Changing my name

Babs03

'I can call you Betty, and Betty when you call me, you can call me Al.'

Sorry, just a bit of light relief, blame Paul Simon.

If you'll be my bodyguard, I can be your long-lost pal.
Lovely, silly song.

Yes, if someone has a short name, people often add bits on!

My daughter wanted her children to have one syllable names, so nobody could shorten them.

The older one has, but the younger one seemed destined to be called "that baby" forever more if nobody could decide on something.

So, he got two syllables, which is shortened to one. (Or added to, until its nothing like his name!)

'I can call you Betty, and Betty when you call me, you can call me Al.'

Sorry, just a bit of light relief, blame Paul Simon.

I always think with Debbie is that they shorten my name then added a bit, so it's no shorter than Deborah. My mum used to get the absolute rage if anyone called me Debbie

My name has 2 spellings although the way mine is spelled is strictly pronounced in a certain way. It used to really upset me when people pronounce it wrongly but I try to be quite relaxed about it. I do wonder though why people will ask me what my name is and then immediately pronounce it wrongly. Why bother to ask me if you're not going to listen!

My son was Richard from the start. It was never abbreviated, and when we came to live in the States and he started school, he was asked if he used a nickname. No, I’m Richard, and he always has been.

I’m a Patricia, shortened to Pat.
I use Trisha because I like it, but what really really irritates are people who call me Pam, as if it doesn’t matter whether it’s Pat or Pam.
If it happens too often I (hopefully) gently say it’s Pat, short for Patricia, not Pamela.
Most recently I corrected the surgeon before a minor op. Not sure afterwards whether that was a bit foolish! 😊

I prefer my first name shortened - the long version is very dated.
I worked with a Michael who always resented being called Mick. This I can understand.
I can't bear z put on names; gaz, baz shaz.

,..as long as they don’t call me late for breakfast” 😉

Tell them straight off that your name is not that and you don’t like it being abbreviated! It’s rude!

What I dislike more than anything is in work situations where service users misspell my name on emails. My name is part of my work email address, plus I sign off emails with my name. It’s a slightly unusual name, but I don’t think that excuses people constantly misspelling it. I make a point of spelling people’s names correctly. It’s not hard.

I also dislike my name being shortened. I put up with it as a child, but after my divorce from my first husband I decided I wanted to use my full name, so that’s how I introduce myself. And it’s really only my sister and brother and cousin who use the shortened version these days.

I've given up now. I'm 72 my name is Margaret. I was never allowed or allowed others to call me Maggie even before Mrs Thatcher. My Mum didn't like it. When I got older I know a Maggie so everyone in that circle called me Margaret. Then when email & Social media came along I felt it was to long so I used Maggs instead. People still keep calling me Maggie I just ignore them or ask if they mean the other person.

She certainly did.

"Oh, my real name is Eliza, but I thought it sounded more racy to be called Lil, once I got interested in boys".

MissAdventure I bet Lil had some tales to tell 😂

paddyann54 that's so lovely 🥰

My late Mum was Florence.
The only 2 people allowed to call her anything else were my Dad and my brother...and she only just tolerated them calling her Florrie .
I told this tale at her funeral .
A friend of many years told me that he'd once asked her if he'd known her long enough to call her Flo ?
He got a very sharp response to that suggestion!

My eldest sister’s name was Elizabeth, but, for some unfathomable reason, everyone called her Lil!

I worked with somebody ( several years ago) who was called Betty. My boss insisted on calling her Elizabeth but she was actually named and christened Betty. so it can work both ways!
i would just say politely that you prefer to be called Deborah

My late father always called me by my Sunday name ,mum and other family used two diffferent shortened versions.I answered to them all .When dad died I missed him using the name he had chosen for me and mentioned it in passing,before long there was a string of folk who called me by my full name and still do over 30 years later and I like it.My son and DIL gave their new baby my name last year and her 5 year old sister insists she gets the full name when anyone asks what’s she,s called .Its lovely and I really feel it’s a compliment

My name is regularly shortened, and always has been. I can’t understand why people can’t call me by the name that I give. It’s probably because they know other people who have the same name, and who use/accept the shortened version. My
in laws shortened it to something different, and other relatives over the years have called me by four other different versions. These days it is four. As I said, I never give any name other than my full one, apart from to relatives. I sign mail with these four different versions, depending on who they are.

Working in care homes opened up a whole realm of names that weren't really their names, to me.
"Oh, I'm Beatrice, but everyone has always called me Timmy"

"Oh, my real name is Eliza, but I thought it sounded more racy to be called Lil, once I got interested in boys".

"Nobody's called me Harry for years. I used to tell the girls my name was Joe, and it just sort of stuck"

"I'm Peggy. It's short for Elizabeth"

"Maud's my middle name, but mum and dad always called me Betty, not my first name, which is Gloria"

"I didn't realise you were speaking to me, because nobody calls me Harry. I prefer Alfie, so just tell people it's my name"

Indigo8

My old dad used to say "I don't care what you call me as long as you don't forget to call me for my dinner".

😁

Or just call me!

I've had my name used in full or shortened to various forms over the years and there's only one version I dislike.

Just tell her politely that you have always used Deborah as your name ,and simply don't like being called Debbie Debs or any short form. You don't have to explain any reasons why you want to addressed by your given name. I would never use a shortened pet form of any name unless I knew the person actually preferred that form of address. I went to school with someone called Edward when at school who shortened it to Ed at university and during his working career and then decided he was going to be Ted in retirement!

My old dad used to say "I don't care what you call me as long as you don't forget to call me for my dinner".

It seems to be fashionable at the moment to call people what you want to, rather than what they want to be called!

I am waging the battle against two sets of people who insist on calling me Lisbeth, which I dislike, instead of my given name: Elisabeth.

The one couple do, when I mention it, call me Elisabeth for the next couple of times they address me, then it's back to Lisbeth. The third person makes no effort to comply with my request.

I am thinking of employing the tactic I used as a schoolgirl of simply not answering unless addressed correctly. When teachers reproved me, I simply said politely that I had not realised I was being addressed, as my name is not Lisbeth.