Nicknames

We call Orion by many different names. We call him baby boy, fussy pants, ginger snap, monkey, and doodle bug. When he is nursing, I call him my piglet. When he is crawling, I call him komodo dragon but sometimes it comes out like kimono dragon which is a funny image.

When naming a child, you have to take possible nicknames into consideration. As his full name is Orion James McConnell, we hope people don't call him OJ or Jim. I am cool with James but opposed to Jim because I do not see any reason to shorten an already one syllable word. People often think his name is Ryan or O'Ryan and this will be a life long struggle which I did not anticipate.

Growing up named Charlotte Media Hirst, I hated my name. It was weird followed by weirder. At least Orion is a weird name followed by a normal name. Media was my grandmother's first name and we sadly do not know its origin. It wasn't until I was in high school that I became proud of my name. When I was in elementary school I was obsessed with normal names like Jenny and Jessica.

I have had a few nicknames, most of which were for family use only. I was Char-la-la, La La Orange, Charlie Bum, and Messy Marvina. This last one was because I always got ketchup on my sleeve and made a general mess of myself when eating and still do. When my brother was home for my wedding in 2005 he called me Char Char Binks. I never liked being called Char and did not realize until I was old enough to vote that I could have been called Lotte.

I prefer to be called Charlotte. I call my husband Patrick and refer to him as Pat on occasion but only in writing. I hope Orion likes his name and nicknames. Do you have any good nicknames?