Personalized gifts when baby goes by a nickname?

[Anonymous]

Would you use the full first name or the nickname? In this case, the nickname is just the first syllable of the full name and it is really short.

[Shopmom]

My son goes by a nick name, and I think its more appropriate to personalize with the full first name

[Anonymous]

Depends. Does the child go by the nickname all the time? As in, everyone calls the child "Becky" but know that her full name is Rebecca, then use the nickname. If it's just some of the time-- say, sometimes he's Chris, sometimes he's Christopher-- I would go with the full name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends. Does the child go by the nickname all the time? As in, everyone calls the child "Becky" but know that her full name is Rebecca, then use the nickname. If it's just some of the time-- say, sometimes he's Chris, sometimes he's Christopher-- I would go with the full name.

Hmm ... he was born yesterday so hard to say!

[Anonymous]

You can ask someone close to the family. Our DD2 goes by a nickname which is an abbreviation of her full name and we never call her by her first name. But we told anyone who asked that we wanted personalized gifts to have her full first name.

[Anonymous]

I would go with the full name (I say this as a parent of a child who uses his nickname all the time- I still prefer personalized stuff to have his given name.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hmm ... he was born yesterday so hard to say!

Then I'd probably go with the full name. The parents might change their mind about the nickname once they start using it.

[Anonymous]

Go with the full name. We call my son several shorter derivatives of his name but I prefer his longer given name on personalized items. Over the holidays, we received a personalized placemat with one of the nicknames on it and I cringe when I look at it (mostly because it's a baby-ish nickname which we'll likely drop as he gets older but he'll still be using the placemat for years to come).

[Anonymous]

My DS goes by a nickname and people have given us items personalized with both his formal name and his nickname. I am personally more attached to the items with his nickname because that is how I see him. I never call him by his full name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Hmm ... he was born yesterday so hard to say!

Then I'd probably go with the full name. The parents might change their mind about the nickname once they start using it.

That's what I would do. Nicknames can change. I had every intention of using a nickname when DD was born but she was very serious and I called her by her full name. When she was 16 months old she told me "No Evelyn. BeBe." and would only answer to "BeBe" and would correct you if you called her Evelyn. We called her that for a year and a half before she wanted to be called Evelyn again. Now at 7 she likes to be called Ev or Evy.

DH had hopes for our other child's nickname but our child doesn't like it.

[Anonymous]

Hmm...DD's name is Abigail, and we call her Abby. We received two personalized blankets and one towel when she was born, all with "Abby," plus a piggy bank with "Abigail."

Can't say that I had strong feelings either way, but I very much appreciated that everyone spelled Abby the way we do (as opposed to Abbie, Abbey, etc.). I'd just check that the parents use the spelling of the nickname you had in mind, even if it's super-common and wouldn't appear to have alternatives.

[Anonymous]

My DD has a nickname that is very different from her real name, and for me it would depend on what the item is. A t-shirt may lend itself to the nickname while a pewter baby rattle might not.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends. If the nickname is a shortened version of the baby's name, then you can go with either. If it's a towel or burp cloth, the shortened version is probably fine. If it's something that is more of a keepsake, I'd go with the full name.

Also, some nicknames have NOTHING to do with the real first name. Family traditions like using the same first name for all males born and then picking a "nickname" that begins with a certain letter for example. It's very southern! In that case, I'd personalize with the nickname unless you are using the full name or initials obviously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends. If the nickname is a shortened version of the baby's name, then you can go with either. If it's a towel or burp cloth, the shortened version is probably fine. If it's something that is more of a keepsake, I'd go with the full name.

Also, some nicknames have NOTHING to do with the real first name. Family traditions like using the same first name for all males born and then picking a "nickname" that begins with a certain letter for example. It's very southern! In that case, I'd personalize with the nickname unless you are using the full name or initials obviously.

I agree. My daughter goes by a nickname that is only sort-of connected to her name, and most of her personalized stuff has her nickname on it. I don't think most people - outside of family - even know what her actual first name is.

Initials are a good compromise. For keepsake type things, I usually do initials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD has a nickname that is very different from her real name, and for me it would depend on what the item is. A t-shirt may lend itself to the nickname while a pewter baby rattle might not.

I agree with this, but even with a keepsake I might go with initials just to be sure. My brother has always been called by his middle name - he is Henry William, but since our Dad is Henry my brother has always been called Will.