Baby Name Help!! - Roseville,CA

K.,

Why do you have to have a formal name? Andie as a first name is beautiful. Andie Lynn is a very nice combo. I would go with whatever you both feel fits-regardless if its a nickname or not. Good luck and congratulations on the new one coming~~~

Molly

Since Andie is the name you both like, go for it. I have a friend with 3 children and she always names them with a nickname already picked out.
Her daughter is Alexis, but they call her Lexi
Her son is Jared Townsend, but they call him J.T.
And her other son is Ridgeway, but they call him Ridge.
They pick out the nickname at the same time as the name and just tell people when they ask "Her name is Alexis, but we call her Lexi." It works well. I think you should absolutely name her Miranda Lynn and call her Andie. Its a great name and if she wants to be Miranda when she's an adult she can. If you want her to be called Andie, then introduce her as such.

man, picking names is the worst! We ended up naming our kid Elspeth and nicknaming her Beanie. Lordy, do we have a heck of a time explaining ourselves...

To make it worse, now she calls herself "Meanie." Like Me and Beanie.

I say, go with whatever you want for the nickname, but make sure the first name is something you both really like (or that will look awesome on a diploma or a resume.)

Congratulations!!!

Dear K.,
I'm an old stick-in-the mud when it comes to children's names!! I think you should find a name that will withstand the test of time, and not be one that will be "dated" in a few years. Also, can you really think of someone named Sadie who you would take seriously? As a judge, a doctor, an accountant?? Miranda is fine, and I don't see why her nickname couldn't be "Andie". I personally think Ryleigh and Cassandra are too trendy. My rule of thumb is: when your child travels overseas, will they have to constantly explain their name? So many of these trendy American names are just so odd. With so many beautiful girl names to choose from, why not pick one that will withstand the test of time, like Catherine,Elizabeth,Sarah,Diana,Anne,Julia,Caroline,Camille, or, if you're Irish, Megan, Maureen, Erin,Colleen,Fiona, etc.
Good luck, and remember to think of your daughter's future when you pick a name! Remember how classic yours is!
Sincerely,
S. A.

Sounds like your hubby wanted another boy based on the names he likes. How about Mira as a nick name for Miranda ?

I think you should give her a full name, and then call her whatever you like. Someday she will decide to become a brain surgeon or the CEO of a Wall Street bank, and she will not want to have to put a "cute" name on her business cards. What can seem adorable on a child can be difficult to pull off for a 45 year old! I'd die if my parents had named me Catie and I had to introduce myself as that to all the construction workers I manage at work; I think I grew out of my nickname at about 12 years old. At least with Catherine, I know people can't tell my age or anything about my personality just by seeing my name.

So... my vote is for Miranda or Cassandra, and you can call her Andie. (I actually have a friend named Adrienne who calls herself Andi.)

What's wrong with Andrea as the formal name - it's one of my favorite names, especially if you pronounce it the European way, like the boys name Andre with an A on the end. It is a very timeless, global, beautiful name. Then calling her Andie would be a natural.

K.,

i am on the other end of what some of moms said. i like different names. who wants to be 1 of 3 people with the same name in a class.

i think andie is super cute as a nickname for miranda. and as far as sadie goes, i love that name too. there are 2 sadie's in a playgroup i am a part of, sadie bea and sadie mae. i think nicknames do form but if you choose to call her andie, that will be her name, miranda will probably not be used. i like the idea of giving her the name miranda and calling her andie. i don't think "stuffy" at all. my name is E. and a lot of people call me liz and a lot of people call me lizard and a lot of people call me E....no beth here. apparently E. has over 22 nicknames!
good luck!

LOL... say it isn't so! You're hormonal right now? Just teasing. Please don't cry! :P

I have run into a few children in my teaching career that have used nicknames as their first name. I, as a teacher, always tried to call them by what I assumed was their first name... it can be confusing for teachers.

Picking our son's name was challenging for me and his father because even though I'm the "white" parent of the couple and he's the "black" parent, we were conflicting in our name selection. I wanted DeShawn and he wanted Matthew. What the heck? So I know how you feel.

I've been trying to think of other names that might work for you to shorten to Andie. This is what I came up with...
1. Andolyn or Andalyn
2. Andralyn
3. Andeana
HOWEVER! The down side of trying to use any of these names or "Andie" is that they ALL mean "manly." She will be teased because at some point the kids will either figure out that more boys get called Andie than girls and somewhere down the line she will be asked what her name means. :( That could be rough.
I like Sadie better than Andie. I have never run across a little boy named Sadie. Sadie means Princess, which my guess you will consider her that at some point! ;)
If you want a different spelling you could try Sade, which means honor brings a crown or Saidi which means fortunate or auspicious.
I have only known two Mirandas in my life and BOTH of them were stuck up lil snots! So I'm putting a no vote in for that name... not that my opinion matters...LOL

Name her what you want, not matter whether it is a "nick" name or not. Believe me, we tried naming our daughter with all possible nicknames in mind. We chose a name that had very few 'nicks' and we thought we could live with those few. Low and behold people have shortened her name into things we never dreamed, nor heard of! If both you and your husband like Andie, choose it. I personally think Andie Lynn is beautiful.

When we were becoming parents for the first time, someone gave me some advice that I've always thought about when naming my kids. I was told to avoid names that end in ie or y as their given names since as they get older the name sounds very young or babyish. Nicknames ending in those are fine since they can fall back on their given name when it matters. Think about it if your daughter becomes a high corporate official, powerful attorney or doctor with a young or childish name. She may not be taken as seriously. People are going to be more impressed with a professional sounding name and take her more serious.

L.

I love the name Miranda and you can absolutely call her Andie. My daughter is Isabel Cosette, but her brother and dad call her Belly. It started when I was pregnant and she was "the belly". She is four and loves that she has a special nick name. Just understand that there will be people that insist on calling her by her given name. Sometimes my daughter will introduce herself as Belly and sometimes as Isabel. As your daughter gets older she may decide that she likes one name better. As long as you'll be happy with her deciding she's more of a Miranda than an Andie or vice versa, then go for it.

K.

congrats on your baby, Well lets see my name is A.
an I really dont like it but when i was younger they use to call me Andy and know that im older they call me DREW and i love it. I think the name you like you should call her I like Miranda I think that name is beautiful and just call her Andie i dont think she would mind. Good Luck

DREW

Just go with the name that feels right. Nickname, not nickname, it doesn't really matter. What matters most is you and your husband feel good about it.
O.K., this might sound New Agey (because I am) but try letting it go for a while and just ask to be shown or guided to the right name. It will show up.
Another less New Agey method is try out saying the names aloud with the rest of her name to see how it sounds and pick the one that sounds best to you and your hubby.
Besides, she might change her name totally when she gets older and you will have fretted for nothing! LOL!!

Don't worry, in 5 weeks time the name will be much less important than just holding her in your arms. Good luck!

K.,
If you both can agree on Andie, go with it! Miranda is a beautiful name, and I think that you can use whatever nickname you want with any name you want because she will be used to whatever you call her. Not all nicknames are shortened versions of the full name-look at Richard/Dick, and my grandma is Margaret/Peg. I personally like names that are unique, but not weird (please don't call her Apple), being that I was one of 8 S.'s at my high school.My daughter's name is Ainsley for exactly that reason. As far as how people will look at her professionally, they will judge based on her reputation and and actions, not her name.Also, those "timeless" names got to be that way because enough people liked them to copy relatives and friends just like we do now. So don't worry too much about what is "supposed" to be-who is anyone else to tell you what you should or should not do with something as uniquely individual as a name?

Hello K.
I mostly agree with Stephanie A.; however, my name is C. and I named my daughter Elizabeth (two of the names on her list). With that being said, nick names are a funny thing. I'm not a huge fan of naming a kid a nick name (Luke rather then Lucas, etc.) Also, we planned to call our daughter Elle (a lot of people said that Elle wasn't short for Elizabeth) but now she's 10 months old and my husband and I still call her Elizabeth (she looks like an Elizabeth to us), my mom and most of my family call her Lizzy or Lizzy Lu Lu and my brother calls her Lizzy J. Nick names just form. I don't think you can actually pick a true nick name. Once again, my name is C., but I've always been called Kiff. I wouldn't give back that name for anything.
Best of luck! Let us know what you decide on!
C.

You can call your kid anything you want! And make up any kind of nickname you want. Go for it.