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LO has a formal name and a nickname. I think a full name is important for professional purposes.
Honestly, if I saw a resume with Mac Smith on it, I'd think the applicant didn't take his resume seriously enough to put his full, professional name on it. Not a nice opinion, but a very truthful one. Unfortunately there are a lot of snap decisions made based on name
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my mom's name is Becky and her sister is Patti.
When my mom was born the nurses gave my grandpa crap about it. "you have to name her rebecca."
He said, "she's my kid, i'll name her $h!t if i want."
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Our LO's name is technically a nickname, but it is a very accepted name on its own.
I think it depends on the name.
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I prefer a formal name with a nickname. Especially later in life, it's more professional.
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It is not weird. I love it. My sister is named Katie. Not Katherine or Katelyn or anything like that.
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I prefer a formal name. There are always people who you'll need to correct either way!
No formal name? "No, my name is just Mac"
Go by nickname? "No, please call me Mac" -
DD's name is both a standalone name and a nickname for several longer names (sort of like Rose/Rosalie/Rosalind/etc). It's not super common, though, and it's not cutesy so I don't foresee it being an issue for her as an adult. For me, it really just depends on the name -- I think some are more suited to being standalone names than others.
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I don't see anything wrong with it. I prefer a lot of shortened names over the full versions.
I used to help look over resumes at my old job, and I wouldn't have even thought twice about a "Kate Jones" or "Liz Smith" or something like that. I don't think a shortened name comes off as unprofessional, but that's just my opinion!
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@dagret: Haha love that!
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I don't mind just nicknames. My name is Katie, and it floors people that it's not short for something.
Although, I really want to call my daughter Coco, but I don't feel that's an acceptable name, so I'm trying to find a suitable name for her that would fit that nickname
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@swurlygurl: I know two little Coco's
love it
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@rachiecakes: That's their whole name?! It's sooo cute but DH would never go for it. Dang husbands...
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@swurlygurl: yep, both of them!
ETA I just thought of a third I know! haha popular name in my circle
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@rachiecakes: Dang, no kidding! I've never heard of anyone named Coco
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My friend is named Ron but everyone thinks his real name his Ronald and always has to correct them.
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I think it is a bit dicey. It would ave to be a nickname that isn't too cutesy, will not date to easily and can be professional, which is all quite a tall order. I do think Alex works though, can't think of any others that fit those criteria.
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Haven't read all the comments, so someone might have said this already, but I personally would never do it because it limits their choices later. I changed what nickname I went by multiple times in my life, and I was SO grateful that my name has a lot of options because it was very important to me. I would have really resented being named, in my case Beth, instead of Elizabeth, because that would have just been it, no options. I know not everyone feels that way, but I would hate for my kid to feel that way and I didn't leave them an out.
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@swurlygurl: it's quite a popular nickname in France so there is deffo a name that goes with it....notsre what though. Maybe Colette or coralie? Coco Chanel was called Gabrielle (figure that one out).
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I hope it's not weird, cuz I'd like to name a second girl Maggie, but we don't like anything that it's short for.
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@NurseMommy: I was just thinking about this today. I saw a celebrity that named her LO Magnolia. I finally found a name I like for the nick name Maggie. My husband will never go for it, and I'm so not pregnant, but i did file it away for future use!
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I have a friend whose english name is just 'Joe.' He always gets mail addressed to 'Joseph' because people still assume it's a nickname.
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Effie, LO's name, is usually short for Euphemia. Mrs Doubtfire was I think Euphegenia, and she calls herself Effie when reminiscing about her husband. But LO's namesake was just Effie so we named her just Effie. I have no issue with it, but people do ask what it's short for. I've gotten Stephanie once.
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My great grandmother was named Jennie, not Jennifer, etc. even though Jenny is a bit of a younger sounding name, it wasn't weird to meet a hundred year old woman named Jennie. It was because if this that we named our daughter the nickname version of her name (but in our case, the nickname is actually longer than the usual full name).
I say go with it!
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I far prefer using nicknames to formal names. If I'm going to call the kid by the nickname, why bother with a formal one... just my take.
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I prefer the full name. And I like nicknames because as they grow up they can pick which flavor of their name best suits their personality.
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@MrsTiger: personally not a fan but that's because my sister has a nn for a first name and she is just saving up the money to get it legally changed to the full, formal name. It's really expensive! What about Malcolm for Mac?
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@swurlygurl: Courtney, Chloe, Cora, Corinne, Constance, Collete... Just to name a few
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I like a full legal name and using a nickname, better than naming a kid the nickname. My great grandmother (still living and great-great to my girls!) is Betty- that's her full name. I wanted to honor her with my first daughter, but could NOT bring myself to giver her Betty as a middle name, so her middle name is Elizabeth as a nod, but I wish it was my great grandma's actual name.
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@MrsTiger: my son's name is technically a nickname. We love it and didn't care for any of the full names that it's a nn for. We haven't gotten any weird reactions yet! Frankly I find it weird that people care!
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I prefer the full name!
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@MrsTiger: my parents named me a nickname because they knew that's what they would call me. The only problem I had was that people would ask me what my full name was and not believe me when I told them it *was* my full name.
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I prefer the full name for future resume and job reasons. But I don't think it is weird to use a nickname. It is a personal preference and choice.
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@swurlygurl: I knew someone who's name was Coco growing up. Paired with her short last name it was a super cute and spunky combination..a longer name just wouldn't have worked.
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I have a formal name, but have always gone by a nickname. I wish my parents had just given me a name that wasn't nicknameable, but I prefer having the formal name to just having the nickname!
Though you will have to correct people either way. I always have to tell people to call me by my nickname, and sometimes I have people put my nickname on legal documents which is a huge pain! But on the other hand, I had a friend who was just Andy growing up. He had to tell everyone he wasn't Andrew constantly!
We are giving our lo's formal names and calling them by nicknames, even though it bugged me growing up. Oops! But they are both pretty close to the formal name. So it wouldn't be a big transition if they wanted to switch.
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As someone whose name is a nickname and not a full name, I'm really not a huge fan. I'd love to have a more professional-sounding name for work.
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@swurlygurl: My name is Sarah and my family called me Coco when I was growing up. My 17 & 18 brother and sister still call me Coco.
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I don't think it's weird at all! We're considering doing the same thing because we love the nickname of a particular name. The only reason we may go with the full name is for the future, might be nice to have a formal name. And I guess when he's an adult he might want to be called it, at which point it's his decision so might as well make it available.
But, I don't think it's weird at all if you just want to go with a nickname. And I LOVE Mac! It's on our short list and it wasn't going to be short for anything. Just Mac. We settled on something else instead, but still similar!Lastly, we have friends who named their little girl Joey. Just Joey, not short for anything. And I've never heard anyone question it or say its weird! And we share some snarky friends so if they thought it they'd say it!
that being said I do think it'll be normal for people to ask "what's it short for?" And as long as you're ok with always having to say "nothing" then I say go for it!ETA: I didn't read the whole thread so sorry if it's a lot of repeating
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@MrsTiger: I don't think it's weird! I have a couple cousins that are named "nicknames" and they are VERY well off in the professional world. trust me when I say, they are doing well for themselves - their names did not hold them back. I can wall you their actual names if you're curious.
FWIW, everyone judges everyone's names! too popular, too trendy, nick name, too "old person," too young, etc etc. just pick what you guys love and the rest will fall into place
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@SweetiePie: Thanks, glad you like Mac too!
@sorrycharlie: After starting this thread I totally agree! People are pretty divided just on this aspect of names but in general I think like you said everyone always judges other names in a billion different ways, so we should just use what we love. Thanks
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Personally, I would go with the full formal name for my children, and just call them by the nickname. It's not a matter of me judging anyone who names their child a nickname (honestly, I couldn't care less!!), but it's that I personally would want my child to be able to change to the full, formal name later on if they felt like it fit better (without the hassle of having to legally change their name).
But, it's your choice, no one else's
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