… Has anyone done this, in whatever form, and has it stuck?
I know nicknames can be whatever you like, but I’m wondering whether it would be fighting a losing battle to try and make a less intuitive nickname stick?
E.g. [name_f]Helena[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] nn [name_u]Hero[/name_u], or [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] nn [name_m]Bear[/name_m].
I’m not sure, but I can see it going both ways. I enjoy coming up with less intuitive nns, but I wouldn’t use one unless it came up naturally (as with all nns). From my experience, I’ve had individual people or groups call me different things (although usually quite obvious nns), which stick within that group. Like my mum has called me nns that are a stretch from my name (although not my middle) as far back as I can remember, but no one else does. So I can see a less intuitive nn like nns from middles sticking within certain circles for whatever reason, but not necessarily becoming widespread, if that makes sense. On the other hand, they could stick if the person decides to introduce themselves by it or use it more often; I introduced myself by only my nn at uni for example. It might be swayed by circumstance too, such as names being passed down from parent to child, making a nn more likely to stick to avoid confusion (my dad goes by his middle with family for that reason).