Polish names without a nickname (or less frequently shortened)

Hello, here is my problem. Next year my first child will be born, and we're looking for some candidate names for him or her.

Fact is that as a foreigner I do not like the habit Polish people have to use nicknames instead of full names.
For example Katarzyna is always called Kasia, Agnieszka is always called Aga, Jakób / Kuba, Maria / Marysia, and so on for nearly every name. If I choose a name that I like for my child, I'd like that name to be used as I chose it.

Are there names which do not have a nickname, or at least that nickname is not universally used replacing the original name?
Thanks

In short, no: Poles will transform pretty much any name. I remember a candidate for the post of Mrs Harry who insisted on calling me Harrujek; needless to say, she didn't get the position.

You're not going to change that. It's too deeply embedded in the language and culture. Even if you succeed then all you've done is make your child a social misfit. Better choose a name the shortened form of which you can stand. And even then your kid might prefer a different nickname (especially if you make it clear you don't like it).


Just be glad she didn't drop the -arr-.....

I suppose one way might be to simply choose a name which is already the shortened form, e.g. give the kid the legal name "Kuba" (instead of "Jakub") or "Asia" (instead of "Joanna").

You can rest assured that people will find (or invent if necessary) a diminutive for just about any Polish name, and even foreign name, if they wanted. It is not intended to offend and it is not disrespectful. It is a part of the culture, and it is entirely normal in Poland.

However, here are some names that are somewhat less frequently used in diminutive form (per my personal experience).

Female:
Ewa
Kinga (sometimes "shortened" to Kinia)
Bianka/Blanka

Male:
Paweł
Konrad
£ukasz

That's stupid, if you don't like nicknames why didn't you use you're real name on this forum?

I've had a nickname since I was about 7 and only my parents call me by my 'real' name.
People will shorten names anyway, no matter what country you're in and then nicknames are attained thru deeds achieved or failed.
Nicknames are great, formal names are boring.

Thanks @Polsyr , that's exactly what I was looking for: names that don't have a persasive use of the corresponding nicknames. If anyone could extend this list it would be greatly appreciated.

Please people refrain from commenting that even those names DO have nicknames, like Ewcia for Ewa and so on, I'm aware of that, I'm just looking for names that are less frequently shortened (in that the thread's Subject might be a misleading, sorry for that).

What about Robert? Or one of those names that you shorten by just adding -ek to the end, like Piotr.

For a girl, Beata is a nice name, and isn't I think often shortened.

Ewa - Ewka; Ewjunu.

yes Robert is not typically modified

you mean Ewunia, there's also Ewusia but not as common.

No, I have a friend who is often called Ewjuniu (not sure how you'd spell it). Might be a Podlasie thing.

Ewuniu - not 'Ewjuniu' - and it comes from Ewunia.

Try Kazimiera

Or Hermenegilda.

£ukaszek


Kazia

Angelika, Andrzej, Dominika, Halina?

My favorite name ever Świętopełk?

(the czech version is also pretty cool - Svatopluk

Yes, you're right. I didn't think of that one :D.


My wife's name is Angelika and I have NEVER heard anyone calling her Angelika. Andzia and Angela ( Andzela ) are the versions everybody uses.
Rafal. I think doesn't get shorter.

I have a friend named Angelika, I've never heard it shortened! Which was why I suggested that one! Oh well, I tried.

And Dawid? The only diminutive form I know in this case is created by the usual 'ek' ending - Dawidek.
Of course it's the Polish equivalent of the David first name.

In linguistics those pet names are known as hypocoristic versions of first names. What I don't understand is whence your aversion to them. If you will be in Poland or elsewhere in a Polish-speaking setting (eg Polish London) people will create such pet names by force of habit. These are terms of endearment and familiarity not meant to belittle or insult.

Even Świętopełk would probably get modified to Świętuś, Świętunio or something similar.

First of all thanks for the bit of information about hypocorism, I didn't know that. In my language (Italian) we do have the same, like Salvatore -> Totò, Giuseppe -> Beppe for example as well as a "universal" hyporistic prefix "-ino" to most italian words to indicate them as small and pretty, like the "-ek" suffix in Polish.

What I do not like so much is when the nickname replaces the real name in everyday life and the full name remains only in documents or when your parents are REALLY upset with you. Why should I choose a name I like, when another one will be used instead?

Anyway, let me thank all the contributors to this thread, you came up with lovely ideas and beautiful names, I'll add them to my list of candidate names!

What's the hypocoristic version of Giovanni? Is it Giani?
Do you dislike pet forms in your own Italian mother tongue?

Not really. It's not a term that's really used in mainstream linguistics in English in my experience. The term 'diminutive' is about 368 times more common (approximately).

Statistics notwithstanding, the term diminutive is not restricted to names. It can be used with any noun as in kitty, doggy, superette (small supermarket), etc.

FYI, Polish is one of ther few languages that has an augmentative form. As oposed to the diminutive which makes thigns sound smaller, cuter, daintier than the original, the augmentative makes things sound bigger, older, coarser or possibly more threatening.

Pies (dog), piesek (cute little doggy), psisko (big, old, clumsy cur).

Does it happen in the Polonia communities in the US, Polonius?


Poor child. What will you do when Polish kids instinctively come up with some random diminutive?


Dominiś is used by kids in work.

It seems to me that they'll make diminutives out of everything. We've got several kids in work from mixed families, and they all have diminutive names regardless of what the name is.

I don't think that Szymon has any diminutive...

Same goes for Rafał and I'm sure there are a lot more ...

No, but usually in linguistics we don't distinguish diminutives on the basis of whether they're names or not (most of the time, there will be exceptions of course).

The augmentative -sko is interesting because it changes the grammatical gender of the noun it's applied to (which most diminutives in Polish don't). Also, originally I think -ch- was an agumentative though it functions more like a diminutive in the modern language (though it suggests a rough and ready attitude rather than a tender one). Students used to be very fond of it and I was always hearing them say things like mięcho (mięso) kapucha (kapusta) pieniąche (pieniądze) and the like.

Maybe in general linguistics but in onomastics (name research) the term hypocoristic is extremely handy.
BTW it should be pieniąchy. Those ch forms are definitely perceived as augmentatives because they suggest an element of coarseness, disrespect and/pr excessive familiarity. At leasts that's my take on it.