My dads name is Richard and he goes by Dick as well. It seemed to depend on his mood if he introduced himself as Dick or Rich. Most of his friends called him Dick, Dicky, Rich or Richie B. I never heard anyone call him Richard except for my mother.
Well whatever the case he of course had to live the life long joke of “you may not have everything you want in life but you will always be Rich” Hardy har har
I think it’s perfectly normal to have these names. I agree with the others who said that as long you don’t totally change your life that people will still hold you to your old name. In my family, we have a similar issue–nicknames that are still used by family and friends long into adulthood. Jose becomes Chico, Billy becomes Pato (the duck), Maria becomes Kika, etc. Part of it is cultural (I know of a lot of Mexican-Americans who do this), and some is because their names are often similar. I think I have five different relatives whose name is Maria or sounds similar.
No worries at all, Sarahfeena. I wasn’t the least bit insulted and was just relating my own personal experience.
Whether it seemed weird would depend on the context, for me. If I met an adult in a professional situation who asked to be called by a diminutive form, I might be surprised. After a while, I’d probably just get used to calling the person what they requested, though. Around family (mine or a hypothetical person’s) it seems perfectly normal.
My husband’s name is only one syllable, but his family adds a long “e” sound to the end occasionally. I’ve picked up the habit at home, but I only refer to him by his first name outside the home. Some of his friends have taken the first part of his last name and turned it into a diminutive, though, and he got used to it. Still grates on my ears, though.
I have three potential versions of my name to use, my full first name, a shortened form that’s professional, and a short diminutive form. I default to the short professional form, but my family uses the short diminutive form, usually. My friends and colleagues use the short professional form, which I tend to prefer. The only people who call me by my full first name are people who don’t know me or I dont like. Or they’re mad at me. Maybe that’s why people don’t like their full first names. Whenever I hear all three syllables of my first name, it reminds me of when I was a kid and in deep shit. I have a moment of confusion. If you have a short first name, imagine if everyone called you by your full first name and middle name, and it will probably result in a similar feeling.
My brother’s name is the same way: Full name, short professional form, short diminutive form. He’s always been the diminutive form to me, but he goes by the short professional form at school and lately he’s asked to be called that at home. It seems a bit weird to change, but I’m trying. (sniff He’s growing up!)
Oh, good, I’m glad…I was afraid it came out wrong.
Anyone go by different names by different people? My family members all call me Kathleen, yet all of my friends, coworkers, and acquaintances call me Kat. My dad is the only one who calls my mother Jane-she’s Janie to everyone else. Like wise, my dad has always been “Billy” in the family, since my grandfather was Bill Jr. (HE was called “Junie” to avoid confusion with my great-grandfather, who was Bill Sr. Yes, my dad is Bill III)
Everyone refers to my grandmother’s sister as “Aunt Nunny”, but we’re the only ones who do so-my grandparents and her brother and other friends and relatives call her Ellen.
I’m perfectly happy with whatever anyone wants to go by. Apparently, since my shortened name is Kemi (shortened from Kembrly), diminutives are just another way to address someone. And I’ve never understood the transition from having something seemingly belonging to a kid and having to transition to an adult form just because it’s expected. Now if you prefer it or you simply like the more formal (or whatever), then by all means that’s different. But because you’re supposed to put away ‘childish’ things, I just don’t get it.
I mean, one of the most mature people I’ve ever known is my 68 year old aunt, who has buried her husband, has three kids of her own and more grandkids than I can remember. She still works full-time as a nurse and recently moved to another new place that’s all her own. So, if she likes Cathy over Catherine, I don’t consider that not owning up to being a grown-up in some matter. It’s just her choice.
I know a few people with this, and teach many of them. Thankfully, the generation of teachers who tell them it’s not their ‘proper’ name has mostly shuffled off into retirement so that we aren’t embarassed to work alongside them. And in a decade or two, these will not seem like unusual names, they’ll be ordinary middle-aged ones. In the way that what were old-fashioned names not so long ago are now common ones, especially among girls: Ruby, Eleanor, Edith, Eva, Holly, etc.
All through highschool I went by my nickname. Then, as most others have said, when I went off to college I started going by my full name. Not by choice so much, other than the fact that the professors just called everyone by their full name. I didn’t care to take the time to correct them. My college friends have versions of my first name, but not my original nickname. Fast forward about ten years and I met up with my now husband, who I knew when I was in high school. I am now mostly back to my original nick name. Though college friends and work call me by my first full name. Signing holiday cards can get confusing! Close family has always called me by my childhood nickname.
My almost retirement-age uncle’s name is Billy Earl but has always been Bill and I can probably count on both hands the number of times I’ve ever heard anyone call him Billy. In this case, the dimunitive is the more “mature” and “proper” name.
Here’s an interesting one, going through the UK’s top baby names for 2006 (girls and boys). Ellie comes in at number 10, and Millie at 20. Charlie far outdoes Charles, and Harry’s big brother is nowhere to be seen. (Although Jack tops the boys’ list, few people think of it a diminution nowadays.)
That’s my sister’s name - Laura.
I have a pet name for her, but I don’t think your daughter wants to be called by it.
Especially since I’ve been considering, now that I’m over 40, changing back to Richard instead of Rik 
Anecdote: I had a bitch of a 5th-grade teacher who decided that, now that we were all the ripe old ages of 10-11 years old, we were nearly adults and it was time to stop using childish names. And so my friend Bobby became Bob, my friend Johnny became John, and my friend Corky became Gordon*. I think there was at least one Susie/Suzi who became Sue. That teacher destroyed our childhood, she did!
*Corky was a Gordon, Jr. He acquired the nickname “Corky” as an infant, because when he would cry his older sister would suggest “putting a cork in him”. It’s what everybody called him, including teachers, until he ended up in that evil 5th-grade teacher’s class.
Wow, I had no idea anyone cared.
My given name is Christina, which is okay I guess, but I really prefer Christy. My mother explained that I was given my name specifically because of how flexible and changeable it is. When I was a kid, I wanted to be Chris, so that’s what people called me for a while… but it’s been Christy ever since at least 3rd grade. I just like it better. It fits my personality. It doesn’t make me less professional or less respectable, it’s my freakin’ name. Everyone who knows me – from college profs to my boss to my husband – call me that. I really freakin’ love my name. Long live diminutives!
What she said (except for me loving it, it’s just that it’s mine). Or even, why anyone would care about that sort of thing in the first place. But I just gotta say that occasionally there’s more than one reason not to want to use your full (or other diminutive) name. For instance in my case, my mother’s name is Kem and I’m as opposite her as daylight is to dark. I would never want to be associated from that stand point, so no matter what, good or bad, Kemi it is. I’m still as much of an adult (as I can be ) and ultimately, the people who’d take issue with that probably wouldn’t like me anyway.
I knew an Andy who decided in junior year of high school that he was now Andrew, and that everyone should call him Andrew.
Nobody did. He was just too fundamentally Andy. The name just fit him too well, and still does: everyone still calls him Andy.
Then again, I have an entire group of friends where most of the people know me simply as Beardless, even though I now have a Van Gogh. They have no idea what my real name is, and would forget quickly if I told them, because I’m just Beardless.
One interesting and somewhat relevant tidbit is the story of my ex, who hated any attempt to shorten her name, with the fire of 10,000 burning suns, and quickly corrected any such attempt (in an irritated way, too). She also wouldn’t let anyone she knew go around with a shortened name or nickname. I mean, she wouldn’t stop them, but she would refuse to call them by anything other than their first full name, claiming that it suited them better. Of course, since she said that for everyone, she clearly just liked full names better–kind of cool, I think, since it means that she perceives everyone close to her as too dignified to suffer an ounce of infantilization.
Surely you mean “you would come across as something of a Richard.”
IIUC, English in particular is remarkable for nudging people toward safe middle-of-the-road names for things (and, it seems, people). For example, if a terrier runs by, you’re more likely to say “Look at that dog!” than “Look at that animal!” or “Look at that Jack Russell terrier!” And you’re more likely to refer to a Chevy as “a car” rather than “a Camaro” or “a vehicle”, unless its ownership to one of those two groups is particularly relevant.
Ha! That got me wondering what rappers or people in street gangs do when they get middle aged.
*“Now, mr, BigT Smith, could you please sign your name on the dotted line here?” *
I have a friend that’s been called ‘Chip’ all of his life and the older he gets, the weirder it is for me to call him that.