I know on nameberry we usually talk about nicknames you can get from a certain name. However, I’ve met a couple of people that go by a nickname that isn’t related to any of their names. I was wondering if any of you berries had come across anyone like that, and would you consider using an unrelated nickname for your child?
Here are a couple of the ones that I remember with their given name in parentheses:
[name_m]Zeke[/name_m] ([name_m]Harrison[/name_m])
Chicken ([name_m]Joshua[/name_m])
[name_f]Tiny[/name_f] ([name_f]Michelle[/name_f])
BooBoo (don’t remember his given name, but it was something biblical like [name_u]Michael[/name_u] or [name_m]Daniel[/name_m])
I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but I definitely would if I thought of one. I feel like it would be a more natural nickname, Like, not “This is [name_f]Harriet[/name_f]. We call her [name_f]Hattie[/name_f].” but a “This is [name_m]Josh[/name_m], but we call him Bugaboo” Or something really sweet like that.
I kinda like the idea of using [name_f]Bichette[/name_f] as a nickname. I think the meaning ‘little doe’ is very cute, but I would be worried about it sounding too much like a term for a female dog.
I guess it depends. My family has nicknames for me that aren’t related to my given name, but I don’t go and introduce myself as “Pumpkin” or “Peanut”. I suppose some people come to associate with their childhood nicknames more strongly than I did, but I don’t think that using an unrelated nickname within the family and in casual situations is entirely bad. My mom has a friend whose name is [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], and her childhood nickname was “[name_f]Sanda[/name_f]” because she couldn’t say her own name clearly as a child and that’s how it came out. It stuck with her to adulthood, and I think it’s really cute.
I think for my own child, I would have to wait and see what they were like before I give them a nickname. I see plenty of people on here with signatures like “[name_f]Danielle[/name_f] nn [name_f]Daisy[/name_f]” (just an example, not picking on anyone specifically!), and I always think what if your kid’s not a [name_f]Daisy[/name_f]? I don’t understand the concept of giving a nickname when the kids are purely hypothetical and you don’t know their personality yet. Like a shortening is understandable, but I think you really have to know the kid and interact with them before you can start giving them suitable nicknames. More importantly, I think it could get confusing if you use another established name as a nickname, like [name_m]Liam[/name_m] short for [name_m]William[/name_m], or [name_f]Eliza[/name_f] short for [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]. I think if you want to call your kid [name_f]Eliza[/name_f], just write [name_f]Eliza[/name_f] on the birth certificate.
That got more long winded than I anticipated. [name_m]Long[/name_m] story short, nicknames that the family comes up with after the kid are born are fine, but I just really don’t understand when people come up with unrelated nicknames for children they don’t even have yet.
I knew a boy named [name_m]Lorenzo[/name_m] who went by [name_m]Dino[/name_m]. Never understood the connection there, but I think it’s fine. You can nickname your kid (or yourself) whatever you want. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but you.
That reminds me of [name_f]Miley[/name_f] [name_m]Cyrus[/name_m]. I remember reading somewhere that she was born [name_f]Destiny[/name_f], and when she was little her parents would call her Smiley because she was always happy and smiling. But she couldn’t say Smiley right; instead she would say [name_f]Miley[/name_f]. And now that’s her name.
Most recently, [name_f]Apple[/name_f] for [name_f]Anna[/name_f]-[name_f]Helene[/name_f]. Her parents were always going to call her [name_f]Apple[/name_f], but her “serious” name is [name_f]Anna[/name_f]-[name_f]Helene[/name_f].
I think the ones that make sense are sound variations of existing nn’s. [name_f]Mary[/name_f] becomes [name_f]Molly[/name_f] becomes [name_f]Polly[/name_f].
I think there’s a big difference between an actual nickname that you go by even legally. Like [name_m]Robert[/name_m] to [name_m]Bob[/name_m] or [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] to [name_m]Tom[/name_m]. And someone who goes by a cutesy/informal type of name like [name_f]Tiny[/name_f] or Booboo. Nobody whose legal name is [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] is filling out their tax return as Booboo [name_m]Jones[/name_m].
Usually those type of nicknames come about through experience and life and they’re just for fun.
Maybe I don’t live in the right area for this, but I can’t imagine parents looking for a name for their child saying, “We’re going to name her [name_f]Olivia[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f] but we plan to call her Scorpion. Would that be a good nickname?”
I think most of the time nicknames just come from family and those around you, whether they are related to your name or not. It’s a personal thing that changes for every person. I know family friends who are 40+ who go by names like Bubbles, Droop and Bones. Names that have just stuck really
See, in my family everyone has nicknames related and unrelated to their first name. I’m known as Chicken [name_m]Little[/name_m] in my family and have been my entirely life. I also (for reason I will never understand) get called Jellyhead, which gets shortened to Jel. My little cousins all call me [name_u]Jessie[/name_u] or Sissi, but all the adults call me Chicken [name_m]Little[/name_m], Jellyhead or Jel. I actual was at a funeral yesterday where people didn’t know who I was until I said quietly, “It’s Chicken [name_m]Little[/name_m].” To which one woman yelled excitedly “That’s it! Oh yeah, I know you Chicken [name_m]Little[/name_m], I hear about you all the time.” My Mum is Chook (Australian word for chicken) my Dad is [name_m]Mick[/name_m] (full name [name_u]Michael[/name_u]) or [name_m]Boris[/name_m], my brother is Frog or sometimes [name_m]Rocko[/name_m], my cousin is Moo (first name [name_f]Briony[/name_f],) my uncle is Ferret ([name_u]Andy[/name_u]/[name_m]Andrew[/name_m],) my auntie is [name_m]Bob[/name_m] or [name_u]Jan[/name_u] ([name_f]Teena[/name_f].) And my other cousin [name_m]Danniel[/name_m] - I know it’s a horrible spelling - is Cyclone, “Daniel son” like in Karate Kid or Bones.Then there’s Chops ([name_m]Gareth[/name_m],) Sweetpea/[name_m]Abe[/name_m] ([name_m]Lincoln[/name_m],) Bung-it-on [name_u]Barry[/name_u]/Snugglepot ([name_m]Zeke[/name_m],) Cuddlepie ([name_u]Ashton[/name_u].) My cousin [name_m]Zachary[/name_m] is Zark and my cousin [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] is Belda, Belly or Bulla, like the frozen yogurt.
Well my own family nickname is [name_f]Sissy[/name_f] and my first name is [name_f]Alicia[/name_f]. In high school there were several boys named [name_m]Austin[/name_m] in my class and one of the went by [name_u]Texas[/name_u]. It actually has a link being that [name_m]Austin[/name_m] is in [name_u]Texas[/name_u] but if you didn’t know that they would look completely random. I just always found his nickname a little odd being that he had never even been to [name_u]Texas[/name_u]. I also knew another boy who went my [name_f]Bebe[/name_f] (say it with a silent E on the end) and his first name was [name_u]Michael[/name_u]. Literally no connection. And there’s a girl who goes to my church whose name is [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] but her mother always calls her [name_f]Esther[/name_f]…no connection through her family or anything just calls her [name_f]Esther[/name_f].
I have four kids and two have nn that go with their names [name_f]Maddy[/name_f] ([name_f]Madalyn[/name_f]) and [name_m]Shady[/name_m] ( [name_f]Schae[/name_f]), the other two we call Dooby ( [name_u]Aidan[/name_u], and Swizzle ([name_f]Samantha[/name_f]). They also have closer nn [name_u]Sammy[/name_u] and A, but all of our kids have multiple nn.
My name’s [name_f]Valentina[/name_f] but most of my relatives and some close friends call me [name_f]Vicky[/name_f], which is usually a nn for [name_f]Victoria[/name_f].
Yeah, I’m not sure if [name_f]Tiny[/name_f] or Booboo still go by those names because I only knew them in passing in college. It could have just been during that one life stage, especially since college is like its own little world.
The first two are definitely more stable in the nn. Chicken goes by that at work and is introduced to people that way, although I’m not sure if family calls him that. I do know that [name_m]Zeke[/name_m] still goes by that or his other unrelated nn; it’s at the point where if someone asks for [name_m]Harrison[/name_m] on the phone I know it’s either a doctor’s office or a telemarketer.
Thanks everyone for examples! It’s interesting to hear what people have seen.