names that people go by that are unrelated to their given names....Just curious!

[name_m]Hi[/name_m]

In my quest to solve my name remorse issues that I have going on…I have recently found out that some people who I thought were named… were actually called … at birth. For eg my husbands great Aunt was called [name_f]Bonnie[/name_f] most of her life but was [name_f]Monica[/name_f] when she was born!

Anyway, I’m just finding the stories fascinating of how they ended up getting a new name and was wondering if there were anymore stories out there that you would be able to share?

Thanks Berries!!

My mom’s best friend was named [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] [name_f]Susanne[/name_f] but never called anything but [name_f]Susanne[/name_f] or Sus.

My Great Uncle [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]Roger[/name_m] was called as a little boy (early last century) [name_m]Buster[/name_m] [name_m]Brown[/name_m] by his father so he went his whole life as Buss or to me, Great Uncle Buss.

My biological grandfather was named [name_m]Gordon[/name_m] [name_u]Francis[/name_u] but only called [name_m]Pete[/name_m].

My [name_f]Nana[/name_f] was not given a middle name on her birth certificate, but always said her full name was [name_f]Marjorie[/name_f] [name_f]Louise[/name_f], so we are not sure how that happened.

My mother-in-law is not entirely sure what she was named. Last in a huge Irish Catholic family, she always thought her name was [name_f]Beverly[/name_f], but paperwork shows some confusion.

I think in the past there was a lot more of this going on. More honoring of relatives, but always with the intention of calling them their middle name.

Also a looseness about nicknames, whether Buss or [name_m]Rusty[/name_m] or [name_m]Chip[/name_m] or [name_m]Biff[/name_m] or [name_f]Cricket[/name_f] or [name_m]Bud[/name_m].

Nowadays names are guarded like the secrets of an ancient tomb before babies are born (and sometimes even afterwards!). Parents (or at least mothers) anguish about nicknames to call their child as though nicknames are specifically the domain of parents, which they are not!

I had to laugh when I asked my high school English class the other day how they would feel if they as a girl were named [name_u]Michael[/name_u] or [name_m]Charles[/name_m] or as a boy were named [name_f]Sophie[/name_f] or [name_f]Catherine[/name_f].

Beyond their initial looks of horror, one cool kid said, “Not to worry. Our friends would nickname us and save us from a life of misery.”

Most of the ones I know are either related to physical characteristics, or weird mispronunciations/variations of the first name.

For example, my grandpa was called [name_u]Red[/name_u] by all his friends because he had red hair. He also went by his middle name since birth, as did his own father. (They had the same first name: [name_u]Campbell[/name_u].)

I knew a teenage girl named [name_f]Didi[/name_f], though her real name was Alet@. Her sister couldn’t say it right when she was born, so it ended up as [name_f]Didi[/name_f], and it stuck all through school. Her FB profile is under her full name now, so I don’t know if she ended up choosing to ditch the nickname.

My uncle was called [name_m]Fritz[/name_m] in high school and college instead of his given name Francois, only because they had moved from Montreal to [name_f]Florida[/name_f] and no one could pronounce Francois. No one uses [name_m]Fritz[/name_m] any more, except members our family who kept it going as a nickname.

My grandfather [name_m]Roland[/name_m] [name_u]Parker[/name_u] has gone by [name_m]Butch[/name_m] his entire adult life. No idea where it came from, but he hates [name_m]Roland[/name_m].
I know a boy named [name_m]Harry[/name_m] that went by Skippy exclusively, to the point where I didn’t know his real name.
Thanks to me, many of my friends have nicknames unrelated to their names or only tangentially related. My friend [name_u]Abby[/name_u] also answers to Bumble, my friend [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] to [name_m]McGee[/name_m], and my friend [name_f]McKenna[/name_f] to [name_f]Uniqua[/name_f].

Uh, my childhood friend called me [name_f]Anna[/name_f]. I still use it sometimes and maybe people think it was taken from my middle name, but actually my friends picked it up from a character in TV program they watched.

My Grandpa was named [name_m]Hubert[/name_m] [name_u]Merle[/name_u], but went by [name_m]Skip[/name_m] exclusively.

My husband is named [name_m]Stephen[/name_m], but goes exclusively by [name_m]Shep[/name_m]… although, I found out, that [name_m]Shep[/name_m] is a legitimate nickname for [name_m]Stephen[/name_m] so I suppose that doesn’t apply.

I also went to HS with A TON of people who went by their middle names simply because they preferred it. Some I didn’t even realize until graduation. This seems to be a more accepted trend down south, as now that I’m up north I almost never see that.

Friends of mine adopted their youngest daughter who was already named [name_f]Brianna[/name_f]. Instead of changing her name, they just call her [name_f]Mia[/name_f]. (She was under one when she was adopted)

Also, many people I know go by their surnames almost 100% of the time.

I’ve also noticed that many nicknames are passed down by generation - for example, I know a Duck, Bomber and Boots… all of whom got their nicknames because their dads were called Duck, Bomber and Boots.

One of my great aunts, born [name_f]Romaine[/name_f], went exclusively by [name_u]Mickey[/name_u].

My grandma is Mexican and her given first name is [name_f]Socorro[/name_f], which she hates, so she goes by [name_f]Emy[/name_f], short for her middle name [name_f]Emilia[/name_f].

My mom has uncles called [name_m]Butch[/name_m] and [name_m]Bud[/name_m]. Their real names were [name_m]John[/name_m] and [name_m]Harry[/name_m], I think, but I don’t know which is which. I think part of the reasoning behind the unusual, seemingly unrelated nicknaming that was so common in previous generations was because there weren’t that many names in use. [name_m]John[/name_m] and [name_m]Harry[/name_m] were family names, and half their friends were probably called [name_m]John[/name_m] and [name_m]Harry[/name_m] too, so there was a need to differentiate them.
Sometimes nicknames are derived from childhood mispronunciations or in jokes or things like that. My niece called me [name_f]Kimmy[/name_f] for years because she couldn’t say [name_f]Kathryn[/name_f] when she was a baby. No one calls me that anymore, thank goodness!

My dad’s name is [name_m]Morris[/name_m] [name_u]Bern[/name_u]@rd. He was [name_u]Bernie[/name_u] as a child but everyone knows him as [name_m]Bo[/name_m], his nickname since going into the service.
My daughter, Joh@nn@ has been called [name_f]Pixie[/name_f] for years.
My friend, [name_f]Heidi[/name_f] , has been called that since she was a baby even though her name is Alm@.

My daughter’s nickname, [name_f]Lulu[/name_f], isn’t anywhere near close to her real name which starts with a T. I know it evolved from some other nicknames but I couldn’t even begin to remember how.

My brother is [name_u]Ryan[/name_u] C_nn_r but has been known to his friends as [name_m]Lenard[/name_m] Raffety for over 10+ years- he is 21 this year (our last name is not Raffety) Many of his friends don’t even know his real name
When I was in girl guides there was a girl called Bleety because when she laughed it sounded like a sheep bleeting, her name was [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], but her best friend was also a [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] who went by [name_f]Cat[/name_f].
My best friend has named me [name_f]Dorothy[/name_f] and I have named her [name_f]Mildred[/name_f], we use these names so much that they even appear on [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] cards and now on letters and parcels we send to one another.

I find these stories very interesting! and its helping me with my current thought process…thanks so much for sharing…
would love to hear more if there are any…?

An uncle goes by [name_u]Andy[/name_u], but his real name is [name_m]Robert[/name_m]. Last name is similar to [name_u]Andy[/name_u].

My Mum’s name is Lorr@ine, she goes by her full name with everyone except my Dad who calls her [name_f]Lolly[/name_f]. I don’t know whether that’s a legitimate nickname, but I think its cute!

I have heaps of nicknames, some related to my actual name, some not. One very odd, but widely used, is Ticky - thanks to a toddler who just couldn’t get his tongue around my name at all!
In Australia a lot of nicknames seem unrelated, but evolve over time through shortening rhyming slang. (i.e. If your name is [name_f]Sheila[/name_f], in rhyming slang you’re Potato Peeler, which might then be shortened to Pots.) This is generally more common among middle aged males, in rural areas.

My grandfathers name is [name_m]Stan[/name_m] but I’ve only ever heard my grandmother call him [name_m]Bruce[/name_m]… I don’t know the story behind it but for many years I thought his name was [name_m]Bruce[/name_m]… maybe that’s just what that generation did?? :slight_smile:

When I was at school there was a lad a couple of years above me called Badger, he is actually called [name_m]Bartholomew[/name_m], but the birth annoucement in the paper said Badger and it stuck.

My mums name is [name_u]Jessie[/name_u] but she goes by [name_f]Shona[/name_f], apparently [name_f]Shona[/name_f] is gaelic for [name_u]Jessie[/name_u] so that’s understandable to a certain extent. My gran (mum’s mum) was called [name_f]Janet[/name_f] but always went by [name_u]Jessie[/name_u].

And my boyfriends father is called [name_u]Kieran[/name_u] and only recently (we’ve been together for 6 and a half years) found out his real name is [name_m]Stephen[/name_m]! No idea what’s going on there!

My Dad is named [name_m]Ian[/name_m] but always went by one of his middle names, [name_m]Peter[/name_m].