Nicknames and Birth Certificates

[hrsmom]

My given name is Becky and I really wish my parents had named me Rebecca.

 

[Becky2005]

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?"

Actually you'd have people like me who just thinks Kate is a real name and not short for anything OR my first thought is if it's short for anything it would be Katrina.

I would have never thought of Kate as a nickname for Katherine but then again I'm bad with nicknames. To this DAY I have not figured out how in the world Jack is a nickname for John. It confused me to death as a child & still confuses me as an adult. My dad's name is actually Jackie (after Jackie Gleason is the story) but he goes by Jack -- as a child we would get calls for John lastname. I couldn't figure out why as he never ever went by John & I have a copy of his birth certificate so it's not some hidden name. I would tell them they had the wrong number but then my mom would take the phone as some people would call him that. I actually have relatives with the name John, so I figured they wanted them. My mom told me that sometimes think his real name is John since Jack is a nickname for John. HUH???????? Hmm...maybe this is why mom did the I'm going to name you what I call you! To me those are 2 totally seperate names.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

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.

We also have a Ricky in (dh's) family. On his wedding invitations, his future wife had them printed with Richard, anyway. I don't blame her!

I wouldn't give my kid a nickname that went on the birth certificate, but I do somewhat agree with the "name them what you call them" mentality. I think it's silly to name a kid "First Middle", when you have every intention of calling them Middle. We knew a couple that named all of their kids First Middle1 Middle2, and called them all Middle2. And no, these weren't family names, just three names they liked.

 

[Nala56]

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

Me too!! Everyone thinks my real name is Margaret especially since my Mom's sister's name is Margaret.

Funny story, when I got married my husband asked who named me, my dad said he picked my name. We asked why that name, he looked very quilty, turns out I was named after an old girlfriend. My mom didn't know, we still laugh about that today.

 

[KinziePooh]

Give them the full name. Because for the rest of his/her life people will ask if that's his/her full name. Trust me. I'm Beth. Not Elizabeth. Not Bethany.

People are always asking if my real name is Bethany or Elizabeth. It's neither, just Beth. My mother didn't want to name me Elizabeth because people might call me Lizzie....which reminded her of Lizzie Borden

 

[beckmrk04]

I agree- I'm pro-formal names.

I go by Becky, but my name is Rebecca. I always thought that if I became President that Rebecca sounded much better- more respectable, smarter, than Becky. Not that Becky is a bad name- just casual. Oddly enough, I feel like two different people when people address me as Rebecca (that's my "business" self, or what my mom called me when I was in trouble) or Becky (the real me).

I gave my DD a formal sounding name, but we call her by a "cuter" nickname version of her name.

I kinda feel like some names you can't take seriously.

 

[MNFootballMommy]

although I love the name Katie, and think it is perfectly fine for adults, too.

Oooh! Take THAT, Tom Cruise! ZING!

I guess I don't think of names like Peggy and Jack as nicknames in the same vein as, say, Ricky, Billy or Gabi. Maybe that's just me...

Oh, and count me in as one who doesn't get the whole "Jack is a nickname for John" thing. Same number of letters. Same number of syllables. Why not just say John??

 

[HelenePA]

My daughters name is Abigail but gosh I wish I would have but Abby on her BC we never call her it, and if people try she'll tell them that's not her name.

 

[sha_lyn]

I would have never thought of Kate as a nickname for Katherine but then again I'm bad with nicknames. To this DAY I have not figured out how in the world Jack is a nickname for John. It confused me to death as a child & still confuses me as an adult. My dad's name is actually Jackie (after Jackie Gleason is the story) but he goes by Jack -- as a child we would get calls for John lastname. I couldn't figure out why as he never ever went by John & I have a copy of his birth certificate so it's not some hidden name. I would tell them they had the wrong number but then my mom would take the phone as some people would call him that. I actually have relatives with the name John, so I figured they wanted them. My mom told me that sometimes think his real name is John since Jack is a nickname for John. HUH???????? Hmm...maybe this is why mom did the I'm going to name you what I call you! To me those are 2 totally seperate names.

LOL...ex FIL was Jackie Joe... not John/Johnathan Joseph
ex-BIL was Joe Anthony and his son was Jr. When ex and I lived with his mother, we would get calls for John J all the time. John was ex-FIL brothers name, but the calls were never for him(he live near by but different town), they were for FIL.

 

[Beth76]

People are always asking if my real name is Bethany or Elizabeth. It's neither, just Beth. My mother didn't want to name me Elizabeth because people might call me Lizzie....which reminded her of Lizzie Borden

That's why I'm just Beth because my dad didn't like Lizzie. But if they never called me Lizzie nobody else would. I have two friends named Beth who are Elizabeth. No one's ever called them Lizzie.

Funny Beth story. In college I had a roommate named Elizabeth, but went by Liz. One day we get a call and some guy asks for Beth. I say, "This is Beth" and he starts singing. I thought it was weird so I just hung up. He called back again and said something like "don't you recognize my voice?". I said no then hung up again. Then it occurred to me. I asked my roommate Liz if she ever went by Beth and she said yes. She went by Beth her whole life until she got to college. I had no idea. Fortunately, the guy called back a third time.

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.

I do agree that the parents should chose the name and not the hospital. I just implore parents rather than giving a nick name, give them the full name so that they can choose later on.

I had another roommate in college whose dad's name was Chris because the nurse couldn't spell Christopher. Her grandmother was still sore about 50 years later. Although I made DH triple check that they spelled DS1 Sebastian's name correctly because of that story.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

I went for formal names, but definitely a personal choice. My reasoning was I didn't like 1 syllable names and most "nicknames" are single syllable. I also thought of the child 1 day having a professional career and thought that say William sounded better than Billy, Randal vs. Randy. Somehow in my mind it just sounds more grown up

We have a Michael Stephen (as he says with a PH ) and a Victoria Elizabeth. My son goes by Michael and some friends do call him Mike. Used to be Mikey when he was younger (around 3-4) and in preschool. My daughter goes by Tor or Tori. Do not call her Vickie or she will kick your butt I also call her Tori Beth.

The other thing we looked at was what nicknames could be made with their names....
so far we've had Icky Vickie thanks to the Fairly Oddparents
and Michael, Michael Motorcyle, turn the key and watch him pee.

 

[katerkat]

The other thing we looked at was what nicknames could be made with their names....
so far we've had Icky Vickie thanks to the Fairly Oddparents
and Michael, Michael Motorcyle, turn the key and watch him pee.

We have a Russell Fussell. I don't know why I didn't consider that before. I even asked my father (also a Russell) what kids used to call him and he didn't tell me. He claims no one ever called him that.

 

[disney1990]

I wanted to give my 2 daughters names that people would use. There were no "official" nicknames for the names they were given. Why? Because nobody has ever called me by my given name and nobody has ever called my husband by his given name. When we got married, we even included our nicknames on our official wedding announcement because so many people wouldn't even know who we were if we used our given names. Our invitation went like this:

Official Name
and
Official Name

(xxx and xxx)

I just didn't want our daughters to go through the same problems in life.

 

[Jennabeth]

I went for formal names, but definitely a personal choice. My reasoning was I didn't like 1 syllable names and most "nicknames" are single syllable. I also thought of the child 1 day having a professional career and thought that say William sounded better than Billy, Randal vs. Randy. Somehow in my mind it just sounds more grown up

We have a Michael Stephen (as he says with a PH ) and a Victoria Elizabeth. My son goes by Michael and some friends do call him Mike. Used to be Mikey when he was younger (around 3-4) and in preschool. My daughter goes by Tor or Tori. Do not call her Vickie or she will kick your butt I also call her Tori Beth.

The other thing we looked at was what nicknames could be made with their names....
so far we've had Icky Vickie thanks to the Fairly Oddparents
and Michael, Michael Motorcyle, turn the key and watch him pee.

I felt the same way, a formal name gives them options and would sound so much better followed by "President of the United States". My DD is Victoria Grace and we call her Tori. If someone calls her Vicky, watch out. Now she's in school and they know to call her Tori, but I notice sometimes she signs things Victoria because thinks it's pretty. My DH wasn't keen on full names & nicknames so he "won" with our youngest who is Jenna Elizabeth, but I still call her Jenna Beth sometimes or Jen.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I agree with giving them a formal name. My cousin's name is Abby and I always thought that was short for Abigail. I found out when we were pre-teens that that wasn't the case. I also know someone who named his daughter Tori, which wasn't short for Victoria or anything. It can get confusing.

 

[SC Minnie]

If you don't give them a formal name how will they know when they are reaallllyyy in trouble?

DD's name is Catherine and goes by Catherine most of the time. Some of her friends are starting to call her Cat which is OK too but her choice.


My brother was Timmy (nickname for Timothy) growing up. He goes by Tim now but his family still calls him Timmy. His wife thinks it is hilarious since she never knew him as Timmy.

 

[HollyJoy]

I am in favor of giving them the formal name... some nicknames tend to be childish, and I've known many people who have dropped the nickname, and gone back to the formal name, as they've gotten older. Guess I see nothing wrong with it. We've only got one (that I can think of) in our family, who goes by their middle name, and it was planned. One of my nephew's formal name is "Frederick Andrew"... both my father and brother also have a first name of Frederick. My brother wanted to carry on the name Frederick as a first name, but his wife wanted to name him Andrew. Guess it was a good compromise!

 

[helenabear]

I gave my son his formal name (Dominic) even though we call him Dom around half the time. I probably use Dom more and I think my DH uses Dominic more. To me I like having the option of having a formal name and multiple nicknames, so I wanted to give my child the same option.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

You could also get the polar opposite like my mother. She NEVER calls anyone by a nickname. The only exceptions are my father and my sister. My father goes by Tony (but that's only because my brother and now my nephew are also Anthony. She calls them both Anthony, but my dad has always been Tony)...and my sister (who's legal first name is the Italian name for Susan. Everyone just calls her Susan).

Other than those two, my mom calls everyone by their legal first name...even if they're pretty much only known by shortened versions of their first name, like me, my bf, my brother or both my nephews. I have never understood this.

 

[Pin Wizard]

I voted for formal so the person has a choice as they grow up. I know Margarets who are Peggy and others who are Maggie. And they may change along the way. My sister is Patricia. We always called her Trish or Tricia when we were growing up. Somewhere in her early professional working life, she wanted to be known as Pat. Her husband and everyone else calls her Pat. I still call her Trish! LOL! I just met her new husband a couple weeks ago. I told him that I'm probably the only person on the planet that calls her Trish. She made a gesture to him when I said that like...see, I told you. LOL! Oh, yes. I'm sure my son calls her Trish also.

I always go by Sandy. However, I really dislike having to sign my legal (full) name on all documents. Bummer!