A.P. asks from Plainfield, IL on March 27, 2011
Baby Girl Name - Plainfield,IL
Hubby and I are having a hard time finding a baby girl name that we like. We pretty much have it narrowed down but I just need some opinions outside my family.
Hubby likes Cara June
I like Caroline June. We could always call her Cara for a nickname right? My mom says no, if we did we would have to spell it Caraline but I think that looks a little silly. Obviously I like traditional names.
My reason is that our son is Andrew and we call him Drew so I think Caroline would fit his name nicely. These are my kids Andrew and Caroline. And when I'm calling them at the park it would be Hey Drew and Cara get over here.
What are your thoughts? It's okay to be honest ;) I've still got 10 weeks to find just the right name.
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So What Happened?™
Thanks everyone for the input.
I am not trying to choose a name based on a nickname, but I really like Caroline and hubby is not sold on it. I am thinking I can talk my hubby into since he could still call his daughter Cara if he wanted to and that is a name that is on his like list.
As several have stated I like the idea of my kid having an option. On the sports field a shorter nickname seems to work better but in the corporate office a more formal name can be used. I never had a nickname growing up and my husbands name is very short so he never had one either. I guess that's why we like the idea of names that can be shortened if the child wanted to.
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L.M. answers from Dover on March 27, 2011
I don't particularly care for either but it's not about what we like. A compromise between the the two would be Caralyn June (and you could still shorten to Cara).
If you are open to other names, I like Cheyenne Nicole and you could call her Chey ("Shy").
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L.P. answers from Dallas on March 27, 2011
Cara for Caroline is no sillier than Katie for Katherine. I think it works nicely. Go for it. Although I like the spelling Caraline too.
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N.J. answers from Los Angeles on March 27, 2011
My second son is a Nathaniel, but I very rarely call him by his full name. He's Nate or Natey! As so many have already pointed out no need to spell her name Caraline. Caroline works just fine and Cara is a fabulous nickname.
In fact, I love the nickname option. My husband was very into traditional names, simply because they sound more professional when they are older. I thought they sounded like an "old man" name when they were babies. So longer names that can be shorten are an awesome compromise for us.
For the most part the first year of both my boy's life I tried to call them by their full name, just so they would respond to it. It was easier with my first son's name, but thank goodness my Mom always calls my 2nd son by "Nathaniel" so he too responds to it. This way when you're at a park, and there are other kids with the same name you can call them by their full name or nickname...and it works when you really need their attention otherwise. Good luck, great name!
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M.S. answers from Columbus on March 27, 2011
I love nicknames. 3 out of my 4 kids have them. I think Caroline is just fine, spelled the way it is. The nickname doesn't have to come from the name. Our daughter is Alexandra, but we call her Ally - there's no Y in Alexandra. We like having a longer name, but shortening it. If they become a super CEO or something, and want a more sophisticated name, they can go with the longer version. My Ally can call herself Alexandra. Jay can go with Jonathan. It's their choice.
Conpratulations!!
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L.M. answers from Dover on March 27, 2011
I don't particularly care for either but it's not about what we like. A compromise between the the two would be Caralyn June (and you could still shorten to Cara).
If you are open to other names, I like Cheyenne Nicole and you could call her Chey ("Shy").
3 moms found this helpful
C.B. answers from Los Angeles on March 27, 2011
I like Caroline June. Cara would be a cute nickname, and you wouldn't have to spell it Caraline. It doesn't matter, because it's a nickname. If your hubby doesn't mind having Cara as a nickname instead of her "official" name, just go with that. My uncle gave both his daughters nicknames that had nothing to do with their "official" names, and they just stuck in the family. Go with what you and your husband decide is right, and your mother and any other family members will get used to your decision. :-)
Congratulations!
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C.W. answers from Allentown on March 27, 2011
As a C., I'm often asked if that's short for Caroline. In my case, no, it's not, but it used to be a quite common nickname for Caroline, and nobody ever spelled it Carrieline as far as I know, so you could point that out to your mom! ;-)
And I have a Sebastian whom we call Baz. I never saw any reason to change the spelling of his legal name (which he's introduced by) to fit the nickname!
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L.P. answers from Dallas on March 27, 2011
Cara for Caroline is no sillier than Katie for Katherine. I think it works nicely. Go for it. Although I like the spelling Caraline too.
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J.M. answers from Boston on March 27, 2011
I like both names, although I do like the option of giving the longer name and using the shorter name. I like nicknames (being a person who doesn't have one, I always felt a little left out of that club).
My son is Jackson, but we call him Jax. I didn't see any reason that the two spellings had to match up. After all, Bob is short for Robert. You don't meet a lot of Boberts, do you? : )
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R.. answers from Chattanooga on March 27, 2011
My brother's name is Nicholas... but we don't call him Nich. It's Nick... My cousin Jaiden goes by Jay sometimes. MY nickname is R. (I actually answer to it. lol), no where even close to Christina! lol. My DD is Alina, sometimes we call her Ally, along with my niece Addison, aka Addy. No, names don't have to match. lol.
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S.W. answers from Minneapolis on March 27, 2011
I like your plan! You can call your kids whatever nickname you choose, no matter the original spelling of their name. (How is S. short for Susan?? for example).
We had a neighbor girl named Caroline, and while I thought it was pretty, it seemed like a lot of syllables sometimes, so Cara would be easier.
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