Is JACK an acceptable nn for JONATHAN?

[freelyn]

I know three Jonathans... One called Jon, one JD, and the other Jack! It's perfectly acceptable.

Thanks Greyer

[jeska]

I think it's acceptable, as in, it's done, but I always find it a bit silly. I'd wonder why you didn't just call him Jack. Jon is a much more intuitive nickname for Jonathan, IMO.

[mammamia]

definitely works! love jack

[nat108]

It's a bit of a stretch, Jonathan is not a variation of John

[essjay]

I don't see a problem at all. John nn Jack is an established fact, and Jonathan is just a longer form of John, so I think it would be fine.

[samjaymc]

Certainly! Jack is a very exceptable nickname for Jonathan.

[stripedsocks]

Jonathan is just a longer form of John, so I think it would be fine.

It's not, though, they're totally different names?

Jon makes a lot more sense as a NN, given there's no history at all of Jack for Jonathan, only for John.

The other thing is, of course, there's more Jacks right now than Jons, so a Jon would be more distinctive.

[saracita00]

Jack is a traditional nn for John, but John and Jonathan come from different roots and are not actually related. Thus Jack = nn for John does not also mean Jack = nn for Jonathan.

However, I still think it's fine if you want to name him Jonathan and call him Jack. I get it. There's a traditional part of me that would rather see a John nn Jack, and on the other hand there's a part of me that says, "Why not?"

[essjay]

Oh, well all the Jonathans I know go by Jon/John, and Jack's a nn for John, so to me it's like nicknaming a nickname, if that makes sense. Even if they're of different origins I still think it can work, it's not the most common route to go down but it makes it more distinctive. I think Jonathan's much nicer than Jackson, which is the other common route to get Jack (other than John).

[goodhope]

The hardnosed namenerd in me wants to say no, since Jack is a nn for John, and Jonathan is etymologically closer to Nathan than John, but I know that's just splitting hairs. With that prominent "John" sound in Jonathan, and given that Jon and Jonny/Johnny are probably its most common nicknames, there's no real reason why Jack can't work. I say go for it.