DC with long first names--do you shorten them when they start school?

[goldenpig]

Just curious! DD has a short (6-letter) name and our last name is short too so she learned to spell and write it very quickly...she started writing her name last fall after she turned 3. On the other hand, DS's name is 9 letters long so I think he'll have a harder time saying & writing his name and the other kids might have a harder time saying his name too. DH doesn't like nicknames so we've always called him by his full name. I'm wondering if he'll need to start using the shortened form (it's 4 letters) when he goes to preschool next year. But the nickname doesn't seem like "him" since we've never used it. What did you do when they start school if your DC had a long first name (and you usually call them by the full name)?

[maestramommy]

Our kids have mostly short names, but one of Dora's classmates had a long name, Stanislavski. They call him Stas.

[nfowife]

It's not terribly long but my DD is Allison and we dont call her any nickname- she is Allison. No problems. I never had a nickname either with an 8 letter first name and an 8 letter last name. No problems.

[wellyes]

I think it's fine to have a long name.... people with long last names don't shorten them for convenience when learning to write, for example.

If he's going to have a nickname, let it come naturally. Based on what you want to call him, what he wants to call himself, or what his friends come up with. DH's name has a common nickname, but at school he came to be known by his last name, and still goes by that.

[vonfirmath]

Just curious! DD has a short (6-letter) name and our last name is short too so she learned to spell and write it very quickly...she started writing her name last fall after she turned 3. On the other hand, DS's name is 9 letters long so I think he'll have a harder time saying & writing his name and the other kids might have a harder time saying his name too. DH doesn't like nicknames so we've always called him by his full name. I'm wondering if he'll need to start using the shortened form (it's 4 letters) when he goes to preschool next year. But the nickname doesn't seem like "him" since we've never used it. What did you do when they start school if your DC had a long first name (and you usually call them by the full name)?

Our son is Theodore, also called Theo

He can say and spell both forms of the name already. (Not quite 4)

We have a long last name and he does not have that down yet.

[sariana]

DD has a 9-letter name, and we tend to use her full name. Sometimes we use a nickname for fun, and we did intend for it to be her nickname. But it starts with a different letter, and she LOVES the first letter of her name. So she isn't crazy about the nickname.

She may change her mind when she has to start writing her name on things.:)

She's only 3 and will start preschool in the fall. I think we'll stick with her full name for now and see how it goes.

[crl]

DS has a very long first name and a medium length last name. We did not shorten for him. It took him a little longer than some of his classmates, but he learned to write his first name by the time he was 4.

Catherine

[KrisM]

I think he'll learn to write all the letters and in the right order soon enough. No need to shorten his name just to learn to write it faster, IMO.

[alien_host]

DD has a 9 letter first name and we've always called her by a 3 letter nickname. In preschool the teachers called her by her full name (that was on the paperwork) and she learned to write her whole name.

In K they call her a mix of full name and nickname. Most of the time she writes the nickname, b/c I think she finds it easier to do. She also has a 8 letter last name so her complete name is long.

BUT I would only have your DS go by a nickname if it suits him and he is OK with it. In your case I would stick with his fullname b/c that is what he is used to.

[lalasmama]

A friend's son is Christopher (so 11 letters!), and he *is* Christopher--not Chris, not Topher, always Christopher. He (and any member of his family) will correct anyone who attempts to shorten it. While it certainly was a challenge, he's heading to kindy knowing how to spell his first name in whole.

IMO, there's not a need/reason to shorten it if it's not something the child is used to being called.

[rlu]

Most of the time she writes the nickname, b/c I think she finds it easier to do.

DS prefers the teachers and kids to call him by his full name yet he writes his nickname on his paperwork as it is shorter. He's not big on writing so that plays into it. Half the kids call him by his full name, the other his nickname. He answers to both and no longer corrects people but if asked will give his full name.

[traciann]

DD has a double name total of 8 letters. For a little while she did get tired writing her name and would not finish...but it was really short lived. I say keep the full name.

[Neatfreak]

DD1's name is eight letters, and we didn't (haven't ever, actually) shorten it for school. She did grumble about it, as hers was the longest name in her preschool class (which had a lot of 3-5 letter named classmates), but she stuck with it and by kindergarten she didn't feel like she was burdened LOL!

If we did shorten her name, she would have had five or six letters anyway - not much different!

[vejemom]

My first name is 9 letters, my last name 8. My mom tells the story of me coming home from kindy demanding to know why she had named me "9 letters" ! I guess my friends Amy and Jenn had finished printing their names faster than me and were playing while I was still writing :

But I've never shortened my name, I have always been Catherine. I've been told my first and last name together make me sound like a TV lawyer. :ROTFLMAO:

[Melbel]

Both my girls have 9 letter names and we have not shortened their names for school. For DD1 and now DD2, it helped to break the name down into 3 letters at a time, stated in a cadence.

[MelissaTC]

This school year has been the first where M's name was shortened. And it was done by one of his teachers! He let it go because he didn't mind but he is always goes by his full name. Since he is not the only one at school, he goes by full name and then the first letter of our last name.

[ilfaith]

I remember back in school being jealous of friends with short names. I had a friend named Amy with a three-letter last name, and a friend named Ken (just Ken, not "Kenneth") with a two-letter last name. While my first name is just five letters, my last name was long enough that whenever we took those standardized tests where you had to fill out the little circles, my name would get cut off because there weren't enough spaces.

On the other hand, my name wasn't as long as Madeleine Lengthygreekname or Elizabeth Manyletteredjewishname, or Vincenzo Longitalianname, or Lorianne Evenlongeritalianname. So I shouldn't complain.

My eldest son has a Hebrew name that is only two letters, so in Hebrew school he is the envy of his classmates.

Once they get past the first grade they'll be doing so much writing that a few extra letters in their first name will be a drop in the bucket.

[hillview]

Both boys have 7 letter very unusual (English) names and we didn't shorten them at all. So far so good.
/hillary

[lizzywednesday]

I have a long first name (9 letters) and short last name. (Maiden name is the same # of letters as my married name, in fact!)

I learned to write my ENTIRE first name when I went to school.

I had trouble, not because my name was long but because I did not develop the fine motor skills I needed for writing until I was in the 3rd or 4th grade. I empathize, but I think it was good for me.

DH and I gave our DD a long first name, too - 9 letters. She'll write it out, too.

[boolady]

I wouldn't. DD has a very short first name (4 letters), but an 11-letter last name. She's 4.5 and can write/spell both. He'll get it when he's ready.

[infocrazy]

We usually call our DC by nicknames, but I always register the kids by their full name and leave the nickname line blank. I figure they'll tell the teacher/friends if they want to go by something different.

DS1 prefers his full name (7 letters) but when he started writing, he initially did just his nn because it was shorter, now he is back up to the full name most of the time.

[almostamom]

My nephew has an 8 letter first name. He was always called by his full name. When he was in kindergarten, *he* changed his name to the 4 letter nickname. It took less time when they practiced writing in school (he could already write his full name). He's 15 now and still goes by the nickname with his friends and full name with the family.

[MamaSnoo]

DD has an eight letter name and a 3 letter nickname. She can spell and recognize both. I think she actually recognizes her name better in the long form because she has seen it that way more (we tend to write "Longname" and say "Nickname"). If/when she expresses a preference, we will just go with whatever she prefers.

[longtallsally05]

....What did you do when they start school if your DC had a long first name (and you usually call them by the full name)?

We kept right on calling DD by her full name. She learned to write it, as did her classmates. I'm not into nicknames, and I correct any anyone who gets my children's names wrong, whether it's their first names or their surnames. FWIW, DD has 9 letters in her first name, and she has two surnames.

[deborah_r]

My kids names are short, one-syllable names, so when people nickname them they tend to add to their name rather than subtract, which is something I didn't anticipate. I do it too.

My nephew Tony's full name is Anthony. He was an Anthony, full name always, until probably sometime in high school, so that's my anecdota. My sister did not start calling him Tony for school, it happened more as he played in sports.

Oh and there are plenty of kids with long names that were in DS1's K, 1st and 2nd, and they seem to write them out fully all the time, even if they are often called by a shorter name. (I'm thinking Isabella/Bella)

[SammyeGail]

We actually looked for shorter names for the boys, 4 & 5 letters because DH and I had long first names. Plus our last name is 9 letters, it's Irish & easy, but always mis-pronounced.

I did go by Sammye till 2nd grade, then I wanted my full name. I think nicknames are based on preference and personality. I am not a Sam or Sammye, I am a Samantha ;). My FIL called me Sam, I was ok with it. One set of friends call me Sam, I just got used to it from them.

Have a 6 yr old great-niece named Alyssa. She went by Allie, then her Mom met and married her DH who has a DD named Alley, so now she goes by Alyssa again, or Lyssa. She was called Lyssa some before, but it took our large family a while to call her by her name of the month, lol!

[new_mommy25]

I have 8 letters in my first and 8 letters in my maiden name. My family called me by a nickname but in school I always went by my full name. There was never any trouble learning to write it. IME, with my children, there has never been any trouble saying the long name of a preschool classmate. Kids are really smart and they catch on quickly.

[AnnieW625]

DH is Christopher he has always gone by Chris. My mom is an Elizabeth, but has gone by Ellie since she was very little. I believe my grandparents just enrolled her in school as Ellie. She was homeschool for kindergarten by my grandma (former teacher) so I think she knew how to spell her full name too. My two cousins who have an 9 letter last names also have 9 letter first names. I am sure they know how to spell their first names as 9 letters, but they have gone by shorter nick names since they were born, one with four letters and the other with 5.

[alien_host]

Come to think of it, my own first name is 8 letters long and there is no nickname for it. I've gone through my whole life wrting out the full thing. In college I did start using my initials for some stuff (like notes to friends/roommate) out of laziness....this was before e-mail/texing was really common place ;)

[PunkyBoo]

Punkin's first name is 7 letters, but is 3 syllables and can be hard to pronounce/ spell if you are unfamiliar with it (it's more common in other countries). But he has always used his full name and when people mispronounce it, he just deals with it. I have a fairly simple name (Erin) and yet my whole life I have dealt with people asking how to spell it and misspelling it (I can't tell you how much mail I have received addressed to Erwin.)

[hellokitty]

My first name is 8 letters long and a VERY formal, old lady sounding kind of name. My parents never thought to give me a shortened or nickname version of my name, since they were clueless immigrants who had no clue that they picked an unpopular name for their own child. So, when I started school, EVERYONE kept bugging me about what name I would like to be called, including the teacher. The first day of school would always be the same way. The teacher would call my name and then ask if I would rather be called something differently, and when I said, "no, just my full name," they would ask me again, b/c it was almost like they couldn't believe I would just go by my given name. I really wish that my parents would have started me with a shortened nn before school, b/c when ppl asked me if I would like them to call me a nn (basically, my name is soooo incredibly old ladyish, basically nobody could imagine a young girl going by such an unstylish name full time and I have gotten teased for my name, even in college). I was too naive to realize that it was my chance to go by a shortened nn, and by the time I wanted to in high school, it was too late. Everyone was used to using my formal name.

So, if you want your child to go by their given name, just stick with it. If you would like them to use a shortened version, start now before they formally start elementary school. It's too hard for the child to make the decision when they are that young, b/c they aren't thinking about things long term. I finally got a nn when I was in college since ppl decided my name was just too long (it was a relief, so I wasn't offended and was glad I finally got my chance) and since I don't want anything to do with anyone pre-college, I use my nn on my facebook, so only my post-college friends can, 'find' me on facebook.