I am Italian, and this is my favorite Italian name--but I really do think it would be butchered so went with a different name for my DD. I am not aware of any nicknames for it; I think you'd just have to resign yourself to constantly explaining how it is pronounced.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

...psst: this is why you shouldn't have named him Christopher. If you've lived in the US for a long time, you would know that our culture is crazy for nicknames. It's a way to show affection and intimacy. Everyone calls you Elizabeth but I'm your sister so I call you Lizzie, that kind of thing.

No, it's not the PP's fault that the PP's son's teacher insists on calling the PP's son a nickname the PP's son doesn't want to be called.

I have a brother, raised in the US, whose name is the equivalent of Christopher. Somehow throughout most of his life, most people have managed to remember to call him [the equivalent of] Christopher, rather than [the equivalent of] Chris.

NP. I think the PP is saying that you should spare your child having to do this if you possibly can. Whether it's wrong or right doesn't matter, it's reality that people do this in America.

Anonymous wrote:

...psst: this is why you shouldn't have named him Christopher. If you've lived in the US for a long time, you would know that our culture is crazy for nicknames. It's a way to show affection and intimacy. Everyone calls you Elizabeth but I'm your sister so I call you Lizzie, that kind of thing.

No, it's not the PP's fault that the PP's son's teacher insists on calling the PP's son a nickname the PP's son doesn't want to be called.

I have a brother, raised in the US, whose name is the equivalent of Christopher. Somehow throughout most of his life, most people have managed to remember to call him [the equivalent of] Christopher, rather than [the equivalent of] Chris.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+ 1

In other cultures, it's the norm to choose a formal name you like and expect that to be used at all times. In the US, you do have to think about potential nicknames because they are soooo heavily used (Nicholas -Nick, Michael - Mike, Daniel - Dan, Katherine - Kate, Elizabeth - Ellie or Lizzie, etc. etc. etc.)

Even if you make it through your child's childhood using the formal name, I've found that teachers often give them nicknames when they start school in order to differentiate between children with the same name. "Ok you're Katherine, you're Kate, and you're Katie."

When I was teaching, I always asked the kids which version of their name they preferred and they almost always told me a shortened version.

I hope that teachers don't do this. That would be presumptuous and disrespectful.

Many are too lazy. If I have to tell one more teacher it's Christopher and not Chris, my head may explode.

I rarely have to deal with large groups of children, but when I deal with large groups of adults, having too many people with long multi-syllabic names makes things difficult when you have a lot going on. Once syllable nicknames help when you spend a lot of time busy and giving out directions. So, while I may start with Nicholas, Katherine, Christopher and Alexender, after a while when in a rush, it may become Nick, Kate, Chris and Alex. When things slow down again, I will go back to the full names, but sometimes speed is of the essence. I run several big events weekly and it only happens once every couple of times, but it does happen. Sorry when it does, but I'm not about to slow down a very busy environment trying to get a lot of things processed in a short amount of time just to adhere to long names. I can see this happening with a teacher in a large classroom.

I personally tell my kids who prefer their two-syllable name to the one-syllable nickname that if the person is very busy and going fast, to just ignore it, but if things are slower and there is more time to request that the teacher use the preferred name. My example is if they are busy yelling at a group to let it slide, but when they are in one-on-ones or small group settings to make the request.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+ 1

In other cultures, it's the norm to choose a formal name you like and expect that to be used at all times. In the US, you do have to think about potential nicknames because they are soooo heavily used (Nicholas -Nick, Michael - Mike, Daniel - Dan, Katherine - Kate, Elizabeth - Ellie or Lizzie, etc. etc. etc.)

Even if you make it through your child's childhood using the formal name, I've found that teachers often give them nicknames when they start school in order to differentiate between children with the same name. "Ok you're Katherine, you're Kate, and you're Katie."

When I was teaching, I always asked the kids which version of their name they preferred and they almost always told me a shortened version.

I hope that teachers don't do this. That would be presumptuous and disrespectful.

Well they do so pick a name with standard nicknames that you like (I don't like the nn Nate so I would never choose Nathaniel for my kids).

Kids do it too. Now that I think about it, maybe that's where it comes from actually - the other kids start calling your Christopher Chris and he goes along with it so the teacher starts calling him that as well.

They do assign nicknames? Not in my experience as a student, a long time ago. And not in my kids' experience, either, at least not from what they tell me.

I was known as "Jenn with two Ns" to distinguish me from Jennifer, Jenny, Jennie, and JeN.

They do this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I hear you that it's a tough dilemma for an 8 year old, but the problem is that Christopher is a common name and every other Christopher is cool with Chris. We have a last name that many people mispronounce (it's an easy name but it has a common mispronunciation). My 9 year old is not comfortable telling everyone the correct pronunciation but he hates when people do it and my advice to him is to learn to be ok with how people are pronouncing (I, personally, don't care one way or the other if you put the accent on the wrong syllable and pronounce the vowel the other way) or get used to correcting it. It is what it is. Going through life seething because someone makes a very common mistake is a recipe for disaster. Not saying your son is doing this, but you sound irrationally upset over it.

It's not true that every other Christopher is cool with Chris. Some are, some aren't. If Christopher has to tell his teacher every day that it's Christopher, not Chris, that's not Christopher's problem, it's his teacher's.

Man you are really dense aren't you? The teacher might be a dunce but in reality, it's Christopher's problem because he has to do it every day and that's annoying. Soooo that is why everyone is telling you not to choose a name that naturally shortens to a name you don't care for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+ 1

In other cultures, it's the norm to choose a formal name you like and expect that to be used at all times. In the US, you do have to think about potential nicknames because they are soooo heavily used (Nicholas -Nick, Michael - Mike, Daniel - Dan, Katherine - Kate, Elizabeth - Ellie or Lizzie, etc. etc. etc.)

Even if you make it through your child's childhood using the formal name, I've found that teachers often give them nicknames when they start school in order to differentiate between children with the same name. "Ok you're Katherine, you're Kate, and you're Katie."

When I was teaching, I always asked the kids which version of their name they preferred and they almost always told me a shortened version.

I hope that teachers don't do this. That would be presumptuous and disrespectful.

Well they do so pick a name with standard nicknames that you like (I don't like the nn Nate so I would never choose Nathaniel for my kids).

Kids do it too. Now that I think about it, maybe that's where it comes from actually - the other kids start calling your Christopher Chris and he goes along with it so the teacher starts calling him that as well.

They do assign nicknames? Not in my experience as a student, a long time ago. And not in my kids' experience, either, at least not from what they tell me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Seriously? You named your kid Christopher but get that upset if he is called Chris? That was a bad name to choose if you don't like Chris. It's too natural a nickname for anyone to think twice about using it.

Christopher: Hi, my name is Christopher.
You: Hi, Chris.
Christopher: Actually, Christopher, please.

Now what do you do?

NP here. I try to remember, but if I am also trying to get a new school year started, it might not happen for awhile.

You can remember Chris but not Christopher? BS. Forgetting the whole name is one thing, but no way I'm buying that people remember Rick but not Richard, Tom but not Thomas, Etc.

That's the dilemma for him--he's 8, he really doesn't feel like he can tell his teacher EVERY DAY that he doesn't want to be called Chris.

...psst: this is why you shouldn't have named him Christopher. If you've lived in the US for a long time, you would know that our culture is crazy for nicknames. It's a way to show affection and intimacy. Everyone calls you Elizabeth but I'm your sister so I call you Lizzie, that kind of thing.

I know one Chiara (her family pronounces it key-AR-uh) and if they use a nickname (usually don't) it's Kia. I'm not sure why they don't spell it Chia, but they spell the nickname Kia. The girl is now 19 and in college, but we met when she was in middle school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

+ 1

In other cultures, it's the norm to choose a formal name you like and expect that to be used at all times. In the US, you do have to think about potential nicknames because they are soooo heavily used (Nicholas -Nick, Michael - Mike, Daniel - Dan, Katherine - Kate, Elizabeth - Ellie or Lizzie, etc. etc. etc.)

Even if you make it through your child's childhood using the formal name, I've found that teachers often give them nicknames when they start school in order to differentiate between children with the same name. "Ok you're Katherine, you're Kate, and you're Katie."

When I was teaching, I always asked the kids which version of their name they preferred and they almost always told me a shortened version.

I hope that teachers don't do this. That would be presumptuous and disrespectful.

Many are too lazy. If I have to tell one more teacher it's Christopher and not Chris, my head may explode.

Seriously? You named your kid Christopher but get that upset if he is called Chris? That was a bad name to choose if you don't like Chris. It's too natural a nickname for anyone to think twice about using it.

THIS!

I love Michael but don't care for Mike (same with David and Dave) so I would never name my kid Michael or David.

Strangely I don't mind when Daniel and Nicholas are shortened to Dan and Nick. Every Christopher I've ever met (and they are legion in our generation) goes by Chris. Same with Jeffrey and Jeff.