Irish nicknames

silliussoddius

Bloody Roman names.

stopthevoting

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118119378#Comment_118119378

"...Paudie. But apparently that isn't common. ..."

That shouldn't matter. If it's what you like, use it.

But why do you say it's not common? If you are going by the CSO database of Baby Names, then a short version of a name (Paudie, Pat, Bob, Tony, Tom etc) is always going to appear less common in that list than the full version (Patrick, Robert, Anthony, Thomas) even though the short versions could be very common in actual usage. Eg, most people called Tony are probably registered as Anthony on their birth certs.

Ireland75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118119915#Comment_118119915

I haven't really come across any Patricks that go by Paudie's nowadays. I think it was used years ago but not used much now. I think the consensus that I'm getting is that I might get a few raised eyebrows nowadays if I went by Paudie short for Patrick.

stopthevoting

I know some Paudies, but you are right it is probably not very common. But nowadays people are very used to hearing various foreign and unusual names and I don't think there would be any raised eyebrows. I know some people with very individual or unique names. They are they only people I ever heard of with those names, but for me it's just their name. It makes no difference to most people how common someone else's name is. The only issue is possible difficulty with pronunciation or spelling, but if parents ruled out picking baby names for those reasons they would be left with a very limited list of names.

But after considering your options, if you have changed your mind and want to use Pádraig then that would be fine also.

As other posters have mentioned, it can be difficult to get people to use your preferred name. For example, many people seem to address people by names such as Paddy or Mick or Tom even if they would prefer to be addressed as Patrick, Michael or Thomas. Sometimes they follow what they hear other people saying, but sometimes they do this for new people they are meeting for the first time, and when they are told the full version of the name just assume that it's ok to use the short version.

And there are very many people in Ireland who are called by one name at school, at work, in the pub, in the street, but then are called by their original name when they go home to Mammy, or go to visit Granny.

Ireland75

Yeah, I get a lot of Paddy and Pats all the time. That's kind of the reason I was thinking of going by Padraig as I wouldn't mind being called Paudie or Padraig as much. I think I might just stick with Patrick for the moment and in a year or two might switch to Padraig more if I feel the same. I'm still only in my mid 20s so think I have a while to think about it

Larbre34

Plenty of Páidís in Gaeltacht areas, very common.

boardlady

Yes, as above. I live in rural Ireland and I know lots of Paudies. Some are young kids christened 'Paudie' and not a longer version.

Hotblack Desiato

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118111514#Comment_118111514

Some Irish language enthusiasts delight in annoying other people simply because they can. Combine that with the power trip of being a teacher and you get this.

dxhound2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118122159#Comment_118122159

Probably not many registered as Paudie, unless there is an exceptional concentration local to you. In the 11 years 2010 to 2020 inclusive a total of 92 Paudies were registered in the whole country. The top years were 2017 and 2020 with 13 each. 2010, 2011 and 2016 just 4 each.

It seems to have been a revival in recent years, because fewer than 3 (which I think is CSO language for zero) were registered in each of the 11 years before 2010. And probably further back but I did not look.

New Home

I know more than one person who's called three versions of their actual name, depending on who's calling them, e.g I know someone who's called Elizabeth only by her mother, Liz at work and Betty by her husband. It's funny because nobody in each group would ever call her by the other names, it'd feel odd, so nobody at work would ever call her Betty. Ditto for John/Sean/Jack. Lots of Deborahs go by Debbie, etc.

Ireland75

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118127528#Comment_118127528

I think I'm just going to end up going by Pàdraig mostly from now on. If anyone asks I'll just say I prefer it more.

dxhound2005

Debbie as a given name had a bit of popularity in the 1970's, but only 3 were registered in 2020. Liz and Betty are new in recent years, but very few registrations. These are parents choosing to register the name Debbie, not Deborah, and Liz and Betty, not Elizabeth.

https://www.cso.ie/en/interactivezone/visualisationtools/babynamesofireland/

New Home

I'm sure there are lots of Tim, Tom, Jim and Shay around, too, and those would be their actual names.

Esel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118127798#Comment_118127798

Get the fada right there, Pádraig.