Whats the deal with giving shortened names to babies? Very popular right now.?

Question

I mean all the Archies, Alfies, Freddies, Charlies, Tommies, Mikeys etc

As opposed to Archibald, Alfred, Frederick, Charles, Thomas, Michael.

I can totally understand naming your child Thomas or Frederick and calling him "Tommy" or "Freddie" for short but to give it as his given name?

Is it just a new trend or something? Or do people really not know that these names are actually only nicknames or shortened forms of names

I just think that the baby won't be a baby forever and it sounds so much better to have a 50 year old Managing Director called Thomas, Charles or James than Tommie Charlie or Jamie!!!!

We've chosen Arthur for our baby (long story but linked with Celtic mythology - King Arthur etc as he will be half Welsh half English) but all the trendies and chavs we know are appalled and say we should name him Archie or Artie instead (we won't be - Artie would only be a nickname for him). I just don't get this trend. Can someone explain it to me

Huggywell -

my DOG'S called Charlie, heheh! To me short names like that suit pets rather than babies. I think a baby should be called Charles.

I loved "old fashioned" (ie traditonal) names anyway . . .

I have a full name but tend to be known by the shortened form - but I don't see there is "no point" in having the full name at all - as its who I am.

My BF's Michael - we all usually call him Mike or Mikey but I think its good that his name is Michael as thats the proper version.

Answer 1

It's because the parents can't spell the full names.

I used to work in welfare benefits and you should have seen the terrible spellings of traditional names that came in.

My friend called her daughter Abi, instead of Abigail or even Abby, as she had no idea how to spell it. For years teachers have been calling the daughter 'Ay-by'.

Full names are far better as they can be shortened or played with depending on where the child ends up working.

Answer 2

as a mother of a 3 yr old son called Freddie Rory ( not Frederick) i do not class this name as even remotely chavy!!! i know plenty of men called Freddie young and old . he wasn't named Frederick as i didn't want other children to pick on him as it is a rather old fashioned stuffy name.
when you name a baby you should take into consideration the affect it can have on them throughout their school and work lives .
yes there are some over used shortened names around like Tommy Mikey Charlie etc but Freddie is not one of them !
i also have a nephew called Archie ( not Archibald) i and don't think there is anything wrong with it at all.

i also have a daughter called Rosie not Rosemary !

and why name a child Frederick or Archibald for example anyway if you are never going to use it? what is the point of that exactly??

and to be quite frank what the hell has it got to do with you anyway??

i just hope Arthur doesn't have a difficult school life with a name like that!!

p.s i have a dog called arthur , good name for a dog!!!!!

Answer 3

It's quite simple - the huge growth of Chav parents (I'm in no way saying your a chav as you've chosen the full name!!) don't realise the full names exist. Freddie appears to be just a name not a nickname if you see what I mean. Names go in circles all the time depending on the parents interests. It's now popular to name people Freddie after the cricketer, Bobby after the footballer instead of the full name. Look at all the poor people growing up now to be called Kylie, in five years we'll see all the Britneys. You never know they could become heritage like Wendy which wasn't a name until JM Barrie made it up for Peter Pan

Answer 4

My sons name is Archie (and I can assure you I am not the slightest bit "chavy") We named him Archie because we like the name but we don't like the name Archibald. So why should we put Archibald on his birth certificate? And then have to explain to his school, doctor and everyone we know to call him Archie. I agree with you on Tommie and Jamie but I think all the other names sound just fine in their shortened versions.
Its not just Charlie and shortened names used for pets, my sisters cat is called Arthur (like the cat in the Arthur's cat food advert)

Answer 5

as the wife of an unshortened Tony and a mother of an unshortened Alex (boy) it seems that parents choose to name thier child a shorter version of a given name so there is less likelyhood for the name being changed or altered by someone else. On the other hand I frequently answer the phone for Daniel (eldest son) to be asked for Dan, Danny and a derivative of his surname. This NEVER happens with the other two! So perhaps it works.

Answer 6

I have 3 year old identical twin daughters. Lucy we call Lu or Lulu as she is called Lucy Louise her sister is called Caitlin. Originally she was going to be called Katie but I changed my mind (like women do) and went with Caitlin. Now I hate it if anyone calls her Katie or Kate! Saying that though when I call her Caitlin she says... I'm Dorothy (she's a big fan of the wizard of oz!) The funniest thing is the twins don't call each other by their names they call each other "sister" I think that's because they look so alike people are not sure who is who so they say whats is your sister doing!

When I was deciding on names for the twins I said if they were boys I wanted to call then Alex and Zak. Not Alexander and Zachariah or Zachary! I just like the fact they begun with A&Z it reminded me of bookends!!

Answer 7

Kids are only ever called their full proper name when they are being told off, so what is the point in having a name that is not used all the time? My children are called Sam and Abbie as apposed to Samuel and Abigail. But then I also have a Matthew who I will not allow anyone to call Matt. His name is Matthew and that is what he is known by. So it works both ways.

Answer 8

excellent question, personally, I'd prefer to christen them (well, put on their birth certificate) the full name, and then refer to them by the nickname....

However, all the Alfies, and Archies seem to come from complete knackers who think that this will reflect on them being chirpy little characters....

The fact is, they should really be calling their kids Adrian, or Julian, unless they really think their kids are going to end up in Ladbrokes, with a dogtooth cap on mumbling about the cost of Rizlas!!!!

Answer 9

I don't get it either. My daughter is Alexandra. We call her Sasha but there are loads of other derivatives Alex, Alexi, Xandra, Andi, Lexi etc. We chose to go with Alexandra to give her options in the future.

Arthur is a lovely name - you won't regret it.

Answer 10

I have a friend who named her son Nicholas, and she refuses to let anyone call him Nick or Nicky. She hates it. Chances are that when he grows up, he'll go by Nick anyway.

I have another friend who has a son named Doug, not Douglas, becuase she never planned on calling him Douglas.

What is the point of naming your kid Johnathan if you're always going to call him John? Why not just name him John?

I see their point.