Alex the Great?
Dear TMH,
My friends insist on using a nickname for my son “Alex” but I prefer the full name “Alexander.” Should I just give up? He’s a baby, so nothing has stuck yet.
Signed,
Who’s Naming This Baby Anyway?!
_______________________
Dear Who’s Naming This Baby Anyway?!,
The real question is, how tired are you? Because if you’re up every two hours at night with your baby, and dragging yourself through the day with a combination of cafe lattes, Red Bull and cat naps, you have no energy to convince people that your son’s name is “Alexander” and not “Alex.”
And it’s going to take some work. Because people have an irrational, unexplainable love for nicknames. If you’re name is Michael, they want it to be Mike. If it’s Kimberly, they want it to be Kim. I think the other Mouthy Housewives (Wen, Jess, Marin and Heath) would all agree.
Now if your baby is sleeping nicely through the night and you aren’t screaming at the grocery store clerk because the store is out of avocados and your fatigue has turned you into a complete lunatic, then you can do something about this.
When your friends refer to your son as “Alex” just casually say, “Oh we’re actually calling him Alexander. Not Alex.” I mean, I’m sure your friends have very busy lives, but too busy to add two extra syllables when addressing your son?! After a few reminders, they’ll start to remember.
This is your baby. And you get to name him. Until he’s in 7th grade and decides he wants to be called “Al” because it just sounds cooler. Then write TMH again and we’ll figure out what to do.
Love,
Kelcey (Not Kelc), TMH
11 Responses to “Alex the Great?”
Comment by Inna.
I love nicknames! I guess its just me though… my mom only ever used my full name when I had done something wrong.
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Comment by The Laughing Idiot.
I have a tendency to call people by the name they (or their parents) introduce themselves as. I have issues later when they want to be called something else.
I insist on being called by my full first name because the alternative reminds me of a greasy TV short-order cook. Only my grams was allowed to shorten it to two syllables.
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Comment by Sophie, Inzaburbs.
This is one of my personal hangups. I cannot bring myself to use a nickname for anybody unless they introduce themself with their nickname or have straight-out said “Please, call me Alex”. So while everyone else in the room is yelling “Liz!” I am still saying Elizabeth and I just can’t get past that.
I have no idea where this comes from and it doesn’t help you at all. Unless you want to make me your only friend, which would solve your problem but would be very very weird.
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Comment by LadySteele.
My name is Stephanie. Not Steph. And CERTAINLY not Stephie. My parents never shortened it, and they didn’t allow others to do it, either.
Be consistent in what you call your son, and insist gently that others do the same. When someone calls me Steph, I say tactfully, “My name is Stephanie.” You usually only have to remind them once.
Good luck. And I agree with Kelcey – Alexander is going to hit junior high and decide he wants to be something cool like Ace. And then you’re just going to have to deal with it.
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Comment by Aludra.
When I was dating my now-husband, I called him Patrick, and after years of others calling him Pat or Patty, I finally let myself go down to one syllable. I use patty most often because our dog is puppy, and our cat is kitty, so it just works to call him patty. But now I accidentally call him puppy or kitty. I know it’s common to mix up your kids’ names, but I may be the only person who walks around the house saying “Hi puppy-kitty-patty.” Recently i’ve broken down and started calling everyone “thingy”.
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Comment by christy.
At least they’re not calling him ‘xander’ because that would be weird.
But seriously – correct them each and every time and they’ll get the point!
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Comment by amandashea17.
My brother’s name is Matthew. Not Matt, Matty, or another nick name. My mom made sure to correct people as a child. When my brother was older he began correcting people. I think you have every right to correct people.
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Comment by suburbancorrespondent.
People tend to start calling him what you call him. Don’t sweat it.
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Comment by Coco.
Love the name Alexander. I named my daughter Alexandra. It is her middle name so she doesn’t use it. But call the kid what you want to call him. There will always be others who call him something else. Like Tank, Stinky, Little Man, etc.
Relax
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Comment by alex.
Wait until your kid is two years old, standing naked in a crib, and insists he’s “not naked, i’m alex.” Then see where you are. In all seriousness, when he’s five years old and comes home and informs you he wants to change his name to optimus prime, you’ll realize that it’s mostly his wishes that matter, not yours and certainly not your friends. He’ll just ignore people who call him anything he doesn’t like to be called. Unless he’s a wuss, of course.
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Comment by dizzblnd.
I would be one of those lazy people calling him Alex. I need to save my breath for important things, like bitching!
Good luck with that though!
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