History Main / OutgrowingTheChildishName

* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' reveals that [[BigBad Randall Boggs]], the villain of the original movie, went by "Randy" during his time at university. He presumably dropped his name as he evolved from a dorky shy nerd to a nasty bully.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'', the shy but sympathetic Randall Boggs goes by Randy. In the original movie ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', he is no longer called that way. This somewhat shows a character development, in comparison Mike and Sully have kept their nicknames, Randall has clearly lost his innocence and sympathy for Mike.

* In the ''Literature/LittleWomen'' series of books, nicknames were needed for the twins John Brooke, Jr. and Margaret Brooke (sharing their parents' names requires the nicknames). Eventually Demi (short for Demijohn, he's half a John) and Daisy (a common nickname for Margaret) were chosen to fulfill ThemeTwinNaming requirements. Upon reaching adulthood Demi went back to John (his father being dead by this point prevents confusion), but Daisy remains Daisy.

* In ''VideoGame/Borderlands3'', Tina stopped being referred to as "Tiby Tina" as she is no longer a kid.

* In the ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird'' sequel, ''Literature/GoSetAWatchman'', Scout no longer goes by her tomboyish childhood nickname. She goes by "Jean Louise".

* By the end of the first ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' movie, Daniel "Danny" Pennington, after CharacterDevelopment: "It's just Dan now."

* By the end of the first Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles movie, Daniel "Danny" Pennington, after CharacterDevelopment: "It's just Dan now."

* Real life child stars Billy Mumy, Ricky Nelson, and Ricky Schroder dropped the "y" from their names when they became grown up stars. Larry Fishburne, who started acting in his teens, eventually started going by Creator/LaurenceFishburne.

* Billy the Werewolf is a recurring character in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' from the second book onward. He enters the story as a teenager who gains shapeshifting powers with his friends, the Alphas. As time goes on, Billy begins going by "Will", which the Alphas also call him. It's a significant turning point in his and Harry's relationship when Harry finally shifts from "Billy" to "Will" himself.

* Implied in ''VideoGame/Persona4''. Eri Minami spends most of the Temperance Social Link calling her young stepson Yuuta "[[AffectionateNickname Yuu-kun]]." As Yuuta and Eri finally get past their differences and start bonding, she switches to calling him "Yuuta" instead. Since their relationship improves from that point on, it seems as though Yuuta preferred that Eri call him by name rather than try to endear herself to him by using a nickname.

* In the film ''Under the Same Moon'' (''La misma luna''), the protagonist's mother comments that he is growing up so quickly that she will soon have to start calling him "Carlos" instead of "Carlitos". He stays Carlitos for the duration of the movie, though.

The character's childhood nickname may end up becoming an EmbarrassingNickname as an adult. Compare to MeaningfulRename, which includes cases in which the character's name actually changes when they become an adult. If said name change is a culture-wide phenomenon, it's a RiteOfPassageNameChange.

* Real life child stars Billy Mumy, Ricky Nelson, and Ricky Schroder dropped the "y" from their names when they became grown up stars. Larry Fishburne, who started acting in his teens, eventually started going by Creator/LaurenceFishburn.

* Real life child stars Billy Mumy, Ricky Nelson, and Ricky Schroder dropped the "y" from their names when they became grown up stars. Larry Fishburn, who started acting in his teens, eventually started going by Lawrence Fishburn.

* By the end pf the first Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles movie, Daniel "Danny" Pennington, after CharacterDevelopment: "It's just Dan now."

* This trope is usually averted in Mexico and other Hispanohablante countries. Unlike in Anglophone countries, the hypocorisms and apodos stick beyond adulthood and many times these will stay with the person until death.
** [[http://www.mexicofile.com/hispanicapodosnicknamesprofessionaffectionandphysicalcharacteristics.htm This article]] mentions this aversion of nickname, diminutive, and shortened name outgrowing in Mexican culture.
* In the anglosphere, this trope may or not be played for different reasons:
** Nicknames were initially created because too many people shared the same names, with the evolution of dialect and languages, some nicknames ended up being independent names, such as "Nancy", which started as a nickname for "Ann".
** Others, while still looking oddly far-fetched, such as "Jack" (''John'') or "Harry" (''Henry'') are still known as nicknames while few have them as their actual name.
** Therefore, nicknames aren't seen as something personal for many, a lot of adults keep being known as "Tommy", "Cindy" or "Andy" while others will find these names childish and drop them.
* Real life child stars Billy Mumy, Ricky Nelson, and Ricky Schroder dropped the "y" from their names when they became grown up stars.

* Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during her teenage years went by "Sandy", a diminutive of Alexandria. She now goes by “Alex” if you actually know her personally (it's "Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez" or "Representative Ocasio-Cortez" if you don't).

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra,'' [[DarkMistress Bataar Jr.]] wants to drop the latter part of his name, which also symbolizes his [[AntagonisticOffspring falling out with his family]].

* Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during her teenage years went by "Sandy", a diminutive of Alexandria. She now goes by “Alex” if you actually know her personally (it's "Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez" if you don't).

* Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during her teenage years went by "Sandy", a diminutive of Alexandria. She now goes by “Alex”.

* UsefulNotes/BarackObama used to go by "Barry" in his youth. He eventually asked to be called by his real name.

* In ''Literature/StarTrekTheEugenicsWars'' by Greg Cox, Khan Noonien Singh is mainly referred to as "Noon" when he's younger, and working for Gary Seven. After the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhopal_disaster Union Carbide disaster]] in Bhopal, he resigns from working for Gary, telling him, "Stop calling me Noon. That was a child's name. My name is Khan."

** Similarly in ''ComicBook/Marauders'', she starts going by Kate after the shock of not being able to use Krakoan gates and the responsibility of smuggling mutants from oppressive countries into Krakoa by boat.