This is such a funny thread. Another great topic from Karin!..
Back to the nickname thing we Americans have a liking for..I've noticed that in my son's Kindergarten class there are names such as..Nathaniel, Alexandra, Jeffrey, Andrew, Victoria...and none of them go by nicknames at all. Can you imagine the signatures on their art projects? Just spelling their names take up the whole picture.
I think the "spell" might be broken by this generation.