Catherine: Nickname-Rich Name of the Week (June 28)

Another English classic that's been popular in her various forms throughout the ages, this week's name is Catherine (along with Katherine and other related names, although I personally like the C-spelling better). In the present era Cathy/Kathy is most likely to be seen on a middle-aged woman and Katie on someone of her child's generation. My personal favorite nickname is Kate, with Kitty being a quirkier one that I also like. Can you think of any other nickname possibilities that you like, and what do you think of Catherine by herself?

There will be no name in this series next week as I'm taking off for (U.S.) Independence Day, but I'll be back the week after that (on July 12).

ETA: Tomorrow (June 29) marks the 3rd anniversary of my blog!

Alexander: Nickname-Rich Name of the Week (June 21)

He's another classic name that's familiar to most Americans: Alexander. A reliable if a bit ordinary choice for a boy, there are also several nickname options. Of course there's Alex, but if you want to be a bit more creative there's Alec, Xander, Zander, and the like. If androgyny is not a problem for you there's the Russian Sasha, as well as Aly (which Abby at Appellation Mountain calls her son) and its homophones. Do you like any of these nicknames, or any other ideas I haven't mentioned? What are your general thoughts on Alexander?

Patricia: Nickname-Rich Name of the Week (June 14)

This week's name is one that may sound a bit dated since it was quite popular during the Baby Boomer years and over time had enough bearers to be the second most popular name for females of all ages on the 1990 U.S. Census, but could blend in with today's Irish and Latinate names and be wearable on a modern girl: Patricia. Many Boomers with this name go by one of the Pat- nicknames (Pat itself, Patsy, Patty, etc.) while Tricia/Trisha/etc. are more popular with the younger Patricias. Once again this is a name that I think I'd be more inclined to simply use in full (and in my opinion doesn't sound as dated that way). What do you think of Patricia, and if you were to shorten her what would you use?

Sebastian: Nickname-Rich Name of the Week (June 7)

As the first boy's name I'm covering in this series, I'll be starting off with a name that is fairly rare among adult Americans but is a hot choice for modern children: Sebastian. Since this name is far less ubiquitous in the general population than last week's name, this name is often nicknamed for purposes of making the name shorter and easier to handle rather than as a distinguishing aid (indeed some people dismiss using him because Sebastian is "too long" or "pretentious"). Personally except as a casual shortening I'd try to stick with the full name, but if you were to shorten Sebastian how would you do it? Seb, Bastian, or something else? What do you think of the name in general?