I have a 2 year old son whose name is William. At home we call him Billy as a nickname but my inlaws (this includes sister in laws) continue to call him Willy. If you ask my son for his name he will say Billy so I don't get why they insist on using a different nickname. At the next family gathering, which will be Christmas day I want to say something if they call him Willy. WWYD? Would you say something or just let it go? Am I overreacting?
I'm sure they have caught on if you are calling him Billy and they rather call him Willy. That is a risk you take when you name your kid something with multiple nicknames.
Maybe your son will think of it as that special name that grandma and grandpa call him.
Edited because I realized it seemed like I was calling you a douche. Lol. In laws. Not you.
My son is William or Will. Not Billy, not Willy. If people call him by one if those names I just say "oh we aren't using that, we are going by Will." ( or in your case Billy). I say it politely but I still say it. If someone persisted in using another NN I think I would just ask "why do you keep calling him Willy?"
I very passive typically with stuff like this, very non-confrontational but for some reason I am very upfront about his name.
My in laws call my daughter by a different nickname than I do. I don't see it as a problem. At some point she will either express a preference, or she will be okay having different nicknames from different people. We all use nicknames interchangeably with her full name, so I don't see it being confusing in our case.
I have never told them outright to not call him Willy but I have said oh he knows his name as Billy not Willy but they continue to do it. I just feel like they are trying to change my son's name to something they like. I have spoken to my DH about it but he doesn't think it is a big deal so he hasn't said anything to them.
ETA: As a full disclosure, I do have some issues with my inlaws so maybe this is why it bugs me so much.
I prob let it go as well. If its bothering u that much have your husband deal with your IL's directly on that one. I had several nicknames growing up none of them stuck. Hell I give my nieces their own as well.
When I decided I didn't like a nickname my family had been calling me by for years, I told them so. If he responds to Willy, just leave it alone. If he decides someday he wants to be only Billy or William, he can tell the family that himself.
98% of my family calls me a nickname, but the other 2% either call me by my real name or a variation of the nickname. It has never bothered me. I have cousins who have experienced the same thing, it's never been an issue for us. I think if it really bothers you, you should say something but grandparents give children nicknames all the time.
Post by SusanBAnthony on Dec 5, 2012 19:29:42 GMT -5
My Wlliam is William only, no shortening. His choice, by the way.
It is actually hilarious bc if you call him bill, billy, or will, he ignores you. He has always had other bill/billy/willy's in his school classes, so he tunes them all out.
Anyway, we have had this problem too, and I just correct every time (unless they are 90 and senile and then I give up). Otoh, if you only see them once or twice a year I would just ignore it.
Growing up, if anyone shortened my name in any way, my normally very sweet Mom would say "um, sorry, no, her name is Hannamaren" My sister is Samantha. She goes by Sam. She just doesnt reply if someone calls her Sammy or Samantha.
Does he care? If he cares, I would say, "He prefers Billy." NBD. If it is just you, let it go. You chance this when you use a nickname. My kid recently decided he hates the nickname we call him, so we don't anymore.
Eventually he'll tell them to stop if it bothers him. My sister loathed being called by the shortened version of her name. She'd tell them that no, that wasn't her name, her name was X.
Right, but if you consider his name "billy" and want everyone to call him "billy" then really, why not just name the kid billy? Shrug.
DD is Catherine but we knew going in we would call her Cate. We are big on formal names because it gives her options. We might like the name Cate, but she might like Catherine or Catie or Cathy. Her choice. Plus, a formal name is much more professional than a nn. H grew up going by a nn but uses his formal name professionally.
I think it's OK when family make up their own speical nickname... as the child gets older I'd ask him if it bothered him- and if it did, have him say something about it with me there to back him up.... but I wouldn't get bent out of shape over it.
My dad called my nephew, who's initals were MEC, "Meccley" for many years. It wasn't his name at all (matthew)... it was a nickname - and cute.
I called my niece "Cara J" for many many years- to differentiate her from a close family friend named Cara.... it never upset anyone. I was the only one who said it. She liked it, etc.
I would probably say something, but I would not make a huge deal out of it. I agree that Billy will correct them himself soon enough if he doesn't like it. I have a 2.5 year old Alexander. We have always called him Alex. He has recently started correcting us all and demanding that we call him Alexander. And I certain my son Henry would speak up if anyone ever tried to call him Hank. I bet the problem will take care of itself the minute your son says "My name is not Willy!"
Right, but if you consider his name "billy" and want everyone to call him "billy" then really, why not just name the kid billy? Shrug.
Because William is a full name and Billy is a nickname. William is good for when he's in a professional setting.
Plus people will just assume Billy is a nickname and William is his full name. My mother is Cathy - just Cathy - and people always ask if it short for Catherine.