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I know people who use their middle names, not first names. I'm sure the parents had a good reason.
But for people who have shortened names like Mike, Chris, Robert, I've always wondered when they were filling out applications, how do they decide when to fill in Chris and when to write Christopher?
I think for formal things like passports they use Michael, Christopher, Robert but for casual speech they use Mike, Rob, etc. Some forms solve this problem by asking "What name do you go by?"
I was reading a book on the African country of Togo, and there, you're named after the day you were born. In my case, my name would be Sunday, nickname Sun?
Some people are very sensitive about their names. You call them by their nickname and they're offended, you call them by their full name and they're offended.
I've known people who have all but become angry if you call them by their first full name. And they'll reprove you for it: Don't call me that, call me...................
There's a book entitled Use Astrology to Change Your Name by Lynne Parker and it's more than interesting.
My full name is Michael which resonates to Aries, and that's my sun sign. Mike resonates to Pisces. I have a Sun/Neptune opposition, so my Aries Sun sign is heavily flavored with Neptune/Pisces and my Venus is in Pisces, so I'm not offended either way.
I'm from a culture where that's just what we do. There's a reason why rappers go by aliases (Biggie Smalls, Jay Z, etc) and pop stars (Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Adam Levine etc) go by their real names
Right.
And it's called 'marketing'.
By the way, lots of non-rap musicians go by monikers other than their birth names.
Bob Dylan
Cher
Elton John
Freddy Mercury
And many others.
Other entertainers, too.
John Waye
George Gershwin
Judy Garland
Woody Allen
As far as non-famous people, the reasons are myriad. My wife has two first names by which she goes. Professionally, and with those people she met after she moved to the town where we have lived since shortly after marrying in our mid-20s, she goes by her birth name. Among family and friends she knew before we moved here, she goes by another. That name came about because she has a brother who was 20 months old when she was born, and he could not pronounce her name. Instead, he called her another name - no one, including the brother, knows why. But that name stuck, and it became her everyday name.
Sometimes an alternate is born because two people in a family have the same name. So the second Andrew becomes Drew to avoid confusion.
Remember back in school? There'd be that kid who everyone knew as Chip. Chip Smith. But then on the first day of class, the teacher would be taking roll and call out something like 'Edgar Smith', and Chip would raise his hand.
It's silly to think that there's any one reason for such a thing as this.
I have often said that I don't really get why a parent would choose a name for a child, if they already knew they planned to call the child something else. Why not give the child the name you plan to call them? Otherwise, what is the "real name" for? Like, why give your child a first and middle name, knowing all along you will call him the middle name? Or why name her Elizabeth if you know you will call her Betsy?
That's why I gave all my children one-syllable names that couldn't really be shortened or changed.
If close friends come up with a nickname for casual use, fine, but I wanted my kids' names to be their names.
Not judging here. I just don't get it, that's all.
I don't know if it's a southern thing but some obituaries in our newspaper will show the nickname, John (Peewee) Doe or Jane (MeeMaw) Doe. I assume some people are only known by their nickname. I have read some doozies.
I definitely noticed that when I moved down south!!!
A former student of mine has who recently got her M.S. in biochemistry and is currently working at a Fortune 50 company goes by her first and middle initials instead of her first name. Unfortunately for her, her initials are B.J.. I wrote recommendation letters for her for graduate school and I was a professional reference as well, and I asked her if she wanted me to use her legal first name or BJ, and she was insistent on BJ. Recently we invited her back to my department to give a "Women in Science" talk to our undergraduate students, and the student reactions to her introduction were amusing. She is a very animated speaker and she often refers to herself in the third person, often in ways where a possible innuendo could be seen if you are trying too hard to find one. Perhaps I am an adolescent boy at heart as well, as I found myself stifling a grin on a few occasions.
A former student of mine has who recently got her M.S. in biochemistry and is currently working at a Fortune 50 company goes by her first and middle initials instead of her first name. Unfortunately for her, her initials are B.J.. I wrote recommendation letters for her for graduate school and I was a professional reference as well, and I asked her if she wanted me to use her legal first name or BJ, and she was insistent on BJ. Recently we invited her back to my department to give a "Women in Science" talk to our undergraduate students, and the student reactions to her introduction were amusing. She is a very animated speaker and she often refers to herself in the third person, often in ways where a possible innuendo could be seen if you are trying too hard to find one. Perhaps I am an adolescent boy at heart as well, as I found myself stifling a grin on a few occasions.
I have been called "Gator" since i think i was 11 or 12. I am mid fifties now and am still addressed as Gator by friends and colleague's. When i make new friends i usually intoduce myself as Gator, it becomes second nature using a nickname and most don't give it a thought. I often get "why do they call you that?" but that is it. Using a nickname is no big deal as far as i am concerned.
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