Friday, August 10, 2012

My Daughter Changed Her Name

They say if your name is more than three syllables at some point in your life you will probably end up with a nickname.  Emily--i.e Emmy.  Obviously I knew that naming my daughter Alexandria would definitely result in her having a nickname.  In fact we were the first to do it- we have almost always called her Alex.

 Don't get me wrong, I really like Alexandria but if you have read my blog for anytime-- well you know Alex fits her perfectly.  I always figured she would go through some stage where she would want to be called Alexandria as it sounded more grown up or sophisticated or for who knows what other reason; I just didn't think it would happen in kindergarten.

Yep- my little Alex is now Alexandria.

On her first day of school we realized there was another Alex in the class.  This other Alex is shorter, probably about 15 lbs heavier and a boy so there would be no mistaking which was which but Alex decided she would just go by Alexandria.

When I picked her up on her first day of school I casually mentioned that if she wanted her teacher to call her Alex she could just tell her that.  She said, no it would be too confusing and she would just go by Alexandria.

On the second day of school, I helped her get her backpack hung up and then waved and said "bye Alex"

"It's Alexandria" she called out to me.

And I think my heart broke a little.  I knew it would happen, I guess I just wasn't ready for it quite yet.

Do your kids have nicknames?  Do you like it or want them to go by something else?

34 comments:

  1. They have no idea how much doing something like that can tear into our heart, do they?

    Buster is Nicholas. We called him Nicholas for the first year of his life, and then I shortened it to Nick. And I usually call him Nicky. (I know, I know, I shouldn't do that to him). Anyway, he's declared that his name is Nick. Nicholas is NOT his name. *sigh*

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  2. How sweet! Independent little thing, isn't she? :O) I think she will grow into the Alexandria name before too long if she sticks with it.

    Lexie is actually Alexis, but I have never ever called her that. Not once. We knew from the beginning she would be Lexie and most of the time it is shortened just to Lex. At home, she is Lex, everywhere else, Lexie. I don't see her choosing to go by Alexis anytime soon either.

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  3. We shortened both to El for Elly and Em for Emmy...but we have sooooooooo many nicknames it's sad. HAHA! =)

    I always get asked though if Elly and Emmy are short for longer names.

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  4. Aw how sweet :D We haven't come up with a good nickname for our little man. His name is only two syllables.

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  5. Ha! Oh my goodness..she is quite a character.
    Yes, all of my kids have nicknames :)

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  6. I can totally imagine that heartbreak you're talking about. If Madeline decided to go by Maddie, I think I'd be that way too. I wonder if this will really last the whole year for her? There has always been two Ethans in Ethan's classes. He's always Ethan M. Don't ya just wish your kid could be the only one with that name?

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  7. I love it. I have a granddaughter that is Alexandria. She only gets called that when she's in trouble.
    It is a beautiful name. Good for her for knowing her mind.

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  8. I try to call Jakob, Jake, but he doesn't care for it much either.

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  9. Wow...isn't she something! Amazing! I'll have to send her something addressed to Alexandria.

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  10. I did this as a kid! I insisted on being called Kimberley all the time although I have no idea why. As a teenager I gave up because people always just called me Kim anyway

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  11. My kiddo's nickname is Ricky because he's named after his daddy. If he ever decides to go by Eric, not only will it be confusing in our house when I say "Eric" and they both answer me, but it would be really weird trying to call him a name I've never truly been able to associate with him.

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  12. Aww, (I like Mimi's comment) My initial reaction was aww....I hadn't heard that about the 3 syllables but good to keep in mind for future reference.

    I bet she will change it again when she gets older. Just another moment when you know your child is growing up :(.

    Both my kids have short names so I can't really think of any nicknames. Clara I wanted to call Claire, but when I do I feel weird, so I've always just called her Clara.

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  13. That is kind of sweet. We tried to pick names that wouldn't be so easy to "nickname", but it happens anyway. I think Alexandria sounds great! ;)

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  14. My mom was not into nicknames so all of my siblings and I are called our given name. Two of my brothers names are Sam and Andy. Neither one of them are short for Andrew or Samuel. Their given birth names are as simple as that. So I followed suit and my boys names can't be shorted they are what they are.

    On my husbands side, everyone has a nickname and they don't have anything to do with their actual name. Like Cob or Bud, Rooster and so on...it's kinda funny to me.

    Alexandria is beautiful I like that she wants to use her full name!

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  15. At 3, someone called my son Danny - he said, "I prefer Daniel". And Daniel it is (it's his middle name, but we've always sort of ignored his first name).

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  16. They grow up too fast! I have 3 kids. My daughter is Anika and everyone calls her Nika except us. I call her Nik or Sissy. My son is Axle and he goes by Ax or Bub. There there is Annalee & I think she hasn't been here long enough for a nickname. Wonder what her's will be? The only person that shortens her name is Axle and he calls her Lee! Sometimes I call her Little Bit. I guess cause she's so teeny tiny!

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  17. Awwww. You naming her Alexandria wasn't in vain.

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  18. :( It's not so much her growing up too fast, tho it is going to happen soon, I'd want to be Alexandria too.

    Kristin has never had a nickname really. Emily of course has had about a million. Mostly she is Em. Nicole thinks she was the first to call her M&M...nope. And of course Ry-Ry or Ry. ;)

    PS When Kristin was either 6 or 7 she wanted me to call her Crystal. I told her I would not as that was not the name I gave her. She gave it up after a few weeks.

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  19. My kids do and so do I. We all have three syllable full names and four-letter, on syllable nicknames. Coincidence with The Boy, but when I realized the pattern, deliberate with The Girl. I will say that in K, I asked the teacher to enforce them learning to write their full names, but once they could, they were free to be whatever they wanted. They both use their nicknames..it's easier to write! In fact, The Girl remarked not that long ago that I was the only one who really used her full name! You can email me and I'll tell you their names so this makes more sense!:-)

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  20. i don't know if little man has a nickname at school but at home he has several

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  21. Why do they have to grow? WHY?!! We couldn't think of a good nickname for Sierra, but once she became a big sister, she was known as "Sissy". I still call her Sissy about 99% of the time. If I say, "Sierra", I'm usually pretty serious, or she's in trouble ;) Makenna was "Kenners" from the get-go. No clue why. One day we just called her Kenner-Bug, and then shortened it to Kenners, and that's who she's been ever since. Kameryn we shortened to Kam early on. Kameryn wasn't my name choice, but since I sort of got to name my first two, I let Jeremy have his way ;) And Taylor is almost always "Tay" because adding the second syllable is just too much work :)

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  22. Alex, or rather Alexandria, is growing up :). She can now decide for herself, what an achievement! One sophisticated young lady is out to break hearts...

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  23. Oooooh! So cute and sad at the same time! I am SUPER picky...I have to like the shortened version of a name before giving it to a kid...therefore Jackson was not used for our son since I hate Jack...yep, I do. I am kind of big on using full names, though I have become guilty of referring to Lincoln as Linc. Oh well. I am sure little "Alexandria" will go back to Alex at some point :-)

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  24. Aww. That's so cute and grown up of her! I don't have a nickname for either of my girls, but I'm hoping that changes because I think they're fun.

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  25. That's adorable!

    I went through a phase where I claimed so many last names in my family ... a cousin, an aunt, etc. It was a crazy mess!!

    Us kids come up with the craziest things!

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  26. Oh, sad! Alexandria is a beautiful name though. My son is named after my husband's grandpa, but he goes by a nickname for that name. It's always weird for me when I go to the pediatrician and they call out "Robert" (not his real name) and I'm waiting to hear "Bob" instead. I'm still trying to get used to that!

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  27. awwwwww! Asserting herself and making some big decisions! Our daughter is in for it.... her full name is Llewellyn Marie..... but we call her Lula Mae. I can only imagine how many times she will change her name! LOL

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  28. Here's the funny thing.... my oldest daughter's name is Caitlin and for a while she wanted to be name Delores... no idea why other than I think she didn't like her name. We never called her that and it's always Caitlin or Cait. The other two girls have names that we can't really shorten... Natalie & Lauren. Now with my son I am fighting to keep his name at Andrew... nothing else!

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  29. Well, Donut is Donut. We also call her The Goobs. My DH does anyway. It feels weird sometimes calling her by her real name. We are a nickname family--even DH & I rarely call each other by our real names.

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  30. My son's name is Jeremy. We called him Jerm growing up, which of course, is pronounced like 'germ', so he hated it. Our daughter's name is Sara, and we call her Doots. Our youngest son is Zach and we call him Bubba. Go figure. :-)

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  31. It is funny when kids go through phases like that. My nephew is named Arthur Matthias. After two of his great grandfathers. He was always called Matt. One day when he entered third grade the teacher was taking roll. She called out "Arthur... Arthur?..." and thought that he was ignoring her. She told him she was calling him, and he told her his name was Matt, not Arthur. When he got home from school that day, he asked my sister (his mom) what his real name was. She told him his full name, and he asked why they didn't call him by his first name. He reasoned that if it is his first name, shouldn't they call him that? So they have ever since. But to me, he is and will always be Matt. He doesn't mind so much now that he is nearly 16. :) Funny how strong of an attachment we all have to our names, isn't it?

    I think Alexandria is simply beautiful. Both the name and your daughter. And she is headstrong enough to have to have it her way, isn't she? It is adorable, but slightly heartbreaking at the same time. I dread the day Keith tells me to stop calling him Keithy.

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  32. Tori's real name is Victoria. Like you said, Tori just suits her. But she'll tell you right away, it's Tori, especially if someone calls her Victoria, me included... LOL.

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  33. it worked out that my older son's "In real life" nickname and blog nickname are one in the same- Bear-, so it's easy now, but I do wonder what the future will bring.

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  34. Well I could see not wanting to have the same name as a stinky icky boy!! ; )

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