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I prefer names that don't have nn's. My daughter's name is Hayley and you can't really get a nn from that (although my sister calls her Hayles :P) My name is Cassie and I always get asked if its short for Cassandra (which it isn't, its just Cassie) and it gets annoying. I like the name Katherine but if I ever had a dd with that name I would call her Katherine, I wouldn't want anyone calling her Kate or Kathy or whatever. In my opinion whats the point of namimg your child a full name if everyone is just going be calling them by their short name? When my parents named me my dad wanted me to be Cassandra but my wanted wanted just Cassie coz she said "everyone would just call her that anyway" also my mum's name is Sandra so it would have been confusing. One of my sister's names is Briana (Bree-anna) and she has started to tell everyone to call her Bree, I still call her Briana coz its more prettier.

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Mum to Hayley Anne

For the most part, I prefer names without nn's because that's what I'm used to. My name is Heather, which can't really be shortened, but my brother and sister still get called by nn's they don't like (Candis/Candi, Nicholas/Nicky - he prefers Nick). But I greatly dislike, also for the most part, names used as formal names that are primarily nn's -- i.e. Katie, Ricky, Angie, etc. My best friend is named Kimmie, not Kimberly, and she finds it hard for people to take her seriously, etc. (even though she likes her name).

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~Heather~

I loathe, loathe, LOATHE nicknames as first names! Can you picture a lawyer or a doctor or a teacher named Lulu or Jamie or Katie or Johnny? The kid has no choice of what to be called, and nicknames will forever stick him or her in childhood.

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I do like some nicknames to be used as such, though.

I'd probably go for either names without nn or names with nn but not names that are nn. Sorry, no examples. My name choiced fro something like this change almost immediately after I put them down.

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Andrew

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Proud Adopter of 32 Punctuation Pets. See my profile for their names.

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"To a brave man, good luck and bad luck are like his right and left arms. He uses both."
St. Catherine of Siena

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"It is not length of life, but depth of life."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Both. I like Adelaide with Adele as nickname but Adele as possible name too.

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We hit it off straight away because we both love the same thing...Me!
Garfield

Depends on the name. Most nicknames are just too light, informal, or trivial seeming to me on their own; but some grown-up sounding (to me) nicknames I like have full versions that don't appeal to me as much (Teresa and Andrew could become Tess and Drew). I think my default will be to plan on the most natural nick (if the name is naturally nickable), and give the full form on paper. A lot of my faves don't need nicks anyway.

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What I'd do with your examples:
Lily - just the flower name stands well by itself. Lilian(a) I don't care for as much. If it were Lili, though, it'd need the Lilian.
Jacob / Jake, Samuel / Sam etc - I'd use the full on paper for sure. The nicks are just too familiar / informal for me
Jack - stands alone now, doesn't need to be John or Jackson anymore. In fact, it even seems a tad artificial to me to be John nn Jack.
Nataliya, Tatiyana, Frederik, Christian, Lucas and Gabriella: I'd give the full, use the nicks (or at least be willing to accept people using the natural nicks). I don't think the nicks stand alone well.
I guess it's just a subjective matter of appropriateness in formal contexts, like one's graduation or wedding announcement - to me you usually need the full version of a name; just not always.

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- chazda

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This message was edited 1/2/2006, 9:59 PM

I would generally use a full name and then call a child by a nickname--for example, I'd have a John "Jackie," Margalo "Marlo," Margaret "Daisy" or "Madge," and Marie "Mamie" or "Mimi"--because I often like the full name just as well as the nickname.

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If I really liked a nickname and it sounded professional enough to work as a full name, I might skip the nn. For example, I'd use Liza on its own, because I absolutely hate Elizabeth. I'd probably be willing to use Marlo, Daisy, Mamie, or Mimi on their own, but Madge and Jackie simply wouldn't feel like enough to me.

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Since I give my family members dozens of nicknames anyway, I think I'll end up giving my children the names I like best--the ones I want them called through life, since they could end up with completely different pet names with me. Whether that's the "full" name or the nickname just depends.

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Array

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"Phineas. That's an interesting name."
"Yeah. It's Latin for 'kick me'."

I'd rather use a formal name with NN possibilities. Sometimes the NN's don't fit an adult.

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The only exception I have is Maggie, as I don't care for Margaret/Magdalena, etc.

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Leslie, lucky mommy to Scott (2000), Delaney (2002), and Larissa (2005)

For the most part I try to pick names where they don't have an immediate nickname. I rather dislike nicknames being used all the time, especially when the nickname is so comon and the full name so nice! :)

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On my boys list I've opted to use Max and Jack as formal first names because I like them better than Maxwell and Jackson/John since they would be what called those all the time I'd rather name them what is usualy considered the nickname instead of the formal name.

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I don't mind an occasional nickname but I'd rather nicknames be more of an affectionate family thing. I've chosen names like Amy, Julia, Marjorie (nn could be Marjie or Jorie), Ciaran, Aidan & Simon.

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Firstly, some names which are used as nn are also formal names in themselves. Like Lucy, Lily, Sophie, Luke, Mark. And Jack was a nn for John. This Jackson thing must be a new invention due to the popularity of ln-as-fn. I would take just Jack any day before Jackson.

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Also, I would name a daughter Molly, without worrying that it originally was a nn for Mary or Margaret. I would name a girl Katia, Nadia or Natasha (which are all Russian nn for Ekaterina, Nadeschda and Natalia). I like Nellie and would not worry about a "formal name".

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Generally I would name a child the name I plan to call her/him. To me, people seem too worried that a "child will not be taken seriously" if they have a nick name as formal name. Don't know if this is an American thing. I am sure a child in Sweden will get along just fine with a nn as fn, just as long as she or he has a traditional Swedish ln. Many immigrants change their surnames, otherwise the employers just overlook their applications (I'm ashamed of my countrymen).

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Also, I don't see the point of chosing a wonderful fn and then hide it behind a nn. Though if the name was 4 syllables (or longer), I would probably use a nn for convenience. But I would never use only the nn.

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Some of the most popular names for babies in Sweden now are nn:
Girls: Moa, Molly, Emmy, Fanny
Boys: Olle, Tim, Theo

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"But it’s all right now.
I learned my lesson well.
You see you can’t please everyone
So you got to please yourself."
Rick Nelson, Garden Party

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"It does not become me to make myself smaller than I am." (Edith Södergran 1891-1923)

Gah! Jack is originally a nn for John. Jackson came later! :0P

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But it depends on the name to me. I dislike nn's for Elizabeth, but I like the whole name. It varies for me.

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