What name is the nickname “Biff” a shortened version of?
Nothing. It’s a nickname like “Champ” or “Scout”, and is independent of the given name. Based on the few baby namer sites I just checked, it was apparently based on an English slang word meaning “to hit” or “punch”.
Oh, :smack: thanks
The actual name of the only guy I know who goes by Biff is Eldredge.
<b><a href=“http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001855/”>Biff Tannen</a></b>:
What are you looking at butthead?
Biff Tannen:
What are you looking at butthead?
Buford maybe?
Brian
Biffward? Biffmont? Biffathan? Biffmund? Ah, Biffbert!
I grew up in Preppie Central, and there was a loose tradition of your nickname having the same first initial as your first name: so “Biffs” might likely have been Bills or Bobs.
I was doing PR for a Japanese bank back in the '80s, and one of the VPs, Masao Kitada, told me he wanted an American nickname, like all the other Japanese businessman. I told him of the Preppie Tradition—so to this day, there is a banker in Japan named “Muffy” Kitada.
FWIW, the “Biff” I work with is actually named William. (Which rather supports Eve’s Bill/Bob hypothesis.)
I know one whose real name is Burton, another point for the b-name theory.
I think I need one of those.
I thought it was short for |31FF!!!11!1!!!ONEONE!!ELEVEN1!
Time to either show your age, or put away the Commador 64
Yep, his given name was Biff. He played catcher for the Atlanta Braves for nine seasons.
Now he’s retired, and makes some of the best bratwurst you ever tasted in your life. You can get them at the Universal Joint in Decatur, Georgia.
I’m quite glad you list your location, because the one Biff I know is really named William. But he’s in San Diego. 
biff is also the name of a common *nix program that alerts you when you have email. It was named after a dog who barked whenever the mailman came. (You’ll have to scroll a bit.)