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A baby expert has urged parents-to-be to avoid abbreviated “nicknames” for their children.
Jessica Paquette, 22, believes that having a nickname as a first name makes people seem less professional at work and strangers subconsciously respect them less.
She shared a TikTok explaining why popular names like Jake—instead of Jacob—Jessie—instead of Jessica—and Millie—instead of Amelia—are a terrible move by new parents.
“This is kind of strange that you don’t know yet and you make decisions about how society perceives them,” Paquette, of Nashville, Tennessee, said in the clip.
“The first impression is very real, whether we like it or not, and it is desirable, in my opinion, to give them the option of sounding as formal as they like.”
Jessica Paquette, 22, shared a TikTok explaining why names like Jake and Millie are a terrible move from new parents. “We call adults, not kids,” the Nashville, Tennessee-based social media executive said in the clip
She gave the example of choosing the nickname Millie over Amelia.
Note that Amelia sounds more formal when said during wedding vows and is more pleasant to look at on a resume than when compared to Millie.
“I don’t necessarily think every parent should do it, but I think it’s important to at least think about it,” Paquette said in a video.
“I would hate to give my baby a name that could hinder any path they want to take.
“We have to think about their whole lives and how a name affects them.
“Maybe the nickname you love doesn’t feel right to them and they might have more options with a full name.
Paquette has always been interested in names and created a TikTok account for naming. From her own experience, Paquette believes that if her shortened nickname “Jessie” had been used at work, it would have made her feel “smaller.”
The expert said people are moving towards seeing their children have their own personalities and having an option of both names gives them more autonomy as a person
“I think it has a better scope for naming children.”
Paquette has always been interested in names and created a TikTok account for naming.
From her own experience, Paquette believes that if her shortened nickname “Jessie” had been used at work, it would have made her feel “smaller.”
She previously worked in Silicon Valley and noted that being a woman in space was enough in itself.
“I’ve gotten so many underhanded things just because I was a young woman in the industry, and if I had used a nickname, I think it could have reinforced that,” Paquette said.
“I think that would have made me feel smaller. I really appreciated having a longer name for my boss to refer to.”
And then there’s the fact that when people hear a shortened name, they assume the person is just using the nickname.
Paquette gave the example of her own husband, Jake – and it’s not Jacob.
“You’d think people wouldn’t be asking so much in 2023, but I’m naming my kid now, and people say his middle name should be Jacob, like his dad, but that’s not even his dad’s name — it’s Jake,’ she said.
She also said potential employees might assume he put his nickname on a resume instead of Jacob.
“He says to me, ‘part of me wants to write Jacob on my resume’ — so people don’t ask what his full name is,” Paquette said.
As an expert on baby names, Paquette is always asked for the full names of nicknames like Tilly and Connie so as not to burden their child with a “silly name” when they grow up.
“I think people are moving more and more towards seeing their children have their own personalities and being able to have a choice of both names, giving them more autonomy as a person,” she said.
Paquette and Jake are expecting their first child and they have no intention of naming her baby a name that doesn’t have a nickname because “not every name needs a nickname.”
“Think of your child in every possible major life scenario. If it ever doesn’t sound right, think about it,” she said.
‘My main goal, in any case, is to get people to think about it for a while.’