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Help[Opinions] How to get people to call your child by nickname
In terms of when you are naming your child but you want them to be referred to a nickname. How do you introduce the nickname to your friends and family. Do you introduce your child as Kay rather then the full name say Kaylyn?
When a nickname is obvious like Chris for Christopher but say Cricket for Catherine. How do you get others not to call your child Catherine.
Do I make sense? I hope so.
When a nickname is obvious like Chris for Christopher but say Cricket for Catherine. How do you get others not to call your child Catherine.
Do I make sense? I hope so.
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Begin as you mean to go on you use the nickname yourself and inform everyone of it, introduce her to everyone as (using one of your examples) Catherine nicknamed Cricket :)
When my daughter Catherine was born her cousins started to call her Cathy which I dislike, I told them to call her Cate or Catie and they switched to that straight away everyone else soon followed .
Of corse my daughter being who she is, has a strong sence of self and at the age of four declared she wanted to be known as Catherine something I was actually pleased about as I prefer her full name
When my daughter Catherine was born her cousins started to call her Cathy which I dislike, I told them to call her Cate or Catie and they switched to that straight away everyone else soon followed .
Of corse my daughter being who she is, has a strong sence of self and at the age of four declared she wanted to be known as Catherine something I was actually pleased about as I prefer her full name
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Introduce them as their nn. :)
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It has never been a problem for us. My first dd, Katherine, goes by her nick (Kate) and my middle dd, Victoria, goes by her mn (Brooke). I've always introduced them as Kate and Brooke. In formal situations or in school situations, my children take care of that. It's no biggie, although my dh, James, does get from time to time people calling him Jim because they assume that he's called Jim. It takes very little effort to correct people.
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Name them that
I'm not a huge fan of NN as full name, but if that's what you want your child called to the point that this is an issue, then just name the kid Cricket.
Otherwise, just introduce her as Cricket. They'll probably ask about it anyway, and I think most people assume Chris is a NN anyway. Even with Kay, introduce her as that. It will come out eventually that it's not her full name, but by then, people will be used to calling her Kay.
Mostly, though, I think that forcing people to use one NN or another is awkward. I dislike some NNs, so I won't use them, but ultimately, it's the child's name. If she wants to be Catherine, then I would respect that. I dislike it when NNs are forced.
What are the convulsions of a city in comparison with the insurrections of the soul?
Man is a depth still greater than the people.
I'm not a huge fan of NN as full name, but if that's what you want your child called to the point that this is an issue, then just name the kid Cricket.
Otherwise, just introduce her as Cricket. They'll probably ask about it anyway, and I think most people assume Chris is a NN anyway. Even with Kay, introduce her as that. It will come out eventually that it's not her full name, but by then, people will be used to calling her Kay.
Mostly, though, I think that forcing people to use one NN or another is awkward. I dislike some NNs, so I won't use them, but ultimately, it's the child's name. If she wants to be Catherine, then I would respect that. I dislike it when NNs are forced.
Man is a depth still greater than the people.
This message was edited 7/24/2006, 1:20 PM
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Do you actually have a daughter that you call Cricket?
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No.
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Just as others have said, "This is my daughter, Catherine. She goes by Cricket."
-- Sarah
-- Sarah
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If you call your child by his or her nickname, I expect other people will, too. When it comes to meeting acquaintances or strangers, you can probably just say, "I'd like you to meet my daughter, Lennie." With family members and good friends, I expect something like, "This is our daughter, Elenore Starshine (or just Elenore, of course). We're planning on calling her / We call her Lennie."
And then--well, call the child that, and if that's what the child wants to be called, he or she will happily correct the grownups who just don't get it. ;)
Array
...And then he said, "You're independent, aren't you?"
"Yes," said Laura.
A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having.
And then--well, call the child that, and if that's what the child wants to be called, he or she will happily correct the grownups who just don't get it. ;)
Array
...And then he said, "You're independent, aren't you?"
"Yes," said Laura.
A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having.
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Introduce her as Catherine, and say, "But we all call her Cricket." Or something like that. And you can't force other people to call her Cricket. Some people will see you call her Cricket and call her that too, but there are people who won't. I've got a friend who likes to go by his nickname, and all of his friends call him by his nickname, and some other people, but there are people who don't. And some people, say, some teachers have "principles", not to call people by nicknames. So you can't force people, but you can get most people to call her by a nickname. And when she's older, she can decide for herself whether she likes it, and if she does, she'll be introducing herself as Cricket.
I hope I made sense. I probably did, in a long-winded sentence way. But you can't have everything in life.
I hope I made sense. I probably did, in a long-winded sentence way. But you can't have everything in life.
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Yeah, as I said below under Cambria's post, nns are really going to be up to the child and ultimately a difficult thing to control.
By what you supposed, I'd say just introduce your daughter to children her name as Cricket. Perhaps to adults, you could do as Magenta suggested. But once your child gets to be 5 or 6, she is going to decide what she wants to be called and it will undoubtably change over her life.
By what you supposed, I'd say just introduce your daughter to children her name as Cricket. Perhaps to adults, you could do as Magenta suggested. But once your child gets to be 5 or 6, she is going to decide what she wants to be called and it will undoubtably change over her life.
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Just say this is "kaylyn" but we call her kay
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With our DD,
we introduced her by her full name (Victoria Kathleen) and followed that immediately with the statement, "We're calling her Tori Kate." My grandparents still refuse to use the nn and call her Victoria, but that's fine. We were really trying to avoid the nn Vicky. We have a 99% success rate - I have one acquaintance who *still* refers to my DD as Vicky, but it could be that we speak so infrequently that she honestly forgets I dislike Vicky, and although I do make a point of stressing "Tori" when I speak with her, I don't jump down her throat. :o) Generally, if you start calling your kid something other than his/her name, friends, family & acquaintances will follow your lead.
we introduced her by her full name (Victoria Kathleen) and followed that immediately with the statement, "We're calling her Tori Kate." My grandparents still refuse to use the nn and call her Victoria, but that's fine. We were really trying to avoid the nn Vicky. We have a 99% success rate - I have one acquaintance who *still* refers to my DD as Vicky, but it could be that we speak so infrequently that she honestly forgets I dislike Vicky, and although I do make a point of stressing "Tori" when I speak with her, I don't jump down her throat. :o) Generally, if you start calling your kid something other than his/her name, friends, family & acquaintances will follow your lead.
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Ooh, I didn't know your daughter went by Tori Kate. That's adorable. I like nns that incorporate the middle name that way. My mum (Margery Joan) used to go by Maidie Jo when she was little, which I think was cute as well :-)
_____________________________________________________________________
♥Elinor♥
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♥Elinor♥
This message was edited 7/24/2006, 9:35 AM
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I've never heard
of Maidie as a nn for Margery before. That's cute, too! :o) Yep, DD went through a phase (about 2 days) where she would only answer to "Kate." Then, she would only answer to "Tora." Now she's back to Tori and Tori Kate...who knows what she'll come up with next. She's certainly her mother's child, lol!
of Maidie as a nn for Margery before. That's cute, too! :o) Yep, DD went through a phase (about 2 days) where she would only answer to "Kate." Then, she would only answer to "Tora." Now she's back to Tori and Tori Kate...who knows what she'll come up with next. She's certainly her mother's child, lol!
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I would just say
"This is my daughter Catherine, but she goes by Cricket. Say hello, Cricket!"
... something casual, but make it clear that she prefers/you prefer her to go by the nn.
♥♣ 
♦♠
" i'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance "
♠♦ ♣♥
"This is my daughter Catherine, but she goes by Cricket. Say hello, Cricket!"
... something casual, but make it clear that she prefers/you prefer her to go by the nn.
♦♠" i'd rather learn from one bird how to sing
than teach ten thousand stars how not to dance "
♠♦
♣♥This message was edited 7/24/2006, 9:27 AM
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Personally, I think this should be the child's decision. Just an example--my parents had planned to name me Amelia but call me Amy. Then when I was born, my dad decided that nobody was going to call me Amy. But from age six to eleven, I demanded that my name actually was Amy. If the child wants to be called by their nickname, let them tell people. Who knows? Maybe Cricket would rather be called Catherine, especially by people that she just met.
-the warrior girl and her dragon lover-
-the warrior girl and her dragon lover-
This message was edited 7/24/2006, 9:25 AM
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