce her by her full name and no one has shortened it. Most of her nicknames have nothing to do with her name. Before she was born most people asked if we were going to use a nickname and we said no. It's been NBD. DD2 is also getting a long name that could be shortened but won't be.

I named one of my sons a longer name that has two nicknames. One I really don't like and unfortunately his teacher started using it this year and now the other kids tend to call him by it. I always use his full name. It irks me to hear them call him by the nickname but it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I went by a last name for most of high school and college and 20s. I didn't ever tell people to call me that I just have one of those last names I guess. My husband has a woman's name as his nickname amongst his rugby buddies so you never know.