View Message

Use names you love. Attempts might be made for most names, but if your child doesn't react to the nn (because they've never been called that before) or corrects the speaker himself/ herself, they won't necessarily get one.

---

I'm Jennifer. I wasn't called Jenny until I was almost four, and my sister was born. Susan was automatically Suzy, and my dad thought I needed a nn then too. Growing up and in college, I was one of many Jennifers called Jenny. A teacher here and there might have called me Jennifer, but it was no big deal, even if all of the others were still Jenny. My high school band teacher didn't call me Jenny until years after I graduated, which was odd. Why would you suddenly start calling someone by a nn once they were an adult? Now, I have three students named Jennifer, and they're always Jennifer, without a nn.

---

Out of the names you listed, the ones I know are.....
Andrew- just Andrew
James- Jim/ Jimmy, I have a future student named this but called Jimmy and Jaimito (biracial)
Joseph- Joe/ Joey
Kenneth- just one, he's Ken
Benjamin- most Ben, but there was a Benji a few years behind me in elementary school
Abigail- all Abby
Matthew- all Matthew, but my cousin is sometimes Matt. It just depends who's talking.