My wonderful mother-in-law, Julia Blair, gave extravagant nicknames to her children. Ben’s is: Benjerbomboom. His siblings (or maybe it was the neighborhood kids) gave him another one: Ben-Benji-Bare-Bottom-Burp-Baby-Blair. All of his siblings have terrific nicknames. A sampling: Jenettikins, Blopsy, Caroliney-Deeny-Diny, Margretchie, and Deedle-Doos. (Just by reading those names aloud, you can probably guess that my mother-in-law was a wonderful singer. And you’d be right.)
My name is Gabrielle but I grew up with the nickname Gabby. Since I talk a lot, it’s always been a good fit. (Hah!)
We were telling our kids about their aunts’ and uncles’ nicknames, and realized that at our house, we’ve hardly used nicknames at all. Ralph is occasionally Ralphie. Maude is once-in-awhile Mimi. Olive is Olive. Oscar is Oscar (with an experimental Osc here and there). Betty is always Betty. And Flora June is Flora when speaking French, and June when speaking English. I love the idea of nicknames and was kind of surprised to realize we didn’t commonly use them.
Also, nicknames and alternate names always make me think of Dostoevsky. I swear, he uses like 10 different names for each character he introduces.
What are your thoughts on nicknames? Do you have one? Do your kids? Do you know anyone that was given a nickname as an adult and it stuck?
P.S. — The names that got away.
My full name is already a nick name. My mom said why name me Nicole if all they really wanted to do was call me “Niki”. Growing up my cousins called me Nixley and my work friends call me Nikster. Both of which make me smile.
My husband is Robert but it even catches me off guard to hear someone use that. To everyone he is Bobby.
Our daughter is Emilia. Most people call her Emi. One of the ladies at her school calls her Mimi (she started there at age 1 and that is how she referred to herself before she could say Emi) Her great Aunt calls her Booski. Boo-Boo Bear > Boo> Booski. It makes her laugh when they chat via face time, which is 3 or more times a week. Her dad calls her pumpkin and I usually refer to her as Baby-love. Sometime I hear her calling her dolls baby love so I hope that means she likes it.
Great topic. I didnt realize we were such nicknamers until I replied to this post.
we love a nickname around our house…i even refer to my two girls as my :chickens”.
My big girl, Allie, is commonly referred to as Delicious. I have no idea why. My little one, Kate, is Tot. Again, it just happened.
My little niece calls me Miss Kitty which totally cracks me up…i am the complete opposite of a Miss Kitty!
My husband’s siblings all have shortened versions of more formal names (Caroline=Carrie, Robert=Rob, etc.) but no nicknames. My siblings and I, however, have some crazy nick names, although they weren’t used all the time. My brother Paul was Pauly-wog; Laura was Laura-Loo or Ducky (legend says she looked like a duck as a baby?!); I was Annakins, and Derek was Buggy-Joe. The youngest, a 10-years-later caboose, escaped without a family nick name. He is just Nathaniel. Although for a while he was “Scoob-than” when he had a thing for Scooby-doo. :)
Now in my own family with our two young daughters (3 and newborn) we have a few nicknames, but they don’t make much sense! Sara is Scairza, Sara-sair, or Shnugah. (I can’t even think of phonetic ways to type them!) So far the baby, Ava, has a pretty horrible nick name; Stink bug. Let’s hope that one doesn’t stick!
I have so enjoyed reading other’s nicknames! My family has lots of nicknames flying around but my all time favorite is my grandmother’s. The name she went by her whole life was Eliza, but her grown children always called her “Lizzie” to each other, and eventually they started calling her that directly. She pretended she thought they were fresh and reprimanded them, but really she loved it! And it stuck….everyone called her Lizzie. If only I had another girl….she would have been Lizzie!
My 5 year old daughter Lili has given her brother Lucas the nickname “Googley”. When he started cooing “goo goo gah gah” she began to call him that. I don’t think she knows what it means to “google” something but I’m pretty sure she hears my husband and I talk about it. (“I’ve got to google the actor in that film.”) I just love his nickname! I love that it comes from her. And, I love that she uses it so endearingly. (“Oh little googley!” “Googley is hungry, Mama.”) I hope he carries this nickname forever. :)
I am a Karyn who’s always been called Milly by my family. My brother Geoff called Jack by Dad. My cousin Simon is always known as Sam. My cousin Moana is Naans. My cousin Aroha is Wa. My cousin Kelly is called Wuppie by her brothers.
I like being Karyn in one world and Milly when I come home. I don’t like it when Mum calls me Karyn!
I never thought I was a nickname person–until I had children and now my husband and I cannot stop ourselves! They just come out!
Paige is Paigey, Paigey-poo, P.A.-puffinstuff, GiGi, “page” in Spanish (though I won’t type it because I don’t like how it looks)
Trevor is Trev, Trevvy, T-Man, Fehver (what his little bro called him when he couldn’t say Trevor)
Preston is Pres, Preps, Preppy, P-Boy, P-Town
Gavin is Gav, Gavey-goo, Goo-man, Goo Goo, G-Man, Gooserfacer (?)
Lucy is Lulu, Lu, Lucyface, Lulubunnyface, Bunnerfacer (Again?), LuBuns
I mean, as I type these, I’m thinking we’re so bonkers. But, we’re also kinda endearing, right?
My daughter Chloe’s name, while very popular now, wasn’t well known when she was born, so people often assumed it was a nickname, although we couldn’t imagine what it would be a nickname for; so for fun we would call her things like “Chlotilde” or “Chloerina.” Now she’s just Chloe, but sometimes Chloeroo or Coco, which is what her little brother called her before he could pronounce her name properly. Ainsley is often called by her first and middle name “Ainsley Rose” which often turns into “Ainsley Rosie” or we call her “Anya” which is what her little brother called her again before he could master her real name. Our Weston has outgrown “Westy” but is sometimes “Westone” to emphasize the spelling of his name or “Master Weston” since he’s the oldest son. Miles is “the bub,” “handsome,” “Miles Luc-ers” or “Milesy Wilesy” and Blake is “Blakerboo” or simply “Blakey” as long as he’ll let us
My daugther is Isabel as well. Lots of people call her “Bella,” as if her name is Isabella, or “Bell,” but my nickname for her for the past eight years is “Tink” because once upon a time our neighbor’s toddler could never remember her name and just yelled “Can Tinkerbell come to play” every time we were out in the yard.
My parents are really into giving nicknames. I’m bear, mrs. E-bear, kerbopple, bobbled-it, Frog. My sisters are nanny and lolly. My brother I nicknamed my self is fe-fullee, fifi, and my other brother is Dany-boyeE. My dog is Zeezo, corzo, caco, teeze, weeskaz, cauz, toast. The other dog we call Fat, Woggie. My rabbit we call Alpo, Alphonzo, Alphred, Alphrado, mr. Blister, mr. Rabbit man. It’s very easy and fun to nickname people (and animals).
Btw I’m not a mom I’m an author/ pet parent. No children sorry
When I was growing up I saw know as sugar buns,peanut,sweet pea,gumball eyes,sweetheart and Mandy
I actually still go by those nicknames by my family and now my mom also calls me lippy.
Meanings behind the nicknames
Sugar buns -I was given this nickname because I’m sweet,cute,and at the time really tiny.
Peanut- I’m not really sure why I was called peanut,my mom calls me,my sister and brother peanut
Sweet Pea- Mostly because thats my fave body spray scent,not really sure about the other reasons.
gumball eyes- Babies have small eyes :D
Sweetheart- because I always take care of people and love to help
Mandy- Just a simple nickname for my name Amanda
Toothpick – my dad called be that when I was young,I was hella skinny and now I’m heavy T-T
Lippy- because I have attitude and I’m not afraid to speak my mind
p.s My name is Amanda Lynn,they choose it because they said it sounds musical
nickname bunny
bunny
I love nicknames, too. I have an Aunt Purd whose name is Karon, but they called her “purdy girl” when she was small. I have an uncle Pyge whose name is Jaron – no idea where that came from. My nicknames from family, friends, and extended family are: Ky, Nye-Ky-la-Poop-Er-Eye (shortened to Nye-Ky at my request as a teenager), Howie (from a cousin mispronouncing Kylie), Ky-Ky, Ky-girl, Joserita, Jose-ina, Ernie, Key-lie, and IW (independent woman.) My husband, Ryan, was called Braith (the first part of our last name) growing up, but hasn’t had a nickname until my mom started calling him Ry-Guy. Together, our combined nickname is RyKy.
THEN, my daughter Naomi is is called: Naomi, Nay-nay, Little Bee, Naomi-bug, Bugaboo, Boo, and Honey. When I was first expecting her I called her a little Bee, because she was so small… I guess it kind of stuck. :)
love this post : ) i’m the bird. i hardly ate, and someday i’d fly the coop. only my dad calls me that. “hey bird!” at one point i was certain my mom hated me because she put the word ‘ass’ in my name! horrifying! to close ones– i’m cass, to the bank– i’m cassandra, and everyone else i’m cassie.
My mom called me Bunky or Bunky Do and my oldest friend still calls me by that name. Kel Bel or Belly (my name is Kelli) are still used for me. My son Daley goes by Daley Bug, Doodles or Day and My oldest son Finn often goes by Finny or Niffy. So fun to read all of these great nicknames!
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My son is booch (which came form big sis calling him Coochie little boochie as a baby), but also booch fest, boochie, booch fest 2020!
Can I just say that I love that you talk a lot?! Always great, meaty posts on Design Mom.
One of my nicknames was jabber jaws, for the same reason. I talk a lot!
When we had kids, my husband (the oldest of his siblings) started referrring to his brothers and sisters as Aunt Childhood Nickname and Uncle Childhood Nickname. Like once there were little kids involved, everyone’s name reverted to what it had been when they were kids.
My brother and I both have names that are easily and commonly shortened to “nicknames” that are really more just names- Elisabeth (Beth) and Christopher (Chris). Growing up (and every once in a GREAT while now), my mom and some other family members called me Bethy or Bethy-Pooh. My brother has given both my sister and I QUITE a few nicknames over the years. My sister Heather was Hairy-Beary-Pigeon-Toed-Llama-Lizard-With-A-Gizzard (Who-Is-Definitely-Not-A-Wizard) for a while (so mean!). For most of middle school/high school my brother called me Beefos and my sister Heiffer. Other names he’s given me (he still comes up with new ones all the time) are Enrique and Archie/Archibald…I really have NO clue where he came up with either of those. It bothered me more as a kid, but we’ve gotten used to his nicknames now :)
I go by my middle name, but my whole name is Mary Kristin. My aunts, uncles, and 3/4 grandparents called me Kris, but one grandpa called me Merry (Mary?) Christmas, and I kind of loved it. Our cats have had a ridiculous number of nicknames, the kids not so much.
I am all about nicknames. Here’s my kids and their nicknames, I’ll admit the single syllable names don’t lend themselves to as many.
Avienda – Avi, Avibender, Bender, Avischmella, Schmella
Olivia – Livi, Liv, Loo, Via, Liviloola, O-livia, Liviloo
Paige – Paigey, Paygy, JP, Paigeypoos, P
Roan – Roaner, Little Man
We love silly nicknames in my family! My youngest brother Andrew has gone by everything from Angie Coco to Bobby to Robert Earl of Bruce to Connie Walker (who knows?!). I was always called Millie the Moocher (cause I loved stealing a bite of food from my parent’s) but that somehow got shortened to Meech or Meechie. We named my son Andrew with the intention of always calling him Roo (while we also throw in Rudy, Roobie, Rudy San, Rupees, etc.) We wanted him to have the option for a more traditional name should he want to appear more professional as an adult but I personally hope that Roo is the name he prefers all his life.
Nicknames are a quite a thing in our family.Son’s Nickname “Küg” short for German “Kügelchen” (tiny ball) which he practically was in the womb and daughter is “Bimmi” which comes from a neighbour’s daughter not being able to pronounce her real name Lynn. My Great-Aunt Mavis was always called Bird (Auntie Bird for us), as when she was little, she “cheeped like a little bird” according to family folklore…..
I love giving my friends nicknames! Sometimes they come to me as soon as I meet someone, and sometimes they evolve over time, but I love having my own unique name for the people I’m closest to. I also save people as their nicknames in my phone, and I’ve had friends in the past who have taken great joy in going through my contacts list and seeing how many they can correctly guess. Some are derivatives of their actual names, and then some are totally out of left field. Every once in a while I will come across a contact in my phone and have no idea who they are [like the person I met years ago in India who I saved as ‘Doogie Howser’ in my phone — I have a vague recollection of who they are and honestly keep the contact saved because it amuses me], but for the most part I’m pretty good at knowing who they are.
What a fun post! My dad gave us all animal nicknames, no idea where he got it from. I’m Puppy (Pupster, Pup, Pupsteroonie), my brother is Donkey (inspired by Shrek. He tried Monkey when he was young, but it never stuck), and my mom is Rabbit. I sign emails and cards to my dad as Puppy, not my actual name.
I have always called my sister Sis or Sissy. We both hate it when I call her by her real name. I remember being frozen in my tracks when I saw her in the hallway in high school. I wanted to call out to her and say hi but was to embarrassed to yell “Sissy!” in the halls.
I actually still get shy to say it loudly in public sometimes, but at age 40 I think it’s time to get over that.
My husband is the ultimate at handing out nicknames…what nobody realizes is it’s because he’s so bad at remembering people’s real names!! He has nicknames for everybody and uses them so much that they catch on and others use them as well. It’s terrible because I don’t know the real name of most of his friends!!
I myself had a ton of nicknames growing up. I wrote them all down once at someone’s urging because we realized there were so many. That list resides somewhere in my parents’ basement now but I was told that the more nicknames you have, the more you’re loved!
My family voted on my name. It’s what happens when you’re the way baby with sister 10 and 15 years older than you. My name is Kathleen, but my father would only agree to it if the family called me Kate. I’ve always felt that my name fit me perfectly.
My mom’s name was Laura, and her nickname was Larky. I think it’s the perfect nickname.
Oh I love reading these comments! So fun to hear everyone’s nicknames. My parents still call me Gor Mor or Gaura Maura (just noticed the other day that this is what I’m named in my dads phone haha). My brother is 10 years older and nicknamed me Buns when I was a baby and that stuck through childhood. He doesn’t call me that anymore but my nieces and nephews love knowing that. 2 of their nicknames are great too, Simbop (Simrin) and Bo Handsome (Bodhi).
My given name is Kaitlyn, but only medical professionals call me that.
I’ve been Kaity always. My mom called my sister and I Emily-loo and Kaity-did, which quickly shortened to Loo and Did. Even my sister’s partner calls her Loo nowadays!
My grandmother called us Kait and Emmy, and was the only one to ever do so.
My younger brother goes by Sam, and my mother calls him Sweet Potato Pie or Saminel (how he pronounced his full name when very young.)
I had one dentist who called me Jane, as they kept mixing a Kaitlyn (me) and a Kathryn (my mom) born on the same day. So my mom finally had them use my middle name.
We don’t have kids yet, but I intentionally favor names with multiple nickname options. I think it’s important for kids to have the chance to change their nickname if they want.
I love nicknames! Probably because my name doesn’t lend itself well to a nickname and I kind of wish it would. I am terrible at making them up, but my husband gives most people he knows a nickname. Our kids’ nicknames are:
William- Liam, Lum, Dummy Lummy
Keaton- Guy, Keaton-the-Guy
Lincoln- Linky, Link, the two combined as Linky Link, and Stinkin’ Lincoln
Lyla- Lyla Girl, Goo Goo, Baby Girl
Keaton’s nickname, Guy came about when our youngest daughter called him that before she could say his name. We were so confused as to why she called him that until I realized that when I had her on my hip, trying to herd the three older boys I would always say, “Let’s go guys.” “Hurry guys.” “Come on guys.” Keaton was always the one lagging behind. So we think she actually thought I was always calling him Guys, and she could say Guy more easily than Keaton. He’s 17 now and goes by Guy almost exclusively in our home.
I love nicknames! When I moved to California several years ago, I started introducing myself as Meg, but it didn’t stick. My daughter’s name is Kit, usually a nickname, but my partner and I decided to go for it as her full name. She may want to go by Kit or her middle name, Elizabeth, when she’s older 🤷🏻♀️
My dad is a great nickname giver. He called my sister and me Big K and Little K as kids (for Big and Little Kahuna). He used to call my husband Cubby after my mother in law told a lengthy story about my husband’s prowess as a cub scout. My cousin’s husband who sticks out in family photos because he is very tall and most of my family is not, he has named Too Tall Joe. I could go on.
We have a lot of nicknames in our home for my son and our pets with our little terrier perhaps having the most nicknames. I purposefully named my son (Samuel) a name that has a serious full name, a silly nickname or a friendly nickname-he now goes by Sam but as a toddler was Sammy. Maybe one day he will use Samuel. Growing up as an Emily, I didn’t love being called Em by anyone other than my very closest people (my sister and a cousin and maybe my best friend). Occasionally someone who doesn’t know me well will attempt to call me Em and for some reason I don’t like it. In my view, nicknames are earned by those who know us best–only appropriate for mothers or fathers to bestow them or family members and very close friends. My best friend growing up is Jennifer and for some reason I called her Henry growing up which I then turned into Henny and then became Hen. Funny to see it written out that way. I suppose the longer we know people, the more people they have been and will be to us, if that makes sense.
My family nickname was (and is) Babar. Like the elephant but pronounced Bay-bar. Supposedly it evolved from my dad calling me “Baby Dear.” My husband hates it. I like that only certain people call me that. I have an uncle and an old boyfriend who called me “Mo.” My husband calls my older daughter “Bing,” which evolved from “Little Wing” which he called her as a baby, after the Jimi Hendrix song. Younger daughter is sometimes “Lila Bean,” like Lima Bean. More often she’s “Cupcake” which is what her daycare provider called her when she was a baby. That often becomes “Cup” or “Pound Cake.”
We have a friend named “Chopper.” No idea what his real name is. His company name is his name. The Governor calls him Chopper. 😄
I love nicknames!
What a fun post.
Nicknames are pretty common in my family. My name is Johanne (pronounced Jo-Anna) but I’ve been Jo-Jo, Joey, Joanna-banana and most commonly, what I usually call myself, Jo. My little sister Carolyn got Carlooney, Loonie Tunes, and eventually Tunes, which my step-dad still calls her.
My mom always called me “Pooh” until I got married, and the only other nickname I’ve had since then is from my sister-in-law who calls me Susie (not at all close to my given name, Cindy!). Its rather funny to see people’s reaction when she calls me Susie and they have no idea why. I don’t even know why. 🤔 My husband is the best nick-name giver. My son’s were “Walt” for Cole, “Eaker McBeaker,” shortened to “The Beak” for Eric and “Deedle Guy” for Ren. (Makes no sense at all! 😂) The crazy tradition has continued with the grandchildren: Violet is “Ultra-Violet” (Lettie Lou to me), Margot is “Margot-Ana” (she adored Moana when she was a toddler), Claire is “Clairvoyant” or “Clairable” and Simon is “Simonator.”
My kids get very upset by nicknames and demand people call them by their full first names. Which is funny because my husband specifically wanted names for them that could be shortened to 3 letters. His name is David and he has a very distinct memory from kindergarten when he noticed his friend Sam was done writing his name much faster than he was. So he tried to convince his teacher that his name was Dav (Dave with no e 😂). Sadly neither kid wants to go by Ben or Liz right now 😂.
My nick names were:
Cole
Sweet Nickel Pickle
Nickel
Nickel-Dime-Quarter-Fifty-Cent-Piece-Dollar
When my husband found out about the Sweet Nickel Pickle one he started calling me just Pickle.
My name is Karen, which is already short so I have no nickname associated with my first name. But, some friends call me KP – my initials.
I prefer people call me KP because honestly, my name has been sullied by 2020.
Mine is Meg-a-muffin and I have no idea where my mom got that.
Her name is Rhonda and she never had a nickname until my husband started calling her Ronnie. She’s now known as Grandma Ronnie and my daughters middle name is RonnieLu! :)
I had a million nicknames growing up for Tatiana: Tizzy, Tat, Tati, Ana, Tater tot, T, Ana Banana, etc. I can’t even remember them all. My family all call me Ana and depending on when the friend/coworker was in my life I have a different name to them 🤣
We named our daughter Juliette and thought something like Jules would be her nickname… But it doesn’t fit. We called her Juju when she was really little, but it evolved to “Jujy Bujy Bujy Boo” (haha!) And now we just call her Jujy and I call her Boo as well – if not using her full name. At school she goes by Juliette.
I like to nickname things. Friends, characters, inanimate objects — if I like you well enough, I will nickname you. Usually it’s simple stuff, like riffs on initials or shortened versions of their actual names — G, KB, Jayjay, Bee, stuff like that. My husband is Joshua Tree.
For inanimate objects, it gets silly. I played a lot of Animal Crossing over quarantine, and my villagers have about twenty bazillion nicknames, the longer and more absurd the better.
For me, my given name is Margaret. I did not care for it as a kid — kids would tease me by calling me Margaret instead of my preferred nickname, especially since they knew I didn’t like it very much. It felt too old and stuffy — I couldn’t spell it correctly until I was like 8 or 9. I was named after my grandmother, who was wonderful, but the name never felt like mine.
I’ve always been called Maggie, which I preferred. I think it suits me much better. As I’ve gotten older, I like having the nickname because telemarketers/people I don’t know/salespeople can call me Margaret. People I’ve introduced myself to call me Maggie. I like the line it creates.
Maggie does get turned into other nicknames, and I like them! Mags and Miss Maggie are the two I got called the most, usually by my family. My husband occasionally uses Mae, which has grown on me. Sometimes people call me Pearl, after an online username of mine.
Nicknames feel special. I may dislike my given name, but I do like all of the nicknames that it’s lent itself to. I felt like I had more of a “choice” — after reading Little Women, I tried on Meg as a nickname for a while. There were lots of possibilities if I decided Maggie wasn’t for me anymore.