What is Chris Brown's best friend name?

Question on first name

• I have seen first names where the official name and nickname are different. such as: william and bill, christopher and chris, etc. Is it usually the case for someone with a first name bill or chris to have official name of william or christopher? is it uncommon to have bill or chris both as the nick name and the official name? I am asking because a friend is thinking of naming his son either bill or chris, but does not want to have the nick name and official name different. thanks

• Answer:

  Hello. "Is it usually the case for someone with a first name bill or chris to have official name of william or christopher?" Yes, that is usually the case. "Is it uncommon to have bill or chris both as the nick name and the official name?" Relatively speaking, yes. For the 1990s, for example, U.S. Social Security registrations indicate that 9587 boys received the official name "William" while only 58 boys received the official name "Bill" (i.e., a ratio of 165 to 1). 16421 boys were named "Christopher" while just 220 were officially "Chris." (i.e., a ratio of 75 to 1). See: Social Security Administration: Most Popular Names http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/1999/top1000of90s.html WILLIAM - 9587 BILLY - 514 WILLIE - 496 WILL - 125 BILL - 58 CHRISTOPHER - 16421 CHRIS - 220 source: Social Security Administration: Most Popular Names - 1990s http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/1999/top1000of90s.html Interestingly, it seems that receiving the nickname as the official name seems to be much LESS common today than it was 40 years ago. In the 1950s, there were lot more boys officially named "Bill" and "Chris" than there are now. WILLIAM - 30141 BILL - 1245 (i.e., a ratio of 24 to 1). CHRISTOPHER - 4032 CHRIS - 1327 (i.e., a ratio of 3 to 1). source: Social Security Administration: Most Popular Names - 1950s http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/1999/top1000of50s.html ---------- search strategy: common names "social security" I hope this helps.