My great-grandmother was named
Bessie (not short for anything). Her full name was
Bessie Corina. I like the
Corina part, but I don't like
Bess and
Bessie enough to use either one. I think that they would be great for someone else's child though.
It's actually not unusual for people in my family to be given "nicknames" as first names.
My grandmother is named
Josie Ellia (not
Josephine) and two of her sisters were named
Elsie and
Rosie (
Rosie passed away, but
Elsie is still living). Her other siblings have longer names.