Grown-up Names
 

Recently I took a position in sales and I decided to use Ken rather than Kenny because I felt I would get more respect with a more "grown-up" sounding name. I've been Kenny for 21 years and it's been very strange to here myself called Ken or Kenneth. It'll take some getting used to but I think I'll manage.

Has anyone else had a similar experience where you've had to ditch the "kiddy" name for a more mature one?

I can't speak for myself because, face it, there isn't much you can do with the name Tracy!

But I purposely named my first daughter Kathryn (we call her Katie) so that she will have a variety of nicknames from which to choose as she goes through different stages of her life. Katie, Kate, Kay, Kathryn...

My real name is Tristan, and I went through that name from Day one until my 2nd yr of college (when I joined DSP). My family and close friends from HS still call me Tristan, but everyone else calls me Stan.

I think it's more plain/normal (and masculine) and everyone knows how to say it.

I;m kinda the opposite. I went by Allison when I was younger. But now my family and friends call me Ally.

My parents named me Sandy because mom thought "Sandra" sounded "old". She figured that people were going to call me Sandy anyway.

People try to call me Sandra just to piss me off. I guess Sandy sounds pretty neutral.

I think my nickname "Jess" sounds more grown-up then my full name "Jessica". When I hear the name Jessica I think of a little kid....I don't know why....I'm thinking about ditching them both though and going by my middle name in the professional world.

I went by Chris until I got married. At that point, I was Christin because I was going into banking and Christin sounded so much better with my new last name. Seriously. The only people who still call me Chris are my family and those AOIIs who've called me that for years. DH only calls me Christin when I'm in trouble :)

Talking about adjusting to a new name, I really think this one is a sorority phenomenon, because I've seen it in various places in the US. A sorority sister gets married and becomes Chris Smith. But her sorority sisters will still call her by her maiden name of Chris Jones, or will refer to her as Chris Jones Smith. You've got to move really far away to drop that maiden name :D

Two of our boys have names that can't be 'nicknamed.' The other is Nicholas, we were calling him Nicky before he was born! As soon as he hit 2nd grade, he informed us he was Nick and NOT Nicky any more. Yikes :)

Christin

My name is megan and that's really not too bad, but i've never shortened it until now. most of my friends and family now seem to think two syllables is too much and they call me meg now. it used to be megs which is very young sounding so i guess meg is better.

yay..thats how i spell my name too..why a Y! :)

i was katie until about 8th grade, then I switched to kate..i've thought about using kathryn professionally, but up to this point it hasn't been necessary, i think it would be weird though..the only people who ever called me that were my grandparents..shrug, we'll see

My sis in law's name is Kathy. When I asked (many years after they were married) if her "real" name was Katherine, Kathleen, etc., she said "No, because her parents knew she would be called Kathy".

Parents, here's a hint from someone who know;) :p It is a pain to be called by your middle name for decades but when you go into the "real world", you are called by your first name. People would ask me my name and I go uggh??

Ahem...variation= my name is Lori. :p
Not much I can do with that, but since I'm home with my son now and my next job will likely be as a sub, I'll be 'hey, teacher,' lol

My husband's name is Timothy and he was Timmy to his family until about 10 ago (he's 38!!!) It took dedicated effort on his part to to get his mother/aunts/uncles, etc. to stop calling him Timmy. As a matter of fact, he has a few distant elderly cousins that STILL call him Timmy and his mom slips from time to time. He says he started trying to be Tim in about the 8 grade, but folks weren't hearing it! He says it's hard being a 6 foot 2, 200+ pound black man named Timmy! LOL

He still let's me call him Timmy though! ;)

My fiance is a James III, and was Jimmy for much too long. He was able to reclaim Jim once his father passed away, but he "allows" his immediate family to still call him Jimmy at times. He has had a very hard time making the switch, but calmly tells people, "Please call me Jim" each time someone calls him Jimmy. Since he's in sports, Jimmy is a bit more natural!

Honey is my childhood nickname, and of course, doesn't work so well in business. I go by my real name, Melissa, but have given "Honey" rights to those I love. People who knew me prior to college are shocked to hear me called Melissa!

My family calls me Nikki, and my mom calls me Nic sometimes... but I NEVER went by Nikki in school, it was always Nicole.

That's exactly how I am with family and certain close friends calling me Nikki and my sister calling me Nic. I just always preferred Nicole in school, though...