Is it Ok to tell people not to call your child by a certain nickname?

Question

I choose to call all of my children by their given names but don't mind if other people choose to shorten them and call them by a nickname. My husband and I were discussing what nicknames people will call our new daughter due in Oct. Her name will be Emilee Grace and he said people will call her Em or Emma...I'm ok with Em but despise Emma (sorry not to offend anyone who loves that name but reminds me of a dog we had that would bite). I suggested we tell people to call her Lee as a nickname and he said we can't do that its rude.

Is it rude to ask people to use 1 nickname over the other? How can we tactfully tell people to please not use Emma?

Thanks Mom to 4 expecting #5 in Oct

Well if she likes Emma so be it I will accept her decision to be called that :)

Answer 1

you may tell them, her name is Emilee Grace and you can call her Lee, something like that....

Answer 2

I have an Emily Grace. She's 4. I thought it was a beautiful name, very melodic. You can ask people not to call her Emma, but in the long run she may choose to go by Emma anyway. Of course in Jr High school her friends will call her whatever they want (usually by her last name or something equally original). You also have other children so they may call her something besides Emilee.
My girls thought our Emily didn't smile enough so they named her Emily Grace Butt Face when she was around 3 months old. It took us until she was almost 3 to convince her Butt Face wasn't her last name.

Answer 3

I'm not sure that's going to be a problem. My name is Emily, and I've never had anyone call me Emma. Em, Emmy, M&M, Memily, and Memo I've gotten, but never Emma.

But, if you are still afraid of Emma, then you could just introduce your daughter as Lee, and maybe say, "It's short for Emilee."

Answer 4

Emma short for Emilee, well you've done a major change of the spelled name. But I don't think it's rude to call her Emma for short. Maybe you would like to consider calling her something else. Regardless someone someday will call her Emma...maybe a best friend. "Is Emma home?" lol
Have fun with it why not?
Best wishes to you and your husband.

Answer 5

Maybe if you hear them call her Emma, say something like "She loves the nickname Lee..." and hope it catches on.

But if you are choosing to call your daughter Emilee, she may end up liking Emma, so you might have to be prepared to call her Emma when she's a bit older, you never know.

Answer 6

Not at all, it's ur child and u chose the name! When I had my second daughter I didn't want to name her Victoria because I can't stand the name Vicky but her dad really wanted it and I already picked the middle name so whenever anyone calls her that I politely tell them that they can call her Tori. Besides if you don't call ur child that from the beginning what are the chances that they will respond to it as they get older!
My daughter is now 8 and thankfully she doesn't like it either!

Answer 7

It's not rude at all...just careful with the tone you use when asking them not to call your child Emma. The people who are closest to you will understand why you don't like the name, and the ones that get offended by your request don't really matter anyway...
Good Luck!

Answer 8

It's not rude at all. Keep in mind that some people will slip up at times, possibly, and call her Emma. Don't be too rough on them. ;)

My kids have Lithuanian names. People ask me if I have nicknames for them, and honestly, we don't (only the "pet" names ... like SweetPea, Pumpkin... ). My son's name is the Lithuanian form of Andrew, but being that I am Lithuanian and speak the language, I want him called by his given name, and nobody ever has a problem with it. Sure, you have to roll the "r" in it, but hey... if you can't do it, you can't do it, but they try, and that's fine with me. :) I chose Lithuanian names b/c I'm partial to them, and I was raised speaking the language and my siblings and I have Lithuanian names. It was important for me to keep the heritage alive.

Answer 9

It's your kid! If you don't like emma, don't call her emma. If you choose something else for a nickname, tell people you prefer her to be called lee or whatever and to help her you want to keep it consistant.

Answer 10

Yes, of course. You just tell them politely, if you find them shortening the name. It's doubtful they would call her Emma if you name her Emily. And if you prefer to call her Lee, just use that name, and people will catch on.

Answer 11

Hi! It's great you care so much about your children, and I think it's OK to tell people what to call them. When my sister was young, everyone called her Evelyn (that's her real name). But, she likes to be called Evy, so she told everyone that called her Evelyn to call her Evy, and they did! They didn't get upset or anything, so it's perfectly fine to tell someone to call someone a particular name. When your child enters school, and she wants to be called a certain name, and her teacher or her classmates call her her real name or something she doesn't like, you or your child will have to speak up and tell the people to call them a certain name. Hope this helps! (And sorry if it's a little long!)