Do/did you or any of your kids, family or friends have a catchy nickname?

Thanks for the idea, lkj. I think it could be an amusing thread.

I can not think of one person I know, off the top of my head, who had an affectionate nickname that was not connected to the name (as in Pam for Pamela, which is my name...ick, ick). I was just called Pam.

I'm wondering about nicknames that are not connected to given names.

I did have a HORRIBLE maiden name, which I will not disclose, but not only could nobody pronounce it, including arguments amongst the family on how to pronounce it, but it spawned many, many mean nicknames from the kids at school. When I got married the first time, I was thrilled to shed such a hideous name to a simple name that was a "Smith" type name. My second marriage also gave me a nice last name that I like and didn't cause my children any teasing.

Kids can be mean.

 

Well Ache is most often still called by a name that comes from literary character at home. When he was young his real name seemed rather big for him, or he seemed rather small for the name, and most common nickname of that name didn't quite look like him either (though later he has been mostly called by that nickname especially outside of the family.) Ache started to protest this nickname when he got to upper grades of elementary school and we too started to use that other nickname for him, if public. Last couple years we have not gotten stinky eye any more even if we use the first nickname and someone hears it. Nowadays he also has other used nicknames, some have something to do with the name (for example he is often called with common girl's name that has same first three letters as our surname, it is so 'official' that his team PR uses it in their more relaxed outlets) and I have also heard him being called by team mates and coaches with other literary character from popular children books that I assume is reference to his behaviour.

Joy also had a babyhood nickname that wasn't related to his name, but that didn't quite stick. Most people call him now with a nickname related to his name, same girl's name they call Ache with or an old nickname that has evolved from the other nickname that he got after certain characteristic of his, but that in current version does not mean anything.

In our culture it is not uncommon to have a nickname that is not related to your name, though many are. Oddest ones I think are those, who have a nickname that is totally common name but have absolutely nothing to do with one's given name. For example if someone is Mary Elizabeth Jones but for some unknown reason they are always called Kate to the degree that when they die the nickname ends up being carved to their tombstone like this:
Jones
Mary Elizabeth (Kate)
Those tombstones are not even that uncommon and even more often one sees it in obituaries. And I know that I know at least three living people with that kind of nickname.

 

I had several as a kid but the most prominent was "boopers"

 

My dad still calls me that to this day because I supposedly loved Betty Boop

 

I know a few older fellows who will never allow their formal name to be spoken. These poor fellows had the kinds of names that got them beaten up in school. So, they just go by "Bud". And it will be Bud on the tombstone, too - without the other name.

 

My kids have had affectionate nicknames that stem from their names. As a child, I had one that came from a shirt I loved and my mom generally had to wash while I was asleep because it was the only shirt I wanted to wear. It had a character that looked sort of like a bee but sort of like a bug, so it was a combination of the 2.

I think thank you had more than anyone I have known. Mostly because when husband would pick him up from school he would ask for him by a different name every day. The office would call him by that name just to see if thank you would know it was for him. The office staff, teachers and kids all thought it was hilarious and luckily thank you did too. Derek Stonehenge is the only one I remember but husband came up with dozens over the 2 years he did this. The office called kids using the intercom because the school parking lot only had room for teachers and 4 parent spaces, so they had 30 min at the end of the day for parents to pick up kids because otherwise it was gridlock and the busses couldn't get in to pick up kids.

I have always felt bad for the father of one of my childhood friends. Her father's first name was Harold which was shortened to Harry. His last name was a 4 letter word used for a male body part of which the last 3 letters are "ick". Even as an adult he got 'teased' by people, even ones he didn't know but saw his name on a form or check or whatever. One year their very pretty and well kept home was vandalized with spray paint drawings that were pictures of what his name could represent. It took them weeks to get it all removed. They tried covering it up with paint but it bled through again and again, so they had to sand it all off the wood siding of the house. I was in 3rd grade then and the look on my friend's mom's face each time she saw her house was so upset that I won't ever forget it.

I later learned that it was not teens as originally suspected. Her dad got a promotion at work and some coworkers were angry that they didn't get it, so they vandalized his house. Kids are not the only ones who can be mean. Adults can too.

 

My parents sometime called me "Sooki". There was a children's book called "The Saggy Baggy Elephant". My brother thought my diaper sagged like Sooki's skin. Even when I was older, sometimes they'd call me Soo or Sook. I'd almost forgotten that.



I had an uncle who's given name was Tranville Hubert. Everyone called him Happy. Even my aunt called him Hap or Happy. I found out Uncle Happy's real name at his funeral.

 

My name doesn't really have any usual nicknames so I never had one. Where I worked though we had three older men, long-time employees, named Rabbit, Moose and Squirrel. All three had the nicknames since childhood and a lot of people didn't even know their real names. Rabbit was a little guy who always seemed to be in a hurry, Squirrel's real name was Earl and he had very large front teeth, and Moose had a very weird looking nose. The best though is an old family story about my dad's youngest sister who just died two years ago at age 93. My dad was the oldest of six kids whose ages spread over 17 years. This aunt was the second youngest so by the time she started school, my dad was a grown man and there were two other brothers in their late teens. And the older brothers all had rather colorful vocabularies that she had also picked up on when she was little. When this aunt was born, for some unknown reason, my grandparents chose to name her Bertha Laverne! That name was so hideous that the older four children flat out refused to call her that and nicknamed her Toodie. And she was called Toodie by the family for the rest of her life. Later, on official things she went by Laverne which wasn't quite as bad as Bertha. When she started first grade at the Catholic school, my grandmother had registered her as Laverne. But she had been called Toodie all her life and had no idea that it wasn't her real name. I don't know how much of this I should really tell here, but please bear in mind that this happened almost 90 years ago. So the first day of first grade (no kindrgarten in those days) and the nun was calling the roll while Toodie was looking around, playing with pencils, etc. The nun got to her and called out "Laverne?" and she kept right on looking around the room. Annoyed, the nun came to the front of the row she was in, glared right at her and said a little louder, "Laverne?", while she continued to look out the window. Really mad now, the old nun hovered over her, glaring daggers at her and yelled, "LAVERNE!". And totally confused, she looked up at that old nun and said, "Well who the h*** is Laverne?" What happened next is too awful to mention but that was the day she learned the hard way that her real name wasn't Toodie. And then it only got worse when my grandmother had to explain to her that Laverne was really her middle name, and that her first name was really Bertha!

 

My aunts name is a Carmel. We call her George. It's a horrible nickname my dad gave her because at work people couldn't remember her name and would just call her something sweet that started with a C. Cookie, Candy, Cocoa, and a few others were pretty common. Anyway dad decided to give her a name so common no one could mix it up. Now the telemarketers call the office and when George answers they start trying to call her Georgeanne Georgette and all kinds of feminine variations of George. Sheesh! We thought picking George would fix the problem.

The best part is that she has been George so long that I never knew her real name until middle school.

 

I know a lady whose first name really IS George! She's the wife of a former co-worker. Her parents named her George Anne instead of making Georgeanne out of it. Nobody ever calls her just George though. But every time she has a form to fill out, where it says "First Name", she has to put George and then they assume that she's a man.

 

My father was from the Kentucky. His formal name was Joseph Edward, but he was called Billy since birth. It was not until he wanted to marry my mother that he found out his real name. He had to legally add William to his name. He went into the military at the height of WWII and they assumed Billy was a nickname for William. They were not asking for papers at sign up. All of his siblings were given nicknames at birth based on what my grandmother thought they looked like. Their formal names were never used. My grandmother's given name was Mamie George. Her stage name was Bonnie. She was in a scandalous travelling vaudeville act in her twenties. She was born in 1891 and spent 104 years being a red headed spitfire. My grandfather was one of 13 kids and was named P. B. that was it. He was born in a cabin and his parents wrote the kids names and date of birth in a bible.

 

I have an aunt who's legal name is Maxine but everyone calls her Tootse. To this day I have no idea why. Its not a nickname, but there was an offender at one point who's legal name (yes, given by his birth parents!) was Turbo Mydgette. I got called into the inmate canteen where I was assigned by one of the storekeepers to verify this name. We agree on the pronunciation and he called Turbo Midget (pronounced as this) to his window. A very tall, very slender light skinned young African American offender walked in and in a VERY snooty manner said "Its not Midget, its Mygzhe!" (Lil might be able to type/pronounce this better than me) The store keeper looks him up and down, then announces "You aint French mother effer!, Its Midget!"

And don't get me started on the prison nicknames! I knew 99 for two years before ever finding out his real name. Although I did just get some sad news last week. Brain Dead is dead. He may have been a felon but he was good people.

 

OMG Jabberwockey, I know EXACTLY what you mean! After working in a prison for 24 years, I think I've seen it all! We had an inmate whose legal first name was "Mister", another one whose mama named him "Sir"! My all-time favorite though was this poor inmate whose legal given first name was "Assdot"! Seriously! We had no idea if he had some physical attribute that caused his mom to name him "Assdot", or maybe it was a family name and he was descended from a long line of "Assdots". Either way, you had to almost feel sorry for the guy because his life couldn't have been easy! The nicknames (for both inmates and a few staff!) were the best. We had an officer nicknamed named Radio and another called Cheeser ... long story there. My favorite though was an inmate called "Seaweed". Everybody called him that. He started out as a normal, halfway intelligent guy, then he developed a fondness for inhaling substances like paint thinners and solvents. In a few short years he had turned in to a shambling disheveled bundle of irreversible neurological damages. He resembled the Muppets character Animal. He had long, wild matted hair, eyes that couldn't focus, hands that trembled uncontrollably, and speech you couldn't understand. We always thought they should put him in a little cage and take him around to the high schools as an exhibit for the anti-drug lectures!

 

Hamburger John, Peaches, Miss Night, Midnight, Vanna (last name was Vandiver and that nickname started after he put on the Daisy Dukes!). There was an officer that everyone called Boner because of all the bone headed stunts that he pulled! I called one officer Hobbit. He was short and it was close to what his last name actually was. We were friends so it wasn't meant to be insulting!. There was a Sgt we called Superman because he was a work out nut. Then there was the Sgt we called Ricochet. Anyone remember the cartoon "Ricochet Rabbit"? That's where that name came from. Good man but hyper and angry, not a good combination!

There was Judy, and Mona. Mona had been a Golden Gloves boxer and had hands the size of Andre the Giant! If Mona wanted to have oral sex with you and you didn't, she would knock you out, do it anyway, and leave a pack of cigarettes on your chest.

 

Uh, Dear. You might want to stop the prison stories right there.

 

I had a child in my class whose legal name was Lt. Major he went by private.......go figure.

 

My twins gave each other nicknames when they were toddlers.

I called my son Bud. Not anything close to his real name, just that he was my little buddy.

 

When I worked at the newspaper we had a real estate customer whose given first name was Caboose! He said his mother named him that because he was (she hoped) the last of her long line of 14 children!

 

What? You don't want me to tell the Campbell's soup story?!?! LOL!

 

That depends entirely on whether you want to be banned.