Names

What is your name? Thomas Allen? Do you go by that name or do you have a nickname? Tommy maybe or Tom or T.A. or Allen or Al. So many choices. Maybe not even similar to your real name, but something like "Slugger" or "Big Al." Sometimes our parents, the very people to give us our full name, give us nicknames. Sometimes our peers or teachers at school or church, things we're interested in, that's how we get nicknames.
My full name is Catherine Mae, but I was rarely called that. Mostly Cathy. In school I was also called "Oreo" because I liked oreo cookies. My husband calls me Caffie. A former friend called me Kate. My sister and I used to call each other by our (maiden) last names and I still do on occasion.
Does it matter? Should nicknames not be used?
We have a bunny. He has many names. His full name is BeeJay, he was named after his parents, Brendan and Jewell. But he has other names that we call him, all in love and with much affection. Names like Beeber, Hot Rod Harry, Elephant Eddie, Sweet Pea, Sweetie Pie. Silly names, he doesn't look like an elephant or a hot rod. He's just a little bundle of fluff.
Even in the Bible people who were named one thing at birth had different names by the time they died. Jacob became Israel.
Names mean many things, sometimes nicknames can be cruel and remind us of bad times. But I think for the most part, nicknames are fun.