Several older people that I have known, as well as some famous figures (Ronald Reagan for one) have had the nickname “Dutch”. As far as I know none of these people are ethnic Dutch. Most probably weren’t even German (given the old use “Dutch” for 18th century German immigrants).
Is Dutch short for something? Or is it just one of those random nicknames, like “Bud”?
Do any other ethnic names get used as nicknames in this way? I have heard of a few old boxers named “Irish”, but they usually were Irish. (“Irish” Bob Murphy for instance).
Well, I don’t know about all the other Dutches out there, but Reagan was nicknamed by his father because, as a baby, he looked like “a little fat Dutchman.” I’d guess that other Dutches of non-Dutch extraction are so called because of appearance (though not necessarily “fat”).
There are several remarks which may be considered an insult when “Dutch” is added. But in this case I’m not so sure the nickname is necessarily meant to be one of disrespect. On the contrary, when used by friends and/or family I think the nickname probably refers to a specific character trait, stubborness. This is not always a bad thing either. Stubborn in perseverance or relentless, not a quitter.
Think…a country determined to hold back an ocean. There it is. Dutch = determination.
I was going to mention the boy with his finger in the dyke, but I knew y’all wouldn’t let that get by.
And, of course, Dutch Schultz’ s real name was Arthur Flegenheimer. He was Jewish. He cultivated the nickname as teenager, apparently as a more fitting one for a fledgling mobster. In his case, the name was lifted from an earlier bad guy, a member of the late 19th century “Frog Hollow Gang”.
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Most probably weren’t even German (given the old use “Dutch” for 18th century German immigrants).
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My great uncle was a 20th century German immigrant (from Hamburg) and everyone knew him as Dutch. He was never called by his real name. I’m guessing he got the nickname when he was in the Marines.
In my home area, everyone answers if someone hollers “Hey, Dutch”. Our local high school features the Flying Dutchmen, and local cars sport the bumper sticker: “You ain’t much if you ain’t Dutch”. I actually have 7 dutch uncles (one is deceased. Another uncle is german, so he don’t count). I know plenty of dutch widows, used to buy iced cream at the Dutch Treat snack bar, pick up laundry at the Dutch Cleaners, and buy a foam Dutch wooden shoe hat at Dutchland Plastics.
My father, who grew up in a seaport in the 1920s, used to refer to a number of people from his youth as “that old Dutchman.” Most were probably second or third generation German-American.
And to back up what t-keela said, he was proud of his “Dutch stubborness” (his mother’s side came from Northern Germany.)
Another in the pseudo-ethnonym nickname department: About a hundred years ago, a common nickname for Irish guys on New York’s Lower East Side was “Turk.” Not that they had any connection in the slightest to actual Turkish people. It apparently came from the Irish word torc, meaning ‘wild boar’. Whoa.
