Re: I still don't understand this British trend...
in reply to a message by coldplayer9
I think for some of the parents, they either don't like the full form, or they think the full name is too cumbersome. Although in some cases, there are people who think 'if I'm going to call my son Ben, I may as well put Ben on the birth certificate'.
As I believe I've mentioned before, my cousin in the UK has boys called Alfie and Archie, as for her Alfred and Archibald (with Archibald in particular) being 'too posh' or 'too snooty' for her.
Her best friend has four children; Ben, Sam, Maddie and Tom, and she is one of those who didn't see the point of putting the full names on the birth certificate when she only planned to refer to them as Ben, Sam, Maddie and Tom. Of course, everyone assumes they are really Benjamin, Samuel, Madeleine/Madison and Thomas, so much so the last time I saw her friend, she admitted it made her wish she had used the full names (so she didn't have to keep correcting people).
As I believe I've mentioned before, my cousin in the UK has boys called Alfie and Archie, as for her Alfred and Archibald (with Archibald in particular) being 'too posh' or 'too snooty' for her.
Her best friend has four children; Ben, Sam, Maddie and Tom, and she is one of those who didn't see the point of putting the full names on the birth certificate when she only planned to refer to them as Ben, Sam, Maddie and Tom. Of course, everyone assumes they are really Benjamin, Samuel, Madeleine/Madison and Thomas, so much so the last time I saw her friend, she admitted it made her wish she had used the full names (so she didn't have to keep correcting people).