If your kid goes by a nickname, do you ever use full name?

[Anonymous]

I have a 1 year old daughter, with a very pretty but kind of long first name. We call her by a nickname (Say her name is Jacqueline, we call her Jackie). However, it's kind of a mix, as I call her Jacqueline maybe 30% of the time (when she's getting into trouble - super serious voice or if I'm being silly). My MIL commented this weekend that she's going to grow up very confused because we haven't settled on a name for her. This strikes me as silly, since we call our older child by his name but also a slew of family nicknames (such as monkey, goof-monster, etc.) and he seems to know his name just fine. My DH goes by a nickname and apparently his mother never called him by his full name.

What do you do? I figure when she gets older she may decide she prefers to be called only one or the other (and it might switch if she's anything like I was in MS or HS).

[Anonymous]

My daughter had no problem comprehending that Lizzie and Elizabeth were both her name. She answered to both (we mainly called her Elizabeth, but her daycare teachers called her Lizzie and sometimes we did).

[Anonymous]

Your MIL is over-thinking.
My six year is addressed about 70/30 in favor of nickname by us, she is not confused about it, writes her full name on her school work, but calls herself nickname most of the time. Not remotely an issue.

[Anonymous]

We have a nickname for our kid, but they call her by her full name at daycare. We also sometimes call her by her full name. Think about the sheer number of Michaels called Mike, or Christophers called Chris--clearly, kids understand the concept of nicknames and full names!

[Anonymous]

DD has a longish name, like Katherine. She is 4 so when she started writing her name she only did the first 4 letters - Kath. Hilariously, the teachers all assumed that everyone was supposed to call her just "Kath" so now all her stuff at school is labeled Kath or Katherine "Kath" Smith.

We still call her the longer name at home, but hey, whatever works!

[Anonymous]

We mostly use the nickname. The full name means I am serious.
The school uses her full name for some reason.

[Anonymous]

I use both my daughter's formal name and her nickname (think Jessica and Jess) and she doesn't seem confused She, however, self identifies with the nickname. I also call her sweetie, sweetheart, etc., and that doesn't confuse her either. I wouldn't worry.

I think actually ONLY using the nickname or ONLY the formal name can cause confusion later. I was always known by my nickname and NOBODY ever called me by my formal name. Now that I am a professional, my formal name is on my business cards and I have a hard time remembering that people are talking to me if they use my formal name because even colleagues usually use the nickname (think Liz for Elizabeth).

[Anonymous]

My daughter has a long name and a short nickname. I call her both (and sometimes her first and middle). I specifically make it a point to use her full name at times other than when she's in trouble so she doesn't have a negative association with her name.

She's 11 now and answers to all variations just fine. It's not a problem. When introducing herself, she uses the nickname.

[Anonymous]

My 4.5 yo has always responded to both her full name and nickname, but the nickname is what appears on things that say her name (bath towel, cards, etc.). She occasionally asks to be called by her full name, both at school or at home, which we take as a sign that she likes both options just fine.

We're more prone to calling her by silly nicknames that have nothing to do with her real name, which must be true of many families. No matter what, there's absolutely no confusion.

[Anonymous]

Overthinking, especially at this age. When my kid was little, we ended up calling him exclusively by a nickname totally unrelated to his name. For example, his name is John and we always called him Buster. He would refer to himself as Buster and point out "Buster" in photos, etc. He started daycare at age 2.5 and we let them know that we called him Buster at home, but his name is John. There was no "transition" at all.

He's 5, and we still call him Buster most of the time, but in conversation, at school and with friends, he is John. There is no confusion. Certainly at one year old, it's fine to call your daughter Jackie and not worry about it. She will know who she is.

[Anonymous]

My DS goes exclusively by his nickname. We started using it the moment he was born. He has a more formal name and he knows it (and will answer to it), but we use it on documents only. No issues--he always knew he had a formal name, but the nickname is what is used 99.9% of the time.

[Anonymous]

We use both full names and nicknames, plus other random made up nicknames (made up by us and by the kids!)

Signed, a person who went by a nickname every day of her life (except in legal situations) who is not confused.

[Anonymous]

My son has Asperger's and it took years for him to admit that his nickname is not his legal name. He wouldn't believe us until we showed him his birth certificate and still is very unhappy about it. Not because he doesn't like his legal name, he just says it isn't his name. Pretty sure that won't be the case for your daughter.

[Anonymous]

Hate nicknames... only the real name. Or, if you wanted that nickname, you just name your kid that.

[Anonymous]

we use nicknames for both kids about half the time. The 2yo answers to both. The baby is only 6mos and we just started using the nickname a few weeks ago, but I expect she'll be fine.