A different way of looking at nicknames

I met a girl recently names [name]Mercedes[/name], nn [name]Sadie[/name]. I thought that was a good and more obvious way to get to the nn [name]Sadie[/name] than [name]Sarah[/name]. Can you think of any other nicknames that could have many different first names or ones that arent even necessarily related to the origin (like [name]Mercedes[/name] nn [name]Sadie[/name]) or just other names that could be full names for the nn [name]Sadie[/name]?

[name]Isadora[/name], nn [name]Sadie[/name], [name]Penelope[/name], nn [name]Polly[/name], and [name]Amalia[/name], nn [name]Mali[/name] ([name]Molly[/name]) would work.

I never understood how [name]Dick[/name] became a nn for [name]Richard[/name].

[name]Amalia[/name] nn [name]Molly[/name]- i like it!

Is there another way to get to [name]Penny[/name] other than [name]Penelope[/name]?

I think I read somewhere that [name]Polly[/name] was originally a nn for [name]Mary[/name], which I don’t really understand. [name]Peggy[/name] for [name]Margaret[/name] is also a little strange.

Of the traditional names, there’s [name]Bill[/name] for [name]William[/name] and [name]Bob[/name] for [name]Robert[/name] (no idea how those came along). As for newer type nicknames, I like the idea of using the initials to create a nickname. For instance, one of my top names is [name]Robert[/name] [name]Xavier[/name], and we’d all him [name]Rex[/name].

[name]Annabel[/name], [name]Annabella[/name], [name]Arabella[/name], [name]Elisabetta[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name], and [name]Tabitha[/name] - [name]Abby[/name]
[name]Elodie[/name], [name]Eloise[/name], Elowen, [name]Louisa[/name], [name]Louise[/name], [name]Paloma[/name], [name]Penelope[/name], [name]Viola[/name] - [name]Lola[/name]
[name]Alessandra[/name], [name]Alexandra[/name], [name]Alexandria[/name], [name]Cassandra[/name], [name]Melisande[/name] - [name]Andie[/name]
[name]Jessamine[/name] and [name]Rosamond[/name]/[name]Rosamund[/name] - [name]Sam[/name]/[name]Sammy[/name]
[name]Rosalie[/name], [name]Rosalina[/name], [name]Rosalind[/name], [name]Rosalinda[/name], [name]Rosaline[/name] - [name]Sally[/name]
[name]Melusine[/name] - [name]Lucy[/name]
[name]Ramona[/name], [name]Rosamond[/name]/[name]Rosamund[/name], [name]Rosemary[/name] - [name]Romy[/name]
[name]Shoshannah[/name], [name]Susanna[/name]/[name]Susannah[/name] - [name]Sosie[/name]
[name]Guinevere[/name] - [name]Vera[/name]
[name]Verity[/name] - [name]Rita[/name]
[name]Theodora[/name] - [name]Thora[/name]
[name]Xanthe[/name] - [name]Thea[/name]
[name]Isadora[/name] - [name]Addy[/name]
[name]Gwendolen[/name] - [name]Dolly[/name]


[name]Peninnah[/name] or [name]Persephone[/name]?

You have to look to different languages and variants to understand some nicknames.

[name]John[/name] - in Germanic tongue was used as Jankin or Jackin, giving the nickname [name]Jack[/name], in Medieval times.
[name]Richard[/name] - The Normans in [name]France[/name], pronounced their R’s differently and when the English tried to pronounce [name]Richard[/name] or [name]Rick[/name] the way the [name]Norman[/name]'s did, it came out more of a D. This was also in the Medieval times.
[name]Henry[/name] - [name]Harry[/name] is the Medieval English form of the Germanic name Heimeric or [name]Henry[/name]. [name]Hank[/name] was originally the pet form of [name]John[/name], coming from the name Jankin/Hankin but it eventually moved on to be related to [name]Henry[/name].
[name]James[/name]/[name]Mary[/name] - In Medieval Europe, there were many different languages and a conflict of pronunciation, so a new name was formed. [name]Just[/name] a slight variant, though. [name]James[/name] to [name]Jim[/name] and [name]Mary[/name] to [name]Molly[/name].
[name]Margaret[/name]- [name]Margaret[/name] didn’t easily translate into Welsh so they used [name]Megan[/name], which [name]Peggy[/name] and [name]Meg[/name] were nicknames for.
[name]Sara[/name] - Same reasoning for [name]Sadie[/name] and [name]Sally[/name] as [name]Richard[/name] and [name]Dick[/name]. Some languages who tried to do the [name]Norman[/name] R, made D or L sounds.

I guess there could be:
[name]Andy[/name] for [name]Alexander[/name], rather than [name]Andrew[/name]
[name]Ashton[/name] or [name]Ash[/name] for [name]Sebastian[/name]
[name]Harry[/name] for [name]Harlow[/name], rather than [name]Henry[/name]
[name]Mia[/name] for [name]Maria[/name]
[name]Jack[/name] for [name]Jacobi[/name], rather than [name]John[/name]
[name]Sally[/name] for [name]Selena[/name] rather than [name]Sara[/name]
[name]Ace[/name] for [name]Grayson[/name] rather than [name]Gray[/name]
[name]Hugh[/name] for [name]Joshua[/name] rather than [name]Josh[/name]

I know most of those don’t answer your question but I feel most nicknames are pretty straightforward.

[name]Aspen[/name], [name]Spencer[/name], Penda

[name]How[/name] about another way to get the nickname [name]Drew[/name] besides [name]Andrew[/name]?

I’ve heard of people calling their fourth child (a son), [name]Dru[/name]. As in Quadruple.

[name]Drury[/name] “[name]Dru[/name]” meaning loved one.

That’s all I can think of.

[name]Drummond[/name]? It’s kind of a stretch, though…

You could use names that have the “rew” sound maybe too? This would include [name]Rueben[/name], Truett (maybe the nn [name]True[/name] would be good for you too?), [name]Rudolph[/name], etc.

What other nns do you all like but dislike the full names for? I like [name]Ruby[/name] but it feels nicknamey… anyone know a good full name to get to [name]Ruby[/name] or should it stand alone?

[name]Drusilla[/name] nn [name]Dru[/name]

A lot of the nns came from rhyming centuries ago. [name]Robert[/name] -> [name]Rob[/name]/[name]Bob[/name]/[name]Hob[/name]

[name]Richard[/name]-> [name]Rick[/name]/Hick/[name]Dick[/name]

[name]Will[/name]/[name]Bill[/name]

[name]Mary[/name]-> [name]Molly[/name]->[name]Polly[/name]

It wasn’t that people needed a “shorter name”, there were just so many [name]Marys[/name], [name]Roberts[/name], etc… they needed to tell them apart.

[name]Aurora[/name] - nn [name]Rory[/name]
Patrinia - nn [name]Trinity[/name], [name]Trina[/name], [name]Rina[/name], [name]Nia[/name], and [name]Nina[/name] (little but of a stretch but I like it for this name)
[name]Abbott[/name] nn [name]Abe[/name] or [name]Beau[/name]/[name]Bo[/name]
[name]Alaric[/name] - nn [name]Ric[/name]/[name]Rick[/name]
[name]Claudia[/name] - nn [name]Clara[/name], [name]Dee[/name], maybe even [name]Audrey[/name] a bit of a stretch but they both have the aud sound.

[name]Bella[/name]:
[name]Arabella[/name]
[name]Isabella[/name]

Im really tired and dont wanna list any more.

[name]Richard[/name] was imported to [name]England[/name] by the Normans from [name]France[/name]. With a French pronunciation the R in [name]Richard[/name] is trilled which sounded like a D to the unfamiliar English speakers. Also in French an h is silent, so it’s said like ri-card, so with a d-ish sound at the beginning and a solid “kuh” instead of ch in the middle you can see how [name]Dick[/name] came from [name]Richard[/name]. A lot of old nicknames come from foreign rather than English pronunciations of the name. I believe [name]Mary[/name] became [name]Molly[/name] in a similar way.