Nicknames Out of Absolutely Nowhere

Baby Names
#1

I’ve been thinking a lot about my childhood recently, and I’ve noticed something. We all love a good reach-y nickname here on Nameberry, but my family seems to take it a step further and give people nicknames that have absolutely nothing to do with anything.

When I was little, my aunt used to call me Flozzy. It’s not related to my name, and I have absolutely no idea where it came from. I asked her, and she doesn’t know either. To this day, we still call my older brother [name_m]Dominic[/name_m] either “[name_m]Dimitri[/name_m]” or “Dimmus”. We aren’t even a little bit Russian, and I’m fairly sure that last one is just a noise. He’s been called that for 24 years and everyone in my family is just clueless to how it started.

I know of a couple of examples with other people too. [name_f]My[/name_f] friend [name_f]Jessica[/name_f]’s brother couldn’t say her name when they were younger, so he just decided to start calling her “Popsy”. Isn’t that so cute?

What are the weirdest or most out-of-the-blue nicknames you guys know of, and do you remember/know where they came from? This idea is so fascinating to me! :sweat_smile:

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#2

This happens a lot in Mexico. Usually they have a nickname from childhood that has nothing to do with their name, but their looks or personality. Now as adults, they are still called these nicknames among family and friends.

One of my brother in laws is named [name_m]Alejandro[/name_m], but they call him Chillón (cry baby). Another brother in law is [name_m]Antonio[/name_m], but everyone calls him Chino (means someone who has curly hair, though he shaves all his hair now). Some of my brother in laws’ nicknames I don’t even know what they mean in [name_f]English[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband is called Pingo (naughty child) by family and Chivo (goat) at work because he has a beard like a goat.

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#3

My grandma used to call me ‘[name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] [name_u]Louise[/name_u]’ - I think because to her they were clunky old lady names and it was funny (and completely opposite from my actual full name).

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#4

my cousin [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] is called [name_u]Baby[/name_u] [name_m]Bear[/name_m], I’m always [name_f]Victoria[/name_f] even though that’s not my name

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#5

When I was pregnant with my son [name_m]Anders[/name_m], my father joked that we should name him [name_u]California[/name_u]. It kind of stuck, and now that entire branch of the family calls him [name_u]California[/name_u] or [name_f]Callie[/name_f].

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#6

I thought of some more random nicknames.

My brother in law’s brother is called “Pechugas” (literally breast, like a chicken breast). [name_f]My[/name_f] husband said it means someone who eats for free, like goes to people’s houses to eat their food. [name_f]My[/name_f] sister in law has a brother they call “Pollo” (literally means chicken). And my husband has a friend with two different nicknames, one of which is “Chaparro” (short guy). I rarely hear these people called by their real names, and most of the time I forget what their real names are.

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#7

My sister is jessîca but my dad calls her Ness because whenever she would ring my dad her signal would be bad so she would break up and to my dad it sounded like ‘hey dad it’s ness’ lol.
I am charlôtte but my dad always calls me Chàrles… I don’t mind really it’s funny.
[name_f]My[/name_f] brother is Sàmuel and he gets called [name_u]Sparrow[/name_u]. So basically our dad definitely likes to nickname hah. He also has nicknames for all his grandkids but I’d rather not share those.

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#8

This is really fun and interesting to see what people are called!
Apparently I couldn’t say my name when I was little and I ended up Fuffy. I was embarrassed about it but I still get called that by my family or people I’ve known forever. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband’s mom used to call him muffin just as an endearing little nickname and his brothers made fun of him and would call him bagel. [name_f]My[/name_f] sister in law was called [name_f]Juju[/name_f] or Jujy I think because of a candy she cried over when she was little and now it’s just something you call someone jokingly like calling them stinker. It’s funny how random things make their way into our lives!

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#9

I was Squirrels as a kid. [name_f]My[/name_f] sister was Tooter.

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#10

I have two aunts: Tuppy and Peachie. Tuppy’s legal name is [name_f]Carol[/name_f]. She was a sickly baby and her dad joked that she was “not worth a tuppence” (an old coin). Peachie’s legal name is [name_f]Gloria[/name_f]. She was given the nickname Peachie because it rhymes with Screechy.
[name_f]My[/name_f] parents call me Egg as when I was little I would frequently pretend to be a penguin egg.

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