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Help[Opinions] Does August need a nickname?
As some may recall, my husband and I are considering either August or Wolfgang for our baby boy. (Simon was in the running, but has been eclipsed.)
We've been trying out August for a while, to see if it sticks. But one thing keeps cropping up. I have a coworker who keeps insisting (playfully) that August will be called Gus or Augie and is calling the baby Gus.
This raises a critical question. I like Gus OK, but my husband dislikes both nicknames.
What do you think? Will people shorten August? I figured there was no real danger of this since the name is only two syllables. But my coworker is starting to make me wonder...
As a sidenote, we realize that people will shorten Wolfgang, if we pick it. Wolfe is OK with us.
We've been trying out August for a while, to see if it sticks. But one thing keeps cropping up. I have a coworker who keeps insisting (playfully) that August will be called Gus or Augie and is calling the baby Gus.
This raises a critical question. I like Gus OK, but my husband dislikes both nicknames.
What do you think? Will people shorten August? I figured there was no real danger of this since the name is only two syllables. But my coworker is starting to make me wonder...
As a sidenote, we realize that people will shorten Wolfgang, if we pick it. Wolfe is OK with us.
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The only August I know is widely known as Gus; his colleagues call him August; and among friends he asks to be known as David (which is his mn, both names for family reasons).
I don't mind Gus, but Augie is terminally revolting.
I don't mind Gus, but Augie is terminally revolting.
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I don't think August needs a nn and if you want him to be called August, then just tell people that. If you really don't want a nn to be used, then others should respect that.
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Nah
Maybe it's just where I live but people generally just go by what they introduce themselves as unless it's like Elizabeth and people will automatically call you Liz sometimes. But I knew a girl named August growing up and everyone just knew her as August, that was it. Likewise, I knew a Jacob and a Kathryn in high school who went pretty much strictly by Jacob and Kathryn. It was actually really weird when someone out of the blue would call them Jake or Kate/Katie, it was like "huh?" and made everyone really uncomfortable for some reason. Often times, it would be other kids correcting the teacher saying "no it's only Jacob!" because it just seemed so off.
Maybe it's just where I live but people generally just go by what they introduce themselves as unless it's like Elizabeth and people will automatically call you Liz sometimes. But I knew a girl named August growing up and everyone just knew her as August, that was it. Likewise, I knew a Jacob and a Kathryn in high school who went pretty much strictly by Jacob and Kathryn. It was actually really weird when someone out of the blue would call them Jake or Kate/Katie, it was like "huh?" and made everyone really uncomfortable for some reason. Often times, it would be other kids correcting the teacher saying "no it's only Jacob!" because it just seemed so off.
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I don't think August needs a nickname and personally I wouldn't use a nickname either. August is just too nice to be shortened.
Will people shorten August?
I don't really get people who just automatically starts shorten people's names and call them by nicknames. To be honest, I think it's kind of rude to assume that just because someone is named August (or whatever) you can call him Gus. I've never went by a nickname (my name is Caroline) but I've had people try to call me Caro. When I was younger I didn't really understand that they meant me which made them stop calling me that. When I got older, people sometimes asked me if they could call me Caro and I said that I've never been called that but if they wanted to they could, but then they didn't.
Just the other day I had someone at work call me Caro, I responded to it but he looked kind of surprised himself as if he didn't really mean to call me Caro but just happened to.
Will people shorten August?
I don't really get people who just automatically starts shorten people's names and call them by nicknames. To be honest, I think it's kind of rude to assume that just because someone is named August (or whatever) you can call him Gus. I've never went by a nickname (my name is Caroline) but I've had people try to call me Caro. When I was younger I didn't really understand that they meant me which made them stop calling me that. When I got older, people sometimes asked me if they could call me Caro and I said that I've never been called that but if they wanted to they could, but then they didn't.
Just the other day I had someone at work call me Caro, I responded to it but he looked kind of surprised himself as if he didn't really mean to call me Caro but just happened to.
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I would definitely shorten August. Probably to something like Stinky or Fuggs. So would everyone else I know. Yet another reason you should use Wolfgang!
Only joking. I personally would probably nickname a friend named August whether he liked it or not, maybe Augie or Gus but most likely both, with some Augustine and Gusty and Gussie and Augs and Augsy and Auglet thrown in for fun. Depends how much I liked him. But I think I'm the exception and I nickname almost everyone.
"Nickname" and "name you go by that's not your real name" are unfairly conflated nowadays because everyone wants such a say in what other people do with their names. I think sometimes an August will get an Augie or a Gus. I don't think there's a danger of that overtaking his identity as August.
Only joking. I personally would probably nickname a friend named August whether he liked it or not, maybe Augie or Gus but most likely both, with some Augustine and Gusty and Gussie and Augs and Augsy and Auglet thrown in for fun. Depends how much I liked him. But I think I'm the exception and I nickname almost everyone.
"Nickname" and "name you go by that's not your real name" are unfairly conflated nowadays because everyone wants such a say in what other people do with their names. I think sometimes an August will get an Augie or a Gus. I don't think there's a danger of that overtaking his identity as August.
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I don't think August needs a nickname but some people may try to give him one. I knew my sister Nicole never wanted more than one nn which was Nicky but I insisted on coming up with every possible nn that I could. She actually liked some of them, like Snickerdoodle. But she hated knick-nack paddy-whack. She also hated when I called her Nicola with the same pronunciation as the Ricola ads. Truthfully my mom started the Nicola nn, but I kept using it. But only when she would refuse to answer me. My mother also gave her the nn Nick Louie since her mn was Louise. That was her first nn after Nicky. Geez Louise is what my mom would say sometimes when my sister would misbehave.
Sorry I went off topic a little. If you hate Augie and Gus then you don't have to call him that but that doesn't mean that others won't. Plus August might even like one of those nn's even. Wolfgang with the nn Wolf / Wolfe probably would happen. So if you like the nn Wolfe then Wolfgang might be a better choice if your husband hates Gus and Augie so much.
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Sorry I went off topic a little. If you hate Augie and Gus then you don't have to call him that but that doesn't mean that others won't. Plus August might even like one of those nn's even. Wolfgang with the nn Wolf / Wolfe probably would happen. So if you like the nn Wolfe then Wolfgang might be a better choice if your husband hates Gus and Augie so much.
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I know this kid named Nicholas/Nick. He goes by Snickers because he thinks it's just the cat's meow. For a while I called him Snickers. Then I realized he was the world's single most annoying person and stopped indulging him.
Anyway when he introduced himself to everyone he went "My name is Nick, but I go by Snickers... and if you get to know me REAL well, you can call me SNICKERDOODLES!"
(College, mind you.)
Anyway when he introduced himself to everyone he went "My name is Nick, but I go by Snickers... and if you get to know me REAL well, you can call me SNICKERDOODLES!"
(College, mind you.)
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Lol..... was that some sort of strange pick up line? :P I'm guessing it was suppose to be a very cheesy joke pick up line rather than a serious one.
I'd call my sister Snickers sometimes. It went from snickerdoodle to snickers and snicker to snicky. lol :P Our good friend came up with Nickel. My sister has a ton of nn's. Most of them were invented by myself and my mother. Some were from our good childhood friend who gave me the nn Missa. Laura's nn was Lur lur and I was Miss Missa Marisa or Miss Missa or just Missa. Those were the nn's we came up with in middle school. Marisa is hard to make nn's for. I think I slightly teased and loved to come up with nn's for my sister because I couldn't make up many for myself. Her name just lent itself to making nn's. I guess I'm a sucker for nn's. Sometimes Nicole will be called Nicola but not said like the Ricola ad. By that I mean just Nicola and not weirdly elongated like in the ad. My mom calls me both mah-RIS-ah and mah-REE-sah. She calls my sister Nicole, Nicky or Nicola. My mother is half hispanic and I'm 1/4 so even though we don't speak spanish we all use some spanish vocabulary and occasionally some pronunciations.
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I'd call my sister Snickers sometimes. It went from snickerdoodle to snickers and snicker to snicky. lol :P Our good friend came up with Nickel. My sister has a ton of nn's. Most of them were invented by myself and my mother. Some were from our good childhood friend who gave me the nn Missa. Laura's nn was Lur lur and I was Miss Missa Marisa or Miss Missa or just Missa. Those were the nn's we came up with in middle school. Marisa is hard to make nn's for. I think I slightly teased and loved to come up with nn's for my sister because I couldn't make up many for myself. Her name just lent itself to making nn's. I guess I'm a sucker for nn's. Sometimes Nicole will be called Nicola but not said like the Ricola ad. By that I mean just Nicola and not weirdly elongated like in the ad. My mom calls me both mah-RIS-ah and mah-REE-sah. She calls my sister Nicole, Nicky or Nicola. My mother is half hispanic and I'm 1/4 so even though we don't speak spanish we all use some spanish vocabulary and occasionally some pronunciations.
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I love August. I don't think that it needs a nickname. In fact, I prefer it without one. Gus has never done much for me.
August isn't that long of a name, so no, I don't think that most people will automatically shorten it. I think Augustus or Augustine would be much more likely to be shortened to Gus. The "gus" part of August isn't pronounced as strongly as in Augustus and Augustine, so I think you'd be fine if you didn't want to use a nickname for August.
August isn't that long of a name, so no, I don't think that most people will automatically shorten it. I think Augustus or Augustine would be much more likely to be shortened to Gus. The "gus" part of August isn't pronounced as strongly as in Augustus and Augustine, so I think you'd be fine if you didn't want to use a nickname for August.
This message was edited 3/20/2012, 9:08 PM
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I work for an August and he gets called Gus sometimes, but it's mostly older people that I work for, so that might just be an age thing. Good luck!
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ditto and I looooooove August. Great name.
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I don't think so. It's two syllables. If you had an August and someone was calling him a nickname you didn't like, you could correct them, especially when the baby is still a baby.
I guess if his friends were to start calling him Gus (I doubt they'd call him Augie... a girlfriend might?) when he's older, though, your husband will have to just suck it up. Nothing you can really do then.
I guess if his friends were to start calling him Gus (I doubt they'd call him Augie... a girlfriend might?) when he's older, though, your husband will have to just suck it up. Nothing you can really do then.
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