Anonymous wrote:

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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.

+1. My cousin is an Elizabeth, never a nickname. She also named her kids long, really commonly nicknamed classic names (similar to Benjamin, Christopher) and insists they be called the full names as well. Someone accidentally calls the kid Ben because we know a zillion little Bens and SHE gets annoyed because we didn't stop to remember her preference in casual conversation. It comes across as pretentious and insufferable. Call the kid whatever you want and we'll do our best to follow your wishes, but don't get bent out of shape when people forget. This is more about the parent's character and attitude towards others than the kid's name, IMO.

Anonymous wrote:

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+ 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.

Wow what a hag bag. If I meet your kid, I'm calling him Chris, no matter how much you try to "it's Christopher" me. Seriously.

Well you're an insufferable bitch if you don't call people what THEY want to be called. I bet you're just as ugly in person.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing. Why does EVERY name seem to need a nickname?

American culture is very casual and susceptible to nicknames.

+ 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.

In some cultures, that is. In other cultures, like Russian, nicknames are even more prevalent than they are in the U.S..

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.

Wow what a hag bag. If I meet your kid, I'm calling him Chris, no matter how much you try to "it's Christopher" me. Seriously.

Anonymous wrote:I was one of three Jennifers in a math class that also had four Michaels and four Kevins, two of whom also had the same surname. No one got mortally offended or had their sense of identity shaken because we were Jen/Jenny/Jennifer for that part of the day, or Big Kevin/Little Kevin. Otherwise it was literally Jennifer A, Jennifer B, and Jennifer C, which is hardly any better. And if you have two kids named Kevin Jones, what else is the teacher supposed to do? We all recognized the amusing absurdity of the situation on that roster and rolled with it.

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I spelled my name Jenn (pronounced Jen) and so thereby became "Jenn with two Ns"

I thought it was sort of amusing so I didn't care. Everyone hated the Jennifer A. Jennifer B. stuff. It's very impersonal. I think that's why teachers try to be creative if they can.

So you already were Jenn with two Ns. I think that's different.

The point is, it's pronounced the same. She gave me a nickname in order to distinguish me from the other Jen.

I think that the teacher calling you Jenn-with-two-Ns, when you were already going by Jenn (with two Ns), is different from the teacher telling a Katherine who does not go by Katie that the teacher is going to call her Katie.

I'm Jessica and there's always been lots of Jessicas. My name was shortened to Jess by teachers, not by me, to distinguish from the other Jessica. You're shocked now, right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nothing. Why does EVERY name seem to need a nickname?

American culture is very casual and susceptible to nicknames.

+ 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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Good lord, it's not that damn hard. He doesn't like it but doesn't appreciate having to correct his teachers. I don't like NN in general, why is it so hard to just call everyone by their name? If I tell you myname is Elizabeth, I expect you to call me Elizabeth, and not to have a 5 minute conversation about other options.

Sorry, Liz. Should've picked a different name if you don't want your DS to go by Chris. If he prefers Topher, he needs to say so.

Try harder, you're not actually funny. That's a grimace you see on everyone's face, not a smile.

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.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I hate Kiki. Kiki is hard for me to say, or at least sounds ugly when I say it. Gets caught in the back of my throat or something and sounds like Giggy. I do really like KK though which is somehow easier for me to say and also it sounds cuter.

There's also Keer/Kir which I think is super cute but also one of my favorite cocktails.

Really? I've never heard anyone say Kiki (Key Key) was hard to say. Doesn't sound like Giggy AT ALL. Do you have a lisp or accent?

+1, my name is Nikki, when my little brother and sister were young, they called me Kiki, because they couldn't say the "n"...kiki was easy for toddlers.

Anonymous wrote:Kiki