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I'm from England, and I do know a fair few children with nicknames as full names (e.g. my cousin Alfie, my nieces Lily and Abby, my friend Charlie).

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In a way I can understand that, if you plan to use the nickname all the time, there is not much point in using a longer name and having to ask people (teachers, friends etc.) to use the nickname.

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Also, I think a lot of these nicknames are cute but the long versions are quite old fashioned and sometimes unattractive. I think a 7-year-old called Alfred just sounds strange, whereas Alfie is fine.

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On the other hand, I think that a 30-year-old businessman called Alfie seems a bit strange, and it might be better to have a full name to use in later life and in a professional context.

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I don't think it is an age related thing, this trend is really common among parents of all ages as far as I know.

I think for some of the parents, they either don't like the full form, or they think the full name is too cumbersome. Although in some cases, there are people who think 'if I'm going to call my son Ben, I may as well put Ben on the birth certificate'.

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As I believe I've mentioned before, my cousin in the UK has boys called Alfie and Archie, as for her Alfred and Archibald (with Archibald in particular) being 'too posh' or 'too snooty' for her.

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Her best friend has four children; Ben, Sam, Maddie and Tom, and she is one of those who didn't see the point of putting the full names on the birth certificate when she only planned to refer to them as Ben, Sam, Maddie and Tom. Of course, everyone assumes they are really Benjamin, Samuel, Madeleine/Madison and Thomas, so much so the last time I saw her friend, she admitted it made her wish she had used the full names (so she didn't have to keep correcting people).

It doesn't bother me, but I'd personally go with Grace or Alfred and call them Gracie or Alfie, just so they would have options. Of course, it wouldn't be hard to shorten Gracie to Grace later in life, but Alfie isn't so lucky.

I first came across Gracie as an American name haha. But yes the trend for twee bothers me too. The worst for me are names like Poppy-Belle or Evie-Honey.
I think it is the -ee sound that appeals since full names like Chloe, Sophie, Ruby and Lily are also really popular here.

I think because so many people go by a nickname that parents feel it's easier to use it from day one. A Gracie can always call herself Grace if she wants when she's older. It is funny that it doesn't seem to happen in the US, but then again, in America you get more surnames and male names being used for girls which you don't really get here. I used to think Alfie was cute and briefly considered using it (as my Grandad was Alfred / Alf which I don't like) but there must be hundreds of little Alfies running around here so the popularity has put me off!

I had never thought of it as being a uniquely British thing but then compared the top 100 names for the US and the UK and you're right... only in the UK do you see Millie, Ellie, Lexi, Gracie, Libby, Tilly, etc.

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It's usually younger mums, but not always.

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I suppose itremoves the annoyance of having to correct teachers, etc when they call you bby your full name but you never ever go by that.

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But personally I would like my child to have a more formal-sounding name to fall back on when they need it.

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S xx

I read a book once where a female character was Gabriel. Everyone called her Gabe.

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Personally, I don't think it's that bad. I've heard much worse, and at least Gabriel sounds a bit feminine with the -el ending.

Was Gabriel traditionally usable for girls in the UK? Or was it a case of gender-bending (like how there are American women named Rene instead of Renee)?

This message was edited 5/14/2011, 5:22 PM