Childish first names for adults

[laariii2]

It is common in Australia to shorten names and ad " O" to the end of them.
Other ones i can think of are

Simo - simon
Jonno-Jonothan

Its common for other words are well for example,

"Me Jonno, Simo and Tomo went to the Servo ( gas station) in the Arvo ( afternoon) and got a chicko roll for smoko (smoking break).

I’ve worked with people will unusual names - Obi - Rudolph ( he liked being called Rude or Roo) and there is a MALE co-ordinater at my work who goes by the name Stacy since he is Greek i am guessing that its short for Eustace.

 

[vashsunglasses]

I don’t have a diminutive for my name because my full first name already is one. I’m Bobbie, and I was named after my Grandpa, Robert. (Yes, girls can be named after their grandpas lol) And I can’t stand when people assume it’s short for something else and start making guesses. I get a lot of Barbaras and Robertas (bleh, no offense to anyone with those names… but bleh), and some people will call me “Bobby Joe” for some bizarre reason.

Growing up I was “Bobbie Lyn” and my extended family still calls me that though I ditched the Lyn (I can’t stand my middle name) when I was 10. To me, baby talk is when someone calls me “Bobby Pin” or “Boobie Lyn” or “Bobo” and I generally frown upon it as a rule. It doesn’t happen very often now-a-days but it was rampant in High School.

My sister’s name is Elizabeth so growing up we were always “Bobbie and Elizabeth” or “Bobbie and Lizzy” so that it rhymed . She answers to Elizabeth, Lizzy, or Liz and doesn’t seem to care which one people use (I’ve asked).

My Grandma is Margaret but because her late husband called her Marge that’s what she prefers to be called.

 

[Norseman82]

I’m 45 and still fighting this battle!

 

[Norseman82]

I forgot to mention there are like three other Daniels in our extended family so one’s Daniel, one’s Dan, one’s Danny (my brother) and then for whatever reason the fourth one is Peter. :ehh:

Is the fourth one a cardinal young enough to be elected Pope?

 

[Salonika]

I think if people persist in calling you by name you have asked them not to, it’s a matter of respect. Some people are just fine with a diminutive, it could be cultural, or it’s fondness–all good reasons. But, if you ask someone to refrain from calling you something you don’t much like, then it becomes another matter. They don’t respect your preference; they don’t respect you. I hope that doesn’t sound too harsh, but I have dealt with this very situation. That’s how I see it.

Beachcomber - I totally agree that it is a matter of respect to call someone what they want to be called.

Also think sometimes that people should check out what they should call someone if they are introduced to them using what is very likely a nickname or family name.

I came a real cropper once using the name that I had been given when introduced to someone, only later to get a round telling off later for using it because it was a name only used by family members.

Slightly off thread maybe but people knew my parents by one or another of their first names. I had to get used to saying "you might know my parents as … and … or as …and … otherwise there would be confusion.

 

[chevalier]

Yup, that’s downright disrespect. On the other hand, it could be somewhat disrespectful to do the opposite and force familiar forms on strangers.

 

[mswood]

And if male, you want to wear thick glasses that make you look order and shave only once or twice a week to look more alpha. And don’t you dear wear a different suit than everybody else does. Seriously, though, Danny the Director doesn’t sound serious enough. I wouldn’t be as cautious about Katie the Director, but Danny would make me wonder.

That may be true but what about people who’s real name is Danny. My ex-husband’s name is Danny (on the birth certificate). He always went by Danny and would get very annoyed when someone tried to call him Dan or Daniel. I think that people should be called what they want to be called.

 

[m_crane]

Most of the posters who are happy with a “y” added to the end of their name are female. It really hard to make you feel less feminine by doing this. But adding a y to the end of my husband’s name does make it sound very feminine, childish, like a leprachaun take your pick.
It’s also bad for business. He is a business man who needs maintain a certain professional persona. When we invite clients and other people we do business, this definately makes an impression. Just as I want a manly husband, clients don’t want to do business with a nonprofessional. Childish names mean possible childish person.
Finally, I do think family needs to respect that he is now a grown up and no longer uses that name. I know from experience my family used to call me Shelly but when I grew older I just didn’t like hearing that name. They respected my wishes.

 

[vashsunglasses]

I’m a female and I’m NOT happy when people put a “y” at the end of my name. Y endings are for guys. People call me “Bobby” as if it’s interchangeable with “Bobbie”… and it isn’t.

 

[BBaller]

I think it boils down to what the individual wants to be called.

A cousin, known as BJ, preferred being called Brian upon entering high school. Family members generally call him Brian now (he’s married) but he doesn’t get offended if/when we slip. He recognizes that it is difficult to break a habit (calling him BJ) that we’d all had for nearly 15 years.

I did not know my husband when we were children, but sometimes I do add the “ie” to his name. He doesn’t get upset or offended. He just grins.

My name is Jacqueline, NOT Jaclyn, Jacalyn, or any other variation. The “que” is pronounced “kwuh” NOT “kuh”. A co-worker repeatedly mispronounced it despite my correcting her each time. Finally I told her to call me Jackie, which is how most people know me. Either one is really fine with me, so long as it is pronounced correctly.

Where I draw the line is with embarrassing nicknames that bear no semblance to the person’s given name and there is no way to trace or determine how the nickname was acquired. As a very young child, I had such a nickname that was only used by my mother’s brothers and sisters. As I got older, most stopped calling me that name on their own and the rest did so after I asked them to stop, except one. One aunt is very disrespectful, uncaring, brash, rude, crude, hurtful, and sometimes downright mean. I choose to not interact with her which has pretty much solved the problem.

 

[chevalier]

That may be true but what about people who’s real name is Danny. My ex-husband’s name is Danny (on the birth certificate). He always went by Danny and would get very annoyed when someone tried to call him Dan or Daniel. I think that people should be called what they want to be called.

Yes, normally they should, and especially if that’s what the certificate says. Just should be careful about imposing levels of familiarity the other person isn’t comfortably with. Even the “inferiors” aren’t always happy about switching to names. For example, for some people, hearing the “Mister” from the CEO and everybody else by default is a psychological barrier against being subsumed into a corporation. Some people also hold dignities or role incompatible with the use of familial forms. It must be borne in mind that switching to first names is generally mutual and the use of a diminution would by default also be mutual. When someone doesn’t want to reciprocate such a form, said person is forced to deny a convention if he wants to keep receiving the “Mister” or rank address or full given name.

 

[Alexandra]

My husband’s given name is “Danny”, not Dan or Daniel, but Danny. It’s one thing to have people add a y to your name as a term of endearment, but in the real world it’s very unhandy. People are always trying to correct what you say on documents, “That’s Daniel, right?” We’ve had to redo documents before because of it.

 

[daeve]

I’m Italian. We tend to call our menfolk something-y. My sons are Tommy (30) and Mikey (28) and my cousins’ kids are Nicky (27), and Jimmy (must be close to 40 by now…his other half is Filipino and they seem to do the same thing). My ex-husband hated being called Paulie, but that’s what our Brooklyn neighbors called him any way. Most of them were named Vinnie.

My name is Debby. People spell it Debbie all the time, even when responding to an email that says Debby. I got over it a long time ago. I’m 59 and I call most people by some kind of nickname. I’ve only met one person who objected and I didn’t call her that anymore. One of my sisters is Draggie (long story short, it’s a nickname for Bitsy Dragon, which is what my other sister called her when she was a baby because of the way she’d grimace). The other sister is Walter. Her name is Laura, but the family still calls her Laury, except for Draggie who is actually Candy, and me. We call her Walter but nobody remembers why. One Christmas I ordered an engraved ornament for her and her husband. It was supposed to say Kurt and Laury, but it said Surt and Larry, so we called them that for years. They’re divorced now so it’s back to Walter. My father goes by Bud or Buddy and he’s almost 80. His name is Al and he’s never liked that. Laura has a new grandson and his name is Braeden. Right now he’s Baby B, B-Boy, little man, Mr. Baby, but I think it’s going to end up B.J. Braeden is just too much of a mouthful, and it’s spelled funny to boot.

I like very ordinary plain “real” names, hence my children being named Thomas and Michael. But to me nicknames like Walter or Draggie or Moosie (Mike’s other nickname…we all have multiples) or Bear (Tom’s other nickname) are terms of endearment. Call me any cute thing you want. Just don’t call me late to dinner.

 

[m_crane]

There’s a really funny Monty Python sketch, where the interviewer (John Cleese) is speaking to someone called “Sir Richard” (I think it’s Michael Palin?) and it devolves from Richard, to Rick, to Ricky, to Dicky Baby, with Sir Richard being okay with it at first, and then just getting redder and more upset every time - it’s quite hilarious - in the end the interviewer actually calls him by a baby girl’s name, but I can’t remember what it was - anyway, just a real send-up of idiots who mess around with people’s names.

That’s funny! And it gets my point across. It can be very disrespectful to an adult to use a babyfying name. It’s almost a power play on the part of the perpetrator.

 

[daeve]

That’s the whole thing to me. When I call you Bubela, means I like you.

Nicknames are not inherently disrespectful, unless you intend to denigrate someone by the usage. My inlaws hated me before they even met me because I was A) Italian and B) Catholic. Either one was unacceptable, but both! Oh Maria, Oh Madonna, as my grandmother used to say. I have a nick name for my ex-husband, and a few smart aleck jokes about it. I haven’t seen him in close to 20 years, but I still refer to him by that name and so does the rest of my family. Well, not our adult sons. We’ve always been very careful around them, although I can’t say the same for the WASP contingent. I can’t imagine what they call me now. The old lady thought she was being sublt when she whispered “wop” behind my back.

 

[Em_in_FL]

Finally, I do think family needs to respect that he is now a grown up and no longer uses that name. I know from experience my family used to call me Shelly but when I grew older I just didn’t like hearing that name. They respected my wishes.

But therein is the issue… YOU requested that people use your real name, and then they respected your request.

Has your husband done this? Has HE actually TOLD his family members to call him John instead of Johnny? How else would they know his preferences?

You even mentioned that some of his family members say he’s “very nonconfrontational and actually a bit of a wimp”… well, WHY DOESN’T HE STAND UP FOR HIMSELF??

People who know you when you’re young as “Johnny” or “Susie” aren’t going to just magically assume you prefer your real name unless you SAY something.