Thursday, June 28, 2012

Nicknames

When Kristian and I were having the ever-so-fun "what should we name our kid" debate, one of my stipulations was that I didn't really want a name that could and would most likely be shortened into a nickname. Personally I'm not a big fan of nicknames, as in the shortened versions of names i.e. Kris instead of Kristian (actually most people call my husband Kris) or Mike for Michael or Liz for Elizabeth. I just prefer the full name...in most cases. There are some names where I don't mind or even prefer the shortened version. For instance I prefer Abby over Abigail and Tom over Thomas. There really is no rhyme or reason behind it. I'm weird.

So one of the things that I really liked about the name Hunter was that it's not a name that is easily shortened. Yeah I suppose you could call someone Hunt but that's not very common. Well Hunter's daycare teachers have come up with their own nickname for him --Hunt Hunt. Whenever I drop him off in the mornings the main teacher starts singing "Hey Hunt Hunt, Hey Hunt Hunt" and I've noticed the other teachers call him that too. At first it did annoy me a bit and I was worried it would confuse him in learning his name but now I think it's kinda cute and I view it as their term of endearment for him. Plus it's not a name that I think will stick as he gets older. I don't forsee his buddies calling him that when he's in high school.

In the almost 6 months that he's been with us Hunter has acquired quite a few nicknames, some of which include:

The Huntsman or just Huntsman (daddy)
Hunt Hunt (daycare)
Piglet (grandma *my mom*)
H-diggity (our friend Bryan)
Precious Angel (grandma *Kristian's mom*)
Chubbs McGee (mommy)
Lovebug (mommy)
Lizard Boy (daddy-- due to his eczema)
Le Hunt (mommy and daddy) **we also call the pets Le Mox and Le Pert (apparently we're now French)

I think it's almost impossible not to have some sort of nickname for your child even if it's not one that is used outside the home. I'm not even going to tell you what mine was growing up...I still want to know what drugs my mom was smoking when she came up with it.

What are your thoughts on nicknames? What nicknames do you or your kids have?

8 comments:

Heather said...

I definitely know what you mean, because even though my name isn't easily shortened into a nickname, my family definitely came up with a few interesting ones while I was growing up. Most are just way too silly to share, but my Nana always called me Rosebud.

Venassa said...

H-diggity is by far my favorite :p I don't mind nicknames, but most of Chloes's (created by me) I hope don't stick at ALL. (Chlo-bear, Chlo-monster, Chlo-monkey, Monkey, or the worst one.. Chloe Balogna)

Mrs EyeCanSee said...

Jamie's entire first year at daycare EVERYONE called him James. Granted it IS his name, we never call him that and it bugged me to no end. I was convinced he wouldn't know what his name was. When he moved to the toddler room, they finally caught on that we call him Jamie.

As for nicknames we call him? Oh lord it's endless. Boo, Mr. Boo, Jamie Boo, Bubbaloo, Bubbs, Jamie Jameson, High-may (the spanish pronunciation of Jaime). The list goes on.

I think it's almost inevitable that all people will have nicknames...most of which have nothing to do with their actual name!

K said...

When I first met my fiance, I HATED that everyone called him Al. I thought it sounded like Al Bundy. Little did I know that Alex was short for Alexander which he REFUSED to go by. But, I got used to all of it. But I'm with you, some I just don't like. For example, his sister calls him Aly? Ick.

westcoastsoul said...

I usually prefer the full names too. I love Elizabeth, but I hate Liz, Beth, etc..

Fiona said...

There are some names which I prefer the shortened versions, and others I prefer the long... but I definitely like to use nicknames for my little gal! Since day one I call her Moopy, which is her main nickname. My husband and I both call her that, possibly more than her real name (Alidia). We also use Lids, Lidders, Lidney, Liddie, and then a few other silly ones like Chunkster.

Melissa at Tall Blonde Blog said...

The nickname thing in our family is ridiculous. My side of the family more than Marks.

We seldom call each other by our actual names, this includes our dogs. I even thought Mia was going to be all messed up when learning our dogs names, but there is nothing cuter than hearing her call Jefferson J or Bubba and Lucy Lulu.

She also has a billion names - Bear, Meemers, Meems, Meemer Jeaners (my sis), Monkey to name a few.

Love the Huntsman by the way - too cute!

Happy (almost) weekend!

Lindsay @ LindsayInNYC said...

I'm cool with nicknames that develop! My personal pet peeve is the "We're naming our kid X but calling them Y". No offense, then name them Y!

I know a Harper Olivia that's called Olive. A Madeline Evans that's called Emme. Drives.me.nuts!