Dad refuses to call his 16-year-old daughter Anastasia by the nickname 'Ana,' freaks out when she calls him 'George': 'My dad will call me Anastasia intentionally to make me upset.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jul 7, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

We live in a world of nicknames. When I was a kid, I was told that I might want to go back to going by Emily instead of Emmy for professional reasons. I don't care how juvenile Emmy might sound…I'm not going by Emily anytime soon. We live in a much more casual world than we did 25 years ago. People will wear cutoff t-shirts to the office, and nobody will think twice about it (by people, I mean me). It's more socially acceptable to swear in the workplace now. Nobody will think twice about a nickname in the hiring process, especially if you have an utterly normal nickname like Ana or Millie. 

The kinds of people who refuse to use a nickname for someone are either a teenager who is highly amused that Alexandra is trying to get people to call her "Allie" after having gone by "Alexandra" for her whole life, or a parent who can't accept that the name they spent months contemplating has been "ruined." Both of them are insufferable. 

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  • The dad in this story is the latter. He wants his daughter to go by Anastasia instead of Ana, despite her insistence that she likes the nickname better. 

  • 01

    AITA for calling my dad by his legal name when he refuses to call me by my preferred name?

    So for context, I'm 16f and he is 46m. I have a long name, for example Anastasia, but I hate my name. I can acknowledge that it holds importance to my parents, so around relatives and guests | let them introduce me as Anastasia and the odd slip doesn't really matter that much.
    via u/Spiritual-Pickles-15
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10525054464
    via Jen Theodore

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 03
    But my dad is adamant that Anastasia is my name and I should be addressed as such even when I've made it known that I dont like it. For context, I ask them to call me Ana and I introduce myself to new people as Ana. If you call me Anastasia | might not respond simply because it doesn't register in my head. I've explained to both of
    via u/Spiritual-Pickles-15
  • 04
    my parents a thousand times why I prefer Ana. It's shorter, easier to say, and it feels more like me. When I was younger, say ages 5 to 13, I went primarily by Anastasia. However, at that time I was also extremely anxious and in a very bad mental state. (I'm a lot better now, with therapy and medication I've managed to control my anxiety). But being
    via u/Spiritual-Pickles-15
  • 05
    Cheezburger Image 10525063680
    via Kateryna Hliznitsova (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 06
    called Anastasia reminds me of that time of my life which only adds to my dislike of the name. The name brings back lots of old feelings and it just doesn't fit me anymore and hasn't for years. Sometimes, my dad will call me Anastasia intentionally to make me upset. When we're at the
    via u/Spiritual-Pickles-15
  • 07
    dinner table for example, he'll say things like "please pass the salt Anastasia" while giving me a look that makes me feel like he's trying to prove a point. The point he's trying to prove being that my legal name is Anastasia and he doesn't have to call me anything else. Every time he's done that,
    via u/Spiritual-Pickles-15
  • 08
    I've either redirected or just said "Ana, dad" while passing what he wants. Here's where i might be the j. Tonight, I was fed up. So I responded with "Sure, George" and passed him whatever he'd asked for. He flipped out. He got very upset because I was being disrespectful and I should never call him that again. I kept going
    via u/Spiritual-Pickles-15
  • 09
    Cheezburger Image 10525063936
    via engin akyurt

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 10
    and called him George (his legal name) a couple more times during that night. Additionally, he is adamant that "Anastasia isnt your de d name so i will continue to call you the name that i gave you". Now, my mom and him are saying I'm the j . So Reddit, thoughts?
    via u/Spiritual-Pickles-15
  • 11
    OhNoMyUMBRELLA Nta. You asked respectfully, he doesn't respect you. If he can dish it and ignore your request to call you Ana, he can handle being called George.
    via u/OhNoMyUMBRELLA
  • 12
    ichundmeinHolz_ Exactly... George is his given name. There is nothing wrong with calling him that. This is not disrespectful. He needs to get over himself. Your first name and what you want to be called is your business.
    via u/ichundmeinHolz_
  • 13
    OhNoMyUMBRELLA If anything, by his logic, calling him "Dad" would be more disrespectful since it isnt his actual name either. He has that classic "boomer ego"
    via u/OhNoMyUMBRELLA
  • 14
    WhimsicalHoneybadger Respectfully disagree a bit. OP should take it to the logical conclusion and start using his full legal name. Because that's his actual name. "George" is just a shortened version. "Thank you for passing the salt, George Michael Jones" OP is NTA, of course.
    via u/WhimsicalHoneybadger
  • 15
    Deepfire_DM Ask him if he wants to be visited by Ana when he gets older or gets old alone with a too distant daughter he calls Anastasia. nta
    via u/Deepfire_DM
  • 16
    NotAnEngineer287 "In 20 years, do you want your daughter Ana to visit you, or your daughter Anastasia to not visit you?"
    via u/NotAnEngineer287
  • 17
    changerofbits "Yes, Anastasia is my legal name, just like George is your legal name. My dad would respect me enough to use the name I prefer, so I'm using George instead of dad until you use the name I prefer."
    via u/changerofbits
  • 18
    ranselita "dad" is a title of somewhat respect (albeit loosely) and if he ain't earning it he doesn't get it
    via u/ranselita
  • 19
    twisted_memories I read somewhere that your name is a gift from your parents, and like any gift you can appreciate it but not like it. You aren't obligated to keep any gifts you don't want.
    via u/twisted_memories
  • 20
    roborabbit_mama NTA, odd hill for him to dig his heels into. I have a longer first name, and up until I started working more professionally, I'd always preferred the shorter version. Everyone respected that, I like my legal name in the workplace now as I use it as a barrier of sorts, like separation of work and social life. Also, the person I'm named after is still alive, and even she uses a short hand version of it.
    via u/roborabbit_mama
  • 21
    SneakySneakySquirrel NTA. It's not like they're just slipping up - they're being jerks about it.
    via u/SneakySneakySquirrel
  • 22
    Environmental_Art591 Agreed. I mean my dad is the only person who never calls me by my shortened name but I know that's how he was raised, it isn't only me he "does this" to (2 of my cousins have hyphenated names and he is the only person who uses their full name by default). BUT the big difference here is he doesn't use it to get a rise out of me like OPS dad does, and if i asked, he would try to use my preferred name, that is where OP is NTA and her dad is.
    via u/Environmental_Art591
  • 23
    Ohmaggies Nta even a tiny bit. It's your name and you decide what you want to be called. I've already told my kids that while I chose their names and I love them, I understand if they don't and want to use a different version or a different spelling or even a whole different name. Using the short version is extremely common and reasonable. You aren't asking them to remember to call you princess astra, it's not that hard.
    via u/Ohmaggies
  • 24
    AtmosphereOk7872 My kid has a double name, think Billy-Bob. They were Bobby as a child, Billy-Bob as a teen, and Billy as an adult. I had a childhood friend with a name like Anastasia who did what OP is doing, ended up like Stacy as an adult
    via u/AtmosphereOk7872
  • 25
    Kakita987 Just a tip: call him Father instead of Dad and then he can't even say it's disrespectful as you used the most respectful title you could call him.
    via u/Kakita987

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parents of teens teens family drama teenager teenage fatherhood teenagers raising teens dad family daughter nicknames children Father nickname
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