Baby Name Poll Results

I would think it's a mouthful if I met someone with a six syllable first name. I do think a nickname would most definitely be inevitable. People shorten just two syllable names all the time. Are you open to sharing the choice you're thinking of?

Well, the girl from Clifford is Emily-Elizabeth and no one calls her just Emily. The more you hear it, the more you just internalize the name as a whole and say it automatically. That being said, someone named Evangeline-Helene might choose to go by Evi or something. Most kids want nicknames.

I think 6 syllables is ideal. Anything shorter feels insubstantial, ephemeral, unreal.

The example of Emily-Elizabeth not being called Emily is so funny to me because Emily-Elizabeth is a character on a scripted tv show and not a person experiencing real life.

Poster - you really can't enforce a no-nicknames rule beyond toddlerhood. Your kid will go to school with friends and kids always have nicknames. The only way to make that less likely is to keep the name a reasonable length. Your kid may not want a nickname, but they also very well might, and that's not something you can really control.

In my limited experience with 6-syllable names, I've found the people with those names use nicknames. For example, Oluwafisayo was just called Fisayo. The one boy I knew with a double-barrel first name (5 syllables) went by JJ.

And in the reality of parenthood, do you really want to be repeating a 6-syllable name everytime you call them to dinner, to do their laundry, etc.?

I think if you use a really long name, you should have a possible nickname in mind that you like, or at least wouldn't mind others calling your child. My inlaws are nickname people. Everyone is called something that is only one or two syllables, even if their name is only 3 syllables. Some people are just like that. We settled on a nickname they can call my daughter that I don't mind, even though my husband and I NEVER call her that, but only by her actual name (3 syllables).

So sure, you can use a long name you love. Just don't expect everyone else to call him that all the time.

I know if I had a long name , I would like a nickname . Kids like nicknames

Depends on the name and how smooth/easy it is too say. Seems like a lot though.

I enjoy a name that demands its moment. I don't think 6 syllables is too much. What I do think is that if you give your child a name that demands a moment, that name better have a personality, at least be borderline epic; the name itself needs to tell a story. Be bold.

As for the no nickname rule, Good luck with that.

Depends on the name, I think. Some are more prone to nicknames.