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When I was a kid, I knew lots of Kates and Katies (interestingly, no Kathys). Now most of the women I know whose names might diminuate to Katie go by Kat. I have a college friend named Catherine, who went by Catherine in college and is now more commonly Cat. It has taken some getting used to. My baby sister, also, is a Katherine who was Katherine, Kath in family circles, and now is Kat.
Today I saw a blog post involving a mother named Jenny. Again, when I was a kid, Jenny was a very common name. There were some Jennifers, but I think I met my first Jen(n) in high school. Now all the women I know named Jennifer are Jen(n)s. (And my sister went from a Jennie to a Jane, which is her actual name). I can't think of anyone I know named Jenny now.
Are there other names you can think of that seem to have undergone this generational nickname shift? I can think of some names that used to most commonly have one nickname, and now have another. For example, Roberts were Bobby in the 1950s, but more likely to be Rob in the 1980s (or maybe that was just my high school?) Williams tended to be Billy or Bill for many years, but nowadays there is no Billy in the day care, but several boys named Will. But this thing of changing one's nickname - or having it changed for one? - over the course of your life based on which nickname is more popular seem odd to me.
Today I saw a blog post involving a mother named Jenny. Again, when I was a kid, Jenny was a very common name. There were some Jennifers, but I think I met my first Jen(n) in high school. Now all the women I know named Jennifer are Jen(n)s. (And my sister went from a Jennie to a Jane, which is her actual name). I can't think of anyone I know named Jenny now.
Are there other names you can think of that seem to have undergone this generational nickname shift? I can think of some names that used to most commonly have one nickname, and now have another. For example, Roberts were Bobby in the 1950s, but more likely to be Rob in the 1980s (or maybe that was just my high school?) Williams tended to be Billy or Bill for many years, but nowadays there is no Billy in the day care, but several boys named Will. But this thing of changing one's nickname - or having it changed for one? - over the course of your life based on which nickname is more popular seem odd to me.