Can I Avoid Nicknames?

I primarly like Parent dish, but this is the worst question I have read yet. No wonder no one has responded.

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3 kids, Sara became "sissy" Ian, for some strange reason is pronunced "an" and aaron will forever be known as "a" no complaints from any of them, and they are in their 30's!

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Our son is named William and we call him Will. After living in the south all of my life and listening to William pronounced "Weeyum" we decided to shorten it ourselves. Now if I can just get them to stop calling him "Willie"! :)

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Good luck with trying to control how others use his name. You will be doomed to frustration. It's not only others, but the child themselves that will rename himself. Princess Diana had William, but she renamed him Wills because he was willful. I have a 3-syllable ethnic name. Talk about name hell. #1 most people can't pronounce it #2 I spend an ungodly time correcting people and spelling it over and over (thanks mom!) #3 people shorten it anyway. They use the first 2 syllables, the last 2, and in=between! And interestingly, none of them repeat the same nick name! Early on in my life I gave myself an "American" name because I wanted to be like 'everyone else'. So at all my different work places, I'm known by a different name! Only my last job did everyone pronounce my full name all the time. Prior to that it was always a new short cut. So good luck with everyone calling Wm. by his full name. I can hear Bill, Billy, Will, Willy, and even Wii now. At least it's not Richard!!

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You fear the possible nicknames? Never use them when speaking to the child in private or in public. If other people and their children hear you use William all the time they will be less likely to use a nickname when they talk to him.

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easy way to correct shortined names my dad did it to mine someone called and asked for me by nick name and my dad said sorry no on by that name lives here and hung up sane with knocks at doors etc.. he told me that is not your name and would not accept it and never did so my friends accepted it and always usedmy full name end of problem

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I taught in a H.S. for 20 yrs. and I've run in to my fair share of names that, at times, I had to look twice at to confirm what I was reading. One mild, introverted, and foreign born male 7th grader's name was pronounced "Nee-shee" BUT it was spelled N-I-S-H-I-T .
I would hyothetically cringe if and when some substitute,perhaps, would be taking attendance and maybe raise raise their eyebrows but say Nishit's name incorrectly anyway. Suggestion: if and when you choose ANY name for your offspring just examine the initials or nickname posibilities before you cross any similar pobbibilities.

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My son's name is William. We have always called him by his full name, but by the time he started high school, most people were calling him Will, especially kids on his baseball team. It does not bother me, but I still call him William. PLEASE do not give your child a name that you already know will cause issues. You cannot control who will call him by his full name and those that will shorten it. Why would you give your son a name that you know could cause you and him grief?

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This may be off the point a bit, but I used to be a college teacher, and one of my colleagues who had to fill in for another teacher came to me with a situation. She showed me a list of names, one of which was a surname that could be pronounced in a very embarrassing manner, and asked me what to do when she called the roll. I suggested that she pass around a sheet of paper and ask students to sign it. Problem solved.

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why can't you call him willy...or willie........that is another nickname for William.

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My younger sister is named Gabrielle. My step mother was very adamant about her only being called Gabrielle, not Gabby not Gab not Elle GABRIELLE. When people would try to call her something else they were politely reprimanded "Excuse me, her name is Gabrielle not Gabby." It worked, when she was old enough she started telling people herself what her name was and besides children teasing her no-one has ever referred to her as anything other than Gabrielle. Now if you think this is a fluke I have to tell you I also have a younger sister named Francesca...not Fran not Franny... FRANCESCA. She is also old enough to now tell people what her name is when they make the mistake of calling her anything else. If you feel strongly about a name you can make sure that the everyday people in your child's life call them by their name and not a nickname. We work hard with the struggle of picking the perfect name for our children it is not unreasonable for us to want them to be called by that name and it should not be considered rude or impossible to expect otherwise.

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When someone called my daughter "Al" or "Allie" instead of Allison, we (or she) would simply say, "I prefer Allison." And, my co-worker James, would never let anyone call him "Jim." IF you don't want the nickname, just say so if someone starts to use one.

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