View Message

Having grown up with a name like Heather--which is rather difficult to shorten, lol--I tend to prefer names that do not have obvious nn's (though not exclusively). My friends and family members that have names that are usually shortened that do not want them shortened have struggled with this. My ex-fiance was Thomas, not Tom or Tommy, and people often would call him one of the latter two anyway. :-/ Then there are some names where I prefer the nn to the full name (i.e. Benjamin nn Ben and Margaret nn just about any of them :b) but I'm such a 'purist' that I couldn't bring myself not to use the "full" name. LOL. So would I use a name that had an obvious nn I didn't like? Maybe not. I loved Daniel for years and years and besides it being so overused, one of my big qualms with it was the nn's Dan and Danny. If I absolutely adored a name, though, I probably wouldn't let that stop me, can't say for sure.

It depends on how much the nn bothered me. If I absolutely hated it and the chances were good the child would get called that, then no, I wouldn't use the formal name.

My favorite nn for Josephine is just plain Jo and as Josephine is a lovely name I think you should keep it in the first name spot

I did.

---

The most common (at least here) nn for Victoria is Vicki, which I really do not like. (Too much like Nicki, who was a snob I knew and Vick's Vapor Rub, lol). When people said, "Oh, Victoria. Hello, little Vicki!" I smiled and said, "We call her Tori-Kate." Almost everyone has caught on...I still have one friend (whom we almost never see) who still refers to my DD as Vicki. I just act confused and then say, "OH! You mean Tori! Oh, she's growing like a little weed. And you won't believe what Tori-Kate did the other day..." After a couple sentences like this, my friend usually starts asking about my son. ;o)

That's tough. I think it depends on how established the NNs are and if there are options for several NNs.
I love Samuel but dislike Sam , so I probably wouldn't use it because Sam is so obvious. On the other hand I would use Penelope even though I don't like Penny, because one could create loads of other NNs for her and tell people that she is called that and not Penny.
I hope that explains what I mean.

---

How about Jo for Josephine? I don't like Josie either. I think Pepita is pretty cool. Josephine is a lovely name, I don't think you should hesitate to use it. She could be called many things.

I don't think that should stop you from using a name you love. You, and eventually your daughter herself, can perfectly control how she gets called, whether it's by her full name or some nickname you like better.

Someone named Josephine doesn't necessarily have to be called Josie. I knew a Josephine who was always called Josephine. If you call her Posey or Joey instead other people will catch on (most likely anyways).

I have a friend named Josephine and she goes by Jo or Joey and NEVER Josie. Her parents hate Josie and she dislikes being called Josie. Occasionally someone tries to call her Josie and she corrects them by saying "no, its Jo"
Definitely use Josephine. Its a name with enough nns that if you don't like one, you can steer people another way.

If you like Josephine, then go for it. I have a James. People have tried to call him Jim or even Jamie and I put a big stop to it. I do not care for those nicknames at all.

I struggle with similar issues. A name I love is Gabriel, but he would inevitably be called Gabe (I don't like this) by people because it is such an obvious nickname. Another name I love is Nathaniel, but he'll surely end up going by Nat, Nate, or Nathan (non of which I like). I usually choose to use these names as mns because I just can't stand their nicknames. They're are great names in their full length, but between what the kid wants to be called and what others call him- in both these cases they're bound to get a nn. Long names like Josephine are more likely to encourage a nn. If you're really concerned about this, I'd use it as a mn.

This message was edited 6/13/2007, 7:38 PM

Its difficult to weight up the pros and cons on this one.. I have the same dilemma with the name Charlie.. I like the name but I don't like how its almost always assumed that your name is Charles and Charlie is your nickname. I don't like Charles.

---

My mum has said to me that when my brother James was born people would try to call him Jim but she wouldn't allow it and insisted that he be called James.

---

If you truely don't want your child to be called Josie, just correct people when they try to use that nn. Your child is your child and she should be called whatever you want her to be called, not other people (unless of course she decides that she likes the nn Josie, in which case you don't have much choice).

I'm the same way with Elizabeth and Gabrielle, love the names and hate the nicknames.

---

I can say that you will most likely get a lot of people who call her Jo or Josie. Kids tend to make up nicknames, even if at home she goes by Josephine. I know a Gabrielle who's mom was reluctant to naming her such because she was afraid people would call her Gabby which was the last thing she wanted. Low and behold, everyone at school began calling her Gabby and some Gab. She's now known to family as Gabrielle, sometimes Gab, and most others Gabby.]

---

I think if you're willing to put up with it then go for it! Plus, I think that Josephine isn't as popular as Elizabeth or Gabrielle, so you shouldn't really have those problems. Some may shorten the name because they know others with that nickname. So bottom line, I think you can pull off naming her Josephine and people knowing her as Josephine, not Jo or Joey or Josie. My sister is Mikaela, one of the first ever in my opinion. She's not Mik or Miki, my mom will hang whoever calls her that by their underwear, not even kidding. My brother is Spencer though that gets shortened to Spence. I think if you prevent it as my mom did with my sister you shouldn't have a problem! Plus like I said it's not very common, either. Beautiful name.

---

I think if she says to people, "Hi, my name is Josephine," most people will call her Josephine.

---

I love Alexandra but hate Alex and other nicknames, I'd use it if it weren't so popular. I know an Alexandra that goes by Alexandra though. And her brother Marcus, who is Marcus and not Marc. So I wouldn't worry about it.

of course name her that! i understand what you're talking about-- many people call me syd instead of sydney, which i loathe. if someone calls your girl josie, just laugh it off and politely tell them that it's josephine--no biggie!

I never let a "common nickname" ruin a full name for me. I personally love a lot of full names and not the expected nickname. In fact, there are plenty where I wouldn't use a nickname when everyone would have the tendency to shorten it.

---

I've met plenty of people who would expect to shorten their names and tell people they wish to be called by their full name. (Names such as Michael, Nicholas, Patrick, Joseph, Katherine, David, and many more.)

---

I say use Josephine if you want. Just tell people you are calling her Josephine or Joey (or whatever nn you decide on). Family will know, and friends. But remember, she may like Josie when she grows up and may want to be called Josie instead.

In general, I wouldn't let a possible stop me if I really wanted to use the full name. However, you have to realize that after a certain age, you no longer have any control over what other people call the child or what she calls herself or wants to be called. You can therefore keep calling her Josephine till the cows come home, but she may very well insist that everybody else must call her Josie.

---

I think the nn problem is greater with some names than with others. I know of lots of Elizabeths who never have any trouble getting people to use the full name, but I know a mess of Michaels who are always trying to get people to call them that and not Mike, with limited success. My husband is Phillip to family and a couple friends, but Phil to everybody else, regardless of what he or his parents intended. :) And I know of no William who is regularly called William and not Will, Billy or Bill.

I see how this could be a problem if you like Josephine and none of the nicknames, but I'm not seeing the problem with this particular situation. I say go for Josephine and, if someone insists on a nickname, just say that you call her Joey or Posey.

You can't control other people's nicknames. And you also can't control if little Josephine wants to be called Josie. So if it really bothers you, use it as a mn. Personally, I love Amity and Felicity, but don't like nns for them. But I'd still use them and fn's.