Nicknames and Birth Certificates

[SeaSpray]

I think it's more considerate of the child to give them an official formal name, even if it is never used.
My Father's name on his birth certificate is Ricky, after Ricky Nelson. His entire life he was called Rick or Ricky, and it's caused him countless amounts of aggravation as an adult because he keeps having to tell people his name is not Richard. Add in a difficult last name, and it's no end of fun
Dad has always maintained it would have been a lot easier to be named Eric (Rick Nelson's "official" name) or Richard, and go by Rick.

This is exactly why we decided to name DS16 "Robert" even though we intended to always called him "Robby". I actually, briefly, considering giving him the legal name of "Robby".

But then we thought about it and decided that it would better to name him "Robert" and give him the choice of having a full "formal" name. When he was younger he went by "Robby" but now he prefers, and his friends call him, "Robb". (Long story about why he likes the 2 "b"s. LOL)

Anyway, he's almost 17 years old and he tells us that he's glad we named him Robert and not Robby, legally on his birth certificate.

P.S. He doesn't mind if people refer to him as "Robert", but he does not and will not answer to "Bob". LOL

 

[RNMOM]

My husband's legal name is Tim. He is always getting called Timothy and even in catholic school fought with the nuns about his real name.

We have had to return all kinds of documents/contracts to be corrected due to this mix up.

 

[Kitty 34]

I think it's more considerate of the child to give them an official formal name, even if it is never used.
My Father's name on his birth certificate is Ricky, after Ricky Nelson. His entire life he was called Rick or Ricky, and it's caused him countless amounts of aggravation as an adult because he keeps having to tell people his name is not Richard. Add in a difficult last name, and it's no end of fun
Dad has always maintained it would have been a lot easier to be named Eric (Rick Nelson's "official" name) or Richard, and go by Rick.

My BIL goes thru the same thing as his formal name is Ricky. We all call him Rick. My sister named their son Richard and he goes by Rich.

 

[Ride Junkie]

If I had a kid, I would name him what I planned to call him. If I was going to call him Zack, I would name him Zack, not Zachary. I think the spelling difference is what bugs me. Like Michael doesn't become Miche, it becomes Mike. Just a pet peeve of mine.

 

[NMAmy]

Here's a funny story - I wanted to name dd #3 after my grandmother, who everyone called Ann or Annie, but I loved the name Anna. I told her my plans, and she said "don't name her Anna - it's a horrible name - it's my real name, but I hate it!" Even my mother didn't know her name was actually Anna! We named her Anna, planned on calling her Annie eventually, but she insisted on Anna.

That's funny--the same thing happened with my great-grandmother. My parents named me Amy Lee--the Amy because they liked it and Lee was for my maternal grandfather's middle name.

When they showed me off to my grandfather's mother, she threw an absolute fit when she heard my first name. Turns out, her real name was Amy which she hated so much that she went by Harriet for her entire life. Even my grandfather didn't know that was her real name!

She did like the Lee part, though, since that was her husband's and son's middle names.

Oh, and to all the Rickys out there--I used to work with a guy whose real legal name was Ricky Nelson. I'd get some weird looks when I paged him on the intercom.

 

[AKL_Megs]

If I had a kid, I would name him what I planned to call him. If I was going to call him Zack, I would name him Zack, not Zachary. I think the spelling difference is what bugs me. Like Michael doesn't become Miche, it becomes Mike. Just a pet peeve of mine.

It bugs me, too.

(I actually do know a Zachary, and they spell his nickname Zach... but still, I get your point, and I like Zack better, too!!! )

And another one I never got was Chuck, Charlie, and Chaz from Charles?

 

[blana]

No nicknames as real names!

My full name is Kristy. Fairly common in the 70's. However, the number of people who insist that my REAL name MUST be Kristine or Kristal or Kristina are HUGE. I had a roommate named Betsy who always got things delivered to Elizabeth. Nope. Full name was Betsy. Drove the two of us nuts to always have to correct people. We decided all parents in the 70's deserved to be taken out and beaten for messing with our names.

 

[actionvaughn]

My husband's legal name is Tim. He is always getting called Timothy and even in catholic school fought with the nuns about his real name.

You see parents? If you name your child a nickname, they'll end up challenging church figures. Let that be on your conscience.

No other input, but I just wanted to say I've never heard of "Peggy" as a nickname for Margaret.

 

[EthansMom]

We knew when I was pregnant with DD that she was going to be called "Molly" but we gave her the legal name "Amelia" so that she could choose to use a more "grown up" name when she got older if she wished.

We had a few people among our friends and family who thought that was odd, but it has worked out for us.

Personally, I tend to think it's weird when you run across someone older who has a name or nickname that is more appropriate to a child... for instance, an older man in our area who is a prominent figure is called "Billy". I'm not entirely comfortable calling a man in his 60s "Billy".

 

[wishspirit]

See i have the problem of not liking my full name. I am technically a Katherine, which is fine, but its not MY name. No one calls me it except on job interviews or school (luckly my uni automatically put my nickname on the register so the tutors dont to the whole 'katherine' or 'kate' thing.) I like the name Katherine for other people but not for me.

I have problems filling out forms anyway, but the added confusal of whether to put Kate or Katherine has been the bane of my existance!

I never got to 'choose' my nickname anyway, my parents gave it to me, and i havent been able to pull any else off (part of me hates Kate too)

Personally just give them an original or intresting name in ful, not one that everyone has, cause it gets old, FAST!

 

[minkydog]

I like formal names. Especially now that I'm an adult. I appreciate the fact that my mother named me Mary Catherine, even though they called me Cathy. I wish they had named me Catherine Mary, though. I had a difficult time in school with being called Mary. Then getting drivers license, Social security card, etc. I finally got it changed legally to Catherine Maidenname Lastname.

When we had our kids I insisted that whatever they were called, it would be their first name.

 

[YetanotherMouseFan]

Formal name. I always wondered about people named Tracie or Buffy...how does that work when you get older...as in Grandma Buffy? ewww!

DS, then 6, thought it was really cool that he had 3 names...HUH?? He explained: Alex Zander Paul Last name

 

[tonilea]

My In-Laws allowed DH's older sisters to name him. They chose Tommy. He would much preferred to have been named Thomas and called Tommy. He goes by Tom now.

DS is named Thomas. After my Dad and DH. I really expected we would end up calling him Tommy, but we never have. It has always been Thomas.

 

[robinb]

I prefer more tradition names v/s tryndee names. I find nickname names (Peggy, Billy, etc) as regular names to be pretty tryndee.

FWIW, I NEVER go by my given name which is 'Roberta' and I still feel that way.

 

[Feralpeg]

Well, this is one Peggy who is not a Margaret. It is Peggy on my birth certificate and I'm happy with this.

 

[Poohnatic]

I'm one of eight kids and each and every one of us was given a more formal name. Mom used the usual nickname with each and every one of us. Until the day she died, I was never addressed as Suzanne by mom, I was Suzie.

However, I am grateful that my mom gave me a more formal name. It's harder to be taken seriously with Suzie, that's for sure!

(You can tell how long people know me by what name is used. family and elementary school friend: Suzie, HS friends: Sue, college and beyond: Suzanne)

Suzanne

 

[sha_lyn]

I say give them the name the parents want even if it is considered a nick name.
My ex was suppose to be Randy, but the hospital insisted he have a "real" name so his parents gave and and named him Randal. They all hated the name and he rufused to answer to in in school etc.

DH several of his brothers have "nicknames' as their real names (and none have a middle name either). I would say the first name hasn't really been a problem, except one neighbor who insisted that his first name really couldn't leagally be a first name. Having no middle name has been a PITA

 

[MomofKatie]

I have a seven-year-old Margaret who is nicknamed Meg. I think having a full name gives the child an option of picking a different nickname later. She can choose to go by Margaret, Meg, Maggie, Peggy, Margie, or whatever else she prefers as an adult. I feel the same way about William as a name. William, Will, Willy (ick), Bill, Billy, Wills, Liam, whatever... It is much more flexible. I also think nicknames look goofy on resumes.

ITA. We have a DD9 whose full name is Katherine. She goes by Katie now, but she has the option later to pick any one of the many alternate names associated with Katherine. I didn't want her to be "stuck" with a more juvenile-sounding name if she didn't want it as an adult (although I love the name Katie, and think it is perfectly fine for adults, too).

 

[disykat]

I like formal names. Especially now that I'm an adult. I appreciate the fact that my mother named me Mary Catherine, even though they called me Cathy. I wish they had named me Catherine Mary, though. I had a difficult time in school with being called Mary. Then getting drivers license, Social security card, etc. I finally got it changed legally to Catherine Maidenname Lastname.

When we had our kids I insisted that whatever they were called, it would be their first name.

I practically could have written this post! I couldn't "get rid" of a name because I was named after my two grandmothers, so I still go by about a million different names depending on how you met me.I would have much prefered to be Katherine Mary, since I didn't learn my first name was Mary until I was starting first grade!

I have to add, I'm surprised so many people actually understand Kate is short for Katherine. I must know a lot of stupid people because I've sure had a lot of people ask "but where does the Kate come from?"

 

[englishteacha]

I'm one of many children. All of us have a name that, as far as my parents could think of, couldn't be shortened to anything embarassing. Toby is sometimes "Tobe" and Sherry is "Sher," but the rest of us are pretty traditional. I think if you want to call your child "Jack," name him Jack. "Pam" instead of Pamela? Fine by me. But please remember that your child, most likely, will be using this name for a lifetime. "Pookie"? Not such a good first name. "Smoochie Poo?" No.