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AIBU

AIBU to not like my name being shortened?

(110 Posts)
Sazz1006 Mon 04-Jun-18 22:23:49

Ok, so my name is Sally and I’m over 60. AIBU to expect people who I barely know to call me by my full, two syllable name! Apart from my brother and a couple of friends I’ve known since I was 11, no one calls me Sal, not even my DH. Recently a couple of people I have only just met constantly call me Sal and I don’t like it! I would never shorten someone’s name unless they invited me to. What do other people think?

nannygreencar Tue 05-Jun-18 10:11:15

I know there are much more important things to get annoyed about, but this is one of my bug bears !!! My name is Susanne, given to me by my parents and a name I love. If I meet anyone new and we are exchanging names, obviously I use my full name. Why then do some people insist on shortening it ? !!! If you ask someone their name and they tell you, then that is the name they want to be called by. If I wanted to be called by a shortened name (e.g. Sue, Susie, Susan), then that's the name I would tell you. All my family and friends use my full name. Rant over !!!

Crazygran Tue 05-Jun-18 10:15:13

My name is Mary, often called Mee and hate it with a vengeance !!!!?

allule Tue 05-Jun-18 10:16:28

It seems common now to use shortened versions officially....Harry, Polly, Joe etc.
I always felt that giving children the full version of the name gives them choice later. Margaret can be Maggie, Meg, Molly, Polly.......do you remember Milly Molly Mandy, who was really Millicent Margaret Amanda?

Sheilasue Tue 05-Jun-18 10:21:12

Well my name got shortened to ‘shell’ by girls at school, I hated it my mum used to do her nut. Some names are quite nice though shortened we have an Elle who was christened Olivia but loves her shortened name.

henetha Tue 05-Jun-18 10:21:52

I don't like my name - Janet -and much prefer the shortened version - Jan.
But it's everyone's right to choose what to be called, so a gentle reminder is perfectly acceptable I think, Sally.

goldengirl Tue 05-Jun-18 10:23:38

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. In fact I only use my full name for formal occasions / letters etc. I tend to use my shortened name for everything else - much friendlier in my view.

silvercollie Tue 05-Jun-18 10:31:28

DeDaa.
My name is Caroline too and I HATE it being shortened to Carol. Different name altogether. But what is worse is Ca. Caro I an deal with. I was about to go to College when I took on this, my second name, by dropping the hated first name.
For many years my mum refused to call me Caroline as she contended she had named me ** that I dislike so much that I cannot print it. In fact she stamped her foot and said that as she was my mother she could call me whatever she liked! This was after I had, yet again asked if she could agree to calling me Caroline - I was 42 by this time. Then she took over a job I had when I emigrated and she was known as Caroline' Mum. This soon was shortened to Caroline!! Oh the irony.

Apricity Tue 05-Jun-18 10:33:49

If you feel strongly about it what is wrong with saying only my family call me "X" genenerally I am known as "Y"?

Kim19 Tue 05-Jun-18 10:35:15

What's in a name, eh? I completely changed mine part by fluke and eventually officially. Think my Mum was a bit confused and hurt at first but she soon came round when she realised it was the same me with a different label and we discussed it rationally. She concluded I was 'wacky but wonderful' and I've never forgotten that. Nowadays there are only a few surviving elderly relatives who refer to me by my birth name and that's fine. If my adult children happen to be in this company they find it wholly amusing. Funny old world.

rockgran Tue 05-Jun-18 10:44:42

I don't particularly like my name as it is rather old fashioned. I prefer it to be shortened - but as I get older I find I am growing into it! In fact a friend's baby was recently given that name so I am beginning to like it now!grin

mabon1 Tue 05-Jun-18 11:05:26

Just tell them you prefer to be addressed as Sally.

Madmartha Tue 05-Jun-18 11:11:53

Perfectly happy to have my name shortened by those I know, don’t care who they are, I find it friendlier smile

HootyMcOwlface Tue 05-Jun-18 11:15:02

I hate my name, always have done. What was worse was when I was at the hospital recently they kept calling me as my middle name and surname - which is worse! Mine are old fashioned and I haven’t heard of anyone young with them (even when I was young, I was the only one called it!)

Daddima Tue 05-Jun-18 11:51:52

I can tell how long people have been colleagues of my brother by what they call him. When he started a new job some years ago, his boss was introducing him as Jim, then asked, “ or do you insist on James?” He didn’t want to say he had always been James, so has been known as Jim in those circles for about 20 years.

Craftycat Tue 05-Jun-18 12:00:16

I'm a Hazel & I hate being called Haze- I'm not a flaming mist! I don't answer to it.
I have no problem with H though- I don't think many people get called by their initial unless it is an H.

NonnaW Tue 05-Jun-18 12:22:09

I had a boss who always dropped the Y at the end of my name, and I hated it. One day I asked him ( in the middle f the office) not to call me that. He looked t me in amazement and asked what I wanted to be called. I heard one of the guys mutter “how about **y?” (my actual name), which is of course what I told him.

DH on the other hand, has been known by his full name for years, certainly I’d never heard him called anything else, but for the last few years some people have been shortening it, and he’s even taken to using the shortened name himself in certain circumstances.

Urmstongran Tue 05-Jun-18 12:26:40

My dad was called Thomas Noel (born Christmas Day!). His surname got shortened at roll call in the Royal Navy to ‘Peak’. So his navy colleagues just called him ‘Pete’ and that how he was introduced to my mum when they met. She always called him ‘Pete’. However, his family always called him ‘Noel’. And when he worked as an engineer after leaving the RN work colleagues called him ‘Tom’! .... I asked him once did he mind being called by 3 different names and he replied ‘I do t mind what I’m called as long as it’s not late for dinner!’. Loved it.

chicken Tue 05-Jun-18 13:42:02

My Mum was brought up in an orphanage, long, long ago, and the Matron would not allow any girl to keep the name Sally or Sarah. She said that these were "workhouse "names!
In my Mum's class, one of the girls had been christened Sally Sarah, and she was renamed Cissie--poor kid. If anyone tried to shorten my name I just wouldn't answer to it.

DanniRae Tue 05-Jun-18 13:55:45

When my father-in-law met my mother-in-law he told her his name was Harry. This was fine until she went to visit his home for Sunday tea and one of his brothers was called Harry too. It turned out that his name was Hector but he disliked the name so he changed it. Most of my mother-in-law's family called him Harry for the rest of his days!

Jayelld Tue 05-Jun-18 14:03:15

My full name is shortened and im only ever called by my short name since my mother died. Only one person uses my full name and I let it ride since I rarely see him.
When meeting new people I only use my short name. Its not that i dislike my full name, ìts just that for the majority of my life its never been used.

gillyknits Tue 05-Jun-18 14:27:49

I hate my full name and try to only use the shortened version. The trouble is that the full length version is needed by officialdom. When that name is called e.g at the doctors, I feel like I’m five again, being reprimanded for some misdeed!

VIOLETTE Tue 05-Jun-18 14:40:11

Am I the only one who doesn;t give jot what anyone calls me ? I don't even use my Christian name (are you allowed to say that anymore ?? probably not PC !!! grin I have known several people who share my thoughts ...best friends since school age 5 ...Mon, Vron, Mags, Mo ...Al, Mike, Pete .......we wouldn't recognise each other if we used our real names !! More to worry about in life ........don't even mind Duck, luv or pet !!

SummerJ Tue 05-Jun-18 14:44:17

I absolutely HATE my name and it has always been shortened. All friends and family call me by the shortened form of my name, it is even on my ‘notes’ at the doctor’s. I cringe when I have to officially fill in a form. I did think about changing it by deed poll but the list of people I had to contact and the costs involved (driving license, passport etc.) seemed ridiculous so I just have to live with it. Maybe it’s something to do on my 65th birthday?

sandyann Tue 05-Jun-18 15:11:26

I think it's endearing to shorten someone's name, that's the reason I do it anyway. I prefer it when I'm called San, I like it... only family call me Sandra.

Overthehills Tue 05-Jun-18 15:13:12

Mine is never shortened but frequently changed to Caroline! A nurse once informed me, when I gently corrected her, that it didn’t matter as it was nearly the same! I like the name Caroline but it’s not my name, though I wish my mother had called me that as it would have saved me ignoring a lot of people over the years when I didn’t realise they were speaking to me!!