Why do people give their babies nicknames rather than full names?

I mean (for eg)





Alfie (instead of Alfred),


Alex (instead of Alexander),


Charlie (instead of Charles)


Ellie (instead of Eleanor)


Archie (not Archibald)


Billy (instead of William)





etc





This seems a really recent trend, years ago, for eg, if you were called Billy your proper name would be William and Billy would just be your nickname. So when did the "nicknames as given names" thing start?

Why do people give their babies nicknames rather than full names?
Maybe because people want to name their kids what they want.





Those are names not nicknames but they can also be nicknames but i don't see why anyone should get all worried about these names.
Reply:My mother who is now 82 was christened "Betty", she hated it that and although didn't mind being called Betty, always regretted not having the full name ie Elizabeth.


My sons have full names but all of them have shortened them ie William is known as Will, I think that is the best way of doing it
Reply:i dont know when it started but i just think people do it cuz it sounds cute u kno..
Reply:some parents are thick and can't spell the real name
Reply:Maybe since people realised that their child was always going to be called by that nickname, what was the point naming them the full version that was never going to be used?





I prefer some nicknames in comparison to the full name like Abby instead of Abigail or Jake instead of Jacob.





Its each to their own I suppose. Same goes for using Surnames as first names now, like Cameron, Madison, Jackson etc...
Reply:I don't know, but I am with you on this. My name is Valerie and I HATE being called Val. I made sure and gave my son a name no one could really shorten (Kaleb) :)
Reply:Interesting question, but the answer is rather obvious. In my opinion, anyway. If a nickname is used in place of the longer "proper" name, and is actually used more than said "proper" name, the nickname becomes more commonplace, more familiar, and attains its own status as a proper name. Think of it as name evolution.





But, for that matter, what's in a name?
Reply:im not sure when it started, probably about the 50's, but those full names just seem so posh when you say them now. happy new year!
Reply:I find this trend distasteful.
Reply:I know a man in his 40s named Danny, and a woman in her 50s named Cindy. I think this has always happened, and if you check the Social Security website, it bears this out. In 1880, Minnie was the 5th most popular given name for girls; Frank - a nickname for Francis - the 6th most popular for boys, and plain Fred the 15th.





My best guess is that our definition of what constitutes a formal name shifts. Consider Sadie, usually considered a nickname for Sara/Sarah. In the early 1900s, it was a Top 100 name. By the 1960s, it was out of the Top 1000. By 1973, it was climbing back into more frequent use, and last year, it was the 157th most common name.





Sally, another diminutive for Sara/Sarah, has taken a different path, staying in the Top 100 through most of the 1930s through 1950s, but today barely holding on to a spot in the Top 1000.





While Sarah and Sara have always been popular choices, there would be points where Sally or Sadie were equally - or even slightly more - popular choices than the root name. And I suspect that Sally or Sadie have both had their moments as strikingly fashionable choices, making Sarah look rather plain.





My best guess is that names like John and Jack, Harry and Henry, Lily and Lillian follow similar paths.





While I tend to agree with you that the formal version is always best, variant spellings and forms, and nicknames-as-given-names have been with us for quite some time. I don't care for it, but there ain't no stoppin' it, either. :)
Reply:Well Archibald and William are old fashioned and people like Archie and Billy more! I mean would you like to be called Archibald if you were a boy! And if you named a boy William but decided to call him Billy then why call him william in the first place?
Reply:Because a "full name" only gets put on a birth certificate and drivers license, and not actually used as a name.
Reply:why give a name to a child if your not going to call that child by that name my daughter id jess not jessica, my brother is tony but they named him antony whats the point name them what your going to call them
Reply:well I guess some of them knew that they would call their kid by the nickname anyway so they just skipped a step and gave their kid the nickname as a first name.
Reply:It certainly didn't start in the 50s or 60s. I know because I was there. It is a very recent thing, probably within the last five years.
Reply:Idk maybe they're just dumb
Reply:I know a few 3-6 year olds who have names that are not shortened just Alex, Ben, Alfie, Charlie. So I would think it a very recent phenomenon though not sure why, you need the longer name to give the child a choice as they grow. I like Ned but would name him Edward and shorten it, as he got older he may prefer Ed, Eddie, Ted or the full Edward.
Reply:Personally, what's the point of a "formal" name, if it's only going to be shortened to a nickname? If you choose the name Madison simply because you like the name Maddie,and only intend to call the child Maddie from day one, then I think the child should just be named Maddie. I hate nicknames....





I work with someone whose name is Becky - and that's what's on her birth certificate - Becky, not Rebecca. I love her mother for doing that!!





I only have names on my list that can't be shortened (one syllable names), since I really, really hate nicknames. And even if I did have a child with a name that could be shortened, I'd make damn sure that no one shortened it.
Reply:I don't know. But if you think about it, why name someone William and call them Billy? Why not just name them Billy since that's what you plan to call them anyway? I'm kind of old fashioned and like the full a names, but you're right a lot of people are using the nicknames instead.
Reply:I suppose some people just preferred the sound of the shortened name to the proper name. I think it is a shame though, because the proper names do have more integrity.





Even worse is the trend to give children first names that are just initials - CJ, AJ. etc. Fine as nicknames, but just initials on your birth certificate seems a bit odd! You would be trying to explain it to people for the rest of your life.
Reply:this is why i chose names you couldnt shorten





Freyja (cant be shortened = frey???)


Alicia (also cant be shortened = alic??)


Holly (doesnt sound right = hol??)
Reply:i do not know, but i would never name my kid Jonathan or Daniel, but i would name him Johnny or Danny.





i would say it is a parents preference to name/call their kid whatever name they want to. Have you noticed that times change %26amp; generations change?
Reply:I hate it when people give there babies nicknames also. Why don't people just name their babies nicknames in the first place?
Reply:from the 60s I guess
Reply:cause the full names are sometimes really weird and ugly.
Reply:The fact is most nicknames are done for convenience's sake and sound stupid when in a situation that requires formality. So no, calling your kid Lizzy or Archie may sound nice when they're a baby but it's going to make them look stupid in later life. I can only assume it's laziness - I too have noticed this trend.





To the answerer up there...can you imagine, for example, a job interviewer calling you Jonny or Danny...it's cringeworthy. And P.S. John should always have an H, just like Sarah.





People just show a disregard for language. This is how Americans started dissecting the language and started writing everything phonetically; etymology and relative differences between words start dissipating.
Reply:I dont know when it started but times always change and trends, Some full names sound so old fashioned today and the nicknames sound so much cuter.
Reply:Maybe it's because society is so relaxed these days, I don't think I could ever call anybody "william" or "jonathon". If we shorten it anyway, why bother with the stuffy full version
Reply:i dunno maybe cuz its just easier to give them nickname instead of giving them a full name and then giving them a nickname