Anonymous wrote:I would do full name, then nickname in quotes or parentheses. Obituaries may eventually be used for historical or genealogical research -- so why not make it easy on everyone who will come across the resource? Those who know the people by nickname, and those who will likely be searching by, or hoping for, full names.

Adding to my own post, hit submit too soon.

However, while this is what I would suggest due to a preference for being thorough, I do not think there is anything wrong, offensive, or worth being bothered about in using only nicknames. At worst it makes the obituary slightly less accessible, but those who know and are close to the deceased likely know who the survivors are regardless of whether nicknames or full names are used.