Naming conventions.

I'm somewhat obsessed with names and naming conventions. Nicknames are a subject that I'm especially opinionated about.

My wife and I are very fond of nicknames. We named our son Robert but we call him Bobby or Bob. We named our daughter Mary and call her Mare some of the time. I think parents who insist that their kids be called by the formal version of the name might as well insist that their child should be called Mr. Smith or Ms. Jones. To me, it sounds silly to address a kid--especially one under the age of twelve--as Robert instead of Bobby or Joseph instead of Joe. My brother was always Steve, even though his full name is Steven, my sister was always Katie even though that's short for Kathryn. In my location, it is extremely popular to use the formal version of a given name rather than a nickname. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of my son's classmates goes by Jimmy instead of James! That's the way it should be. No? Well, perhaps not, but my preference is the nickname.