Most of these (ok all of them) are silly But some of these people, such as [name]Tiny[/name], and Cooz, answer to them almost exclusively, to the point where few people even know their real names!
Who do you know who has a nickname like this? What is their real name? Would you let your child let go of the name you chose for them in favor of a sillier one? (I personally would as long as it wasnât demeaning or grotesque.)
Very interesting question! I have never thought about this. I donât know. Spending so much time coming up with the perfect name, and then they choose to go by something like this? I feel like I wouldnât be happy about it, but it would obviously be the kidâs decision. And maybe in the actual situation I wouldnât dislike it as much as I think I would. My grandfather went by a nickname that was based on his last name and had nothing to do with his first name, but it was a real name ([name]Leo[/name]). Thatâs as close as I get to this situation.
a good number of our college friends call me SO [name]Argentina[/name]. I also have a friend ([name]Katie[/name]) who sometimes goes by [name]Birdie[/name].
I know a guy who goes by [name]Boot[/name]. Not sure exactly how he got the name but everyone calls him [name]Boot[/name], including his parents. I also know someone who goes almost exclusively by Brownie, but thatâs because his last name is Browne. I actually didnât know his first name for awhile, but I believe itâs [name]Adam[/name]. So the nickname is totally unrelated to his first name.
Some guy from my momâs home town is named Sperby, and apparently heâs a junior. So youâd think he might pick a nickname to upgrade, right? Nope. Bunky.
I also had a great-aunt [name]Pinkie[/name]. I forget her real name, but she got the nn b/c she was a strawberry blond.
I have an uncle who is named [name]Robert[/name] [name]Jens[/name] [name]Andersen[/name], and he is known exclusively as [name]Andy[/name] [name]Andersen[/name].
I know a 3 year old named [name]Sunshine[/name] that goes by [name]Pink[/name]/[name]Pinkie[/name]/Pinkle by many people. I watch a 2 year old (girl) named [name]Taylor[/name]. A family nn is [name]Taylor[/name] Bug. I started calling her that, and now I just call her Bug most of the time. If anyone else calls her Bug she looks at them funny, but when I do she automatically answers without hesitation. I know a 3 year old named [name]Lucy[/name], who has a common family nn of [name]Tiny[/name] (due to her small size). When I was little my dad called my Bitsy often, but my name is [name]Sarah[/name] [name]Louise[/name].
My fatherâs nickname backhome is Coppa, which as nothing to do with his name.
My grandfather goes exclusively by [name]Jim[/name], when his birthname is [name]Hilton[/name]. Same with my grandmother and many of her sisters ([name]Pinky[/name], [name]Cherry[/name], Tutti, or my grandfatherâs sister [name]Bibi[/name])
My aunt calls me Cookie Face often too which again, nothing to do with my name. lol.
Honestly, considering the efforts Iâve put into picking their name, I would not be happy at all. Especially for something thatâs so silly. I would basically let them, but they better be aware that Iâm never calling them by their chosen silly nickname.
My family does this all the time, haha. My mum was pretty much exclusively called Guzzy by her entire family (and family friends) until the age of 21 when she forced them to stop. Her name is [name]Katherine[/name]. She had a sister ([name]Juliana[/name]) who was always Gugu.
Others in my family with non name-related nns:
Dimpy ([name]Rosamund[/name]) - she, unsurprisingly, has dimples
[name]Pearly[/name] ([name]Katherine[/name]) - very white teeth
[name]Ethel[/name] ([name]Patty[/name])
Pop ([name]Richard[/name])
I also know a [name]Charlotte[/name] who goes by Chives.
I have a niece I call, Chunky Ch0co0late Ch1pmunk, or just Ch1pmunk. She doesnât really like anyone else calling her that, so at times she will ignore them.
I have an aunt that calls her ex-[name]SIL[/name], my mom, B3rtha. I think it was because my mom has always been plus size (around the time everyone was practically small and plus size was rare) and they are mainly small. I assume it was supposedly meant to be a sly way of calling her, B1g B3rtha. Not really sure, but I donât like it, but she says it doesnât bother her, especially, since she doesnât have to see/deal with them anymore.
I also have an aunt that goes by S4n. My grandfather thought he gave her the name Sandr4, yet my grandmother also thought she gave her another name. So when he told her that her name would be Sandr4, she didnât think much about it. Lol However, when the birth certificate came, her name was what my grandmother originally choose for her. They suspect the nurse liked my grandmothers name better, so wrote it on the B.C. as such. They had already started calling her S4n, so they left the nn, but her SO calls her by her given name.
An uncle that goes by [name]Bud[/name].
A cousin that goes by [name]Buck[/name] (not sure of his real name).
A old classmate that went by M.E.S. by her close friends. (M3g4n El1z4b3th S.)
My dad use to call me Cuda, lol, like Barracuda. Sigh, having a father whoâs hobby is fishing, guess it could have been worse. He mostly calls me T00t-t00t or just t00t, now.
Thanks! Gotta say, it melts my heart. (I called her the Hoarder for a long time, too. Due to the fact that she has innumerable books and stuffed animals and had to have several of each with her at all times! She lessened quite a bit with that, so Bug she became!)
Itâs so interesting to hear the strange nicknames that can replace given names! I just remembered that I forgot one. A lady in my church goes almost exclusively by Zebra, and her real name is [name]Alta[/name]. I have no idea where her nickname came from, but some of these have some interesting backstories. The [name]Tiny[/name] I know got his nickname when a waitress at a diner didnât want to call him fatso, and now even his wife has to think about his real name!
I used to work with a guy (who was probably in his late 40s at the time) whose name is [name]Randall[/name] but goes by Yosh. I never asked him why though!
I also work in an infant room and one of my coworkers gives all of the kids nicknames that are completely unrelated. I wonât list them all, but I will mention Handsome, whose real name is [name]Israel[/name]. Heâs only 8 months old but he responds to both names! The way she says â[name]Hi[/name] Handsomeâ to him all the time is so infectious that I sometimes catch myself saying it by accident.
Iâm going to go by [name]Lucy[/name] at my high school, and my name has nothing to do with it. This is because I hate my name, and this is the name my parents and I can agree on.
I know a [name]Michael[/name] _____ III who goes by [name]Eddy[/name], and his middle name has nothing to do with [name]Eddy[/name].
I also call my brother Bubby- itâs a pet form from the Diary of the Wimpy Kid series.
My SO has a cousin named [name]Jamison[/name] who goes exclusively by Bub since his sister didnât like his name when she was younger.
My uncle answers to [name]Cletus[/name] which has nothing to do with his name [name]Christopher[/name].
And lastly is a friend named [name]Josh[/name] who goes by Gremlin and that in turn often gets shortened to Grim.
My grandma is [name]Cecilia[/name], but is known as [name]Peggy[/name]. (Never knew to question it when I was youngerâŚmy grandfather was [name]Bill/name so Iâd assumed it was right)
A few kids from HS had gone by second names too;
[name]Wilfredo[/name] as [name]Abi[/name]
[name]Edward[/name] as [name]Anthony[/name]
And [name]Stephen[/name] as [name]Jackson[/name]
Well in my family until my generation naming was not so fun as it is now. My grandmother was one of 7 who survived childhood all with combos of grandparentâs names that at times repeated themselves in the masculine & feminine form or a son got the same name as his dead brotherâŚ
So my grandmotherâs family & neighborhood were full of people called exclusively by these kinds of nicknames as well as stuff like White [name]Johnny[/name] & [name]Johnny[/name] the creep ectâŚdid I mention Iâm an Italian American from [name]Brooklyn[/name]?
Itâs hard for me to imagine a mother in 1920s NY lovingly bestowing Fat [name]Tina[/name] on her kid, so Iâm figuring these nicknames came later on & were given by neighborhood friends. What a sad naming fate to give your children the prescribed name of maternal grandma first + paternal grandmaâs first in the mn spotâŚonly to let your neighbors re-name her a few years later!
But some of these people, such as [name]Tiny[/name], and Cooz, answer to them almost exclusively, to the point where few people even know their real names!
(I called her the Hoarder for a long time, too. Due to the fact that she has innumerable books and stuffed animals and had to have several of each with her at all times! She lessened quite a bit with that, so Bug she became!)