I’m curious to know people’s thoughts on nicknames from a person’s surname. I’ve been liking them more recently & considering to go by one.
Burnie Burns - writer & comedian
Kit Kittredge - American Girl doll/character
Stiles Stilinski - character from Teen Wolf
Sully Sullivan - character from Uncharted
Sulley Sullivan - character from Monster’s Inc.
Winnie Winston - musician
I think it’s fine. I don’t have a strong opinion on it either way, as I have never encountered it irl. It definitely feels like something that would be decided on by peers or the person themself (as opposed to the parents).
I think they’re cool, and they could be a good way for someone who doesn’t really connect with their own name to go by something else. Depending on a person’s social group, it might be easier to adopt for some than others; for example, I find that in schools sports players go by their last names more than other people, so using a nickname from a last name could easily catch on for them. But anyone could do it. People generally don’t question things as much as we worry they will.
I think if it works for a person and suits them, it can be pretty cool!!
I love it! I went to school with a girl when I was young who went by [name_f]Siri[/name_f], which was her last name! I thought it was so freaking cool, and I still think so.
And of course, there’s [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] [name_u]Laurence[/name_u] of [name_m]Little[/name_m] Women, who goes by [name_u]Laurie[/name_u]. Such a handsome name for the notoriously handsome rascal gentleman!
I think it’s cool, but seems like something that would have to arise naturally rather than being planned. I know one girl who goes exclusively by a nickname of her surname, and it suits her really well.
I know a few others who are occasionally called shortened versions of their surnames, but like a previous poster mentioned they use their surnames in sports and people shortened them from there. So they wouldn’t ever introduce themselves by their surname/surname’s nickname but people will get their attention by calling (for example, if their surnames were [name_u]Mackenzie[/name_u] and Rivera) “Hey, Mack!” or “Riv, over here!”
I’ve only encountered this in a school scenario, where the nickname has been chosen by other kids e.g. let’s say there’s a boy named [name_u]James[/name_u] McAfee in the class, and the other kids decided to call him [name_m]Mac[/name_m] to distinguish him from the other boy named [name_u]James[/name_u]. I can’t see someone’s parents calling them by a nickname based on their surname, though.
I think that this is something that needs to rise organically. In my high school one nickname format was taking the first letter or syllable of your first name and the first syllable of your last name and putting them together. It arose from a need to distinguishing between two people with the same first name, and contracting that gradually as six syllables felt like a lot to use every time you are referring to that person in casual conversation. This then spread to use for other people even when there was zero ambiguity involved.
For some reason it never occurred to use first name last initial. Or maybe that just didn’t flow well. It was probably that as “H” is a relatively awkward letter to say by itself.
I think sometimes it works but for the most part I am steadfastly against it. I’ve met several John/Johnny Johnsons and Nikki/Nicole Nichols and it’s just redundant. It’s just seems unoriginal and like naming them was an after thought almost.