Nicknames?
Find a Conversation
Nicknames?
| Sat, 04-14-2007 - 11:42am |
Hi,
I just had a question about "short" names. I really like Lainey for a girl and Leo for a boy, but DH thinks they cannot stand alone. Do they sound like nicknames? Will people always ask for their "real" names? We are not TTC until next summer, but I really like to pick names in advance. If they are too nicknamey, what nice names could work for Lainey and Leo? Thanks.
Tracy
I just had a question about "short" names. I really like Lainey for a girl and Leo for a boy, but DH thinks they cannot stand alone. Do they sound like nicknames? Will people always ask for their "real" names? We are not TTC until next summer, but I really like to pick names in advance. If they are too nicknamey, what nice names could work for Lainey and Leo? Thanks.
Tracy

Pages
I like the name Lainey and can see it as a name in its own right. I do think it is a little "nickname-y," but I honestly don't think that should stop you from using it.
There are many names that are "weird," "childish" or difficult to pronounce and/or spell on my list of favorites. Some of these favorites become nicknames for me, but many I like alone or just don't love the more formal options. My solution is to use a first or middle name that is more formal, "normal" or recognizable in middle-class America. Or, even, since I am part of a multi-cultural community, a more "international" name. (When I travel abroad, my nickname (Becky) had inevitably been met with stares of incomprehension--my full name, Rebecca, is much better received.) I think of this not as a "balancing out" of their too-unique/informal/difficult name, but as a way of providing them built-in flexibility in the image that they want to project.
A few examples:
Daisy (Abigail)
(Lily) Keziah or Keziah (Grace)
Aoife (Catherine) or (Lily) Aoife
The same goes for a boy or girl whose name is more androgynous (if they wanted to be seen as more feminine or masculine than the name we plan to use primarily). (Anastasia/Lily/Hannah) Quinn could go by Quinn if/when she wanted, and by a more traditionally feminine name if/when she preferred. (Benjamin) Quinn could be a Ben sometimes.
These children can go by Abigail, Lily, Grace, Catherine, Anastasia, Hannah, many variations thereof, by Daisy, Kez, Aoife, Quinn, or they can choose to go by different versions of their names in the different situations they find themselves.
You can use a less formal name if it is the one you love, without sacrificing your child's ability to come across formally on a job application, a lawyer's office sign or a blind date (having flexibility in the image you want to project can matter beyond the workplace).
Maybe your daughter will be a L. Catherine on her resume, or maybe she'll choose to be a little bit different. Whichever she chooses, she'll always be your Lainey.
Best of luck!
Pages