# "Ike" Eisenhower

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ike-eisenhower/51632>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 24, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ike-eisenhower/51632 "2001-01-24T22:58:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ike-eisenhower/51632/1 "2001-01-24T22:58:35Z")

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How did President Eisenhower get the name “Ike”? Is it a variation on Eisenhower? I know he was born David Dwight Eisenhower. _Where_ did “Ike” come from?

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**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ike-eisenhower/51632/2 "2001-01-24T23:08:10Z")

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Ike was an affectation slapped upon him by his West Point cronies.

He was named Dwight David Eisenhower.

As an aside, the _USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)_ is nicknamed the IKE (all caps).

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**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\
**Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ike-eisenhower/51632/3 "2001-01-24T23:40:08Z")

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I beg to differ, Chief Scott. According to \*Facts about the Presidents, \* by Joseph Nathan Kane, Eisenhower’s original given names–as on his birth certificate–were David Dwight. He later changed the order. 🙂

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**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ike-eisenhower/51632/4 "2001-01-25T00:01:57Z")

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Mi scusi.

In all the Ike rubbish I have about the office, I’ve not run across that factoid.

I stand corrected.

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ike-eisenhower/51632/5 "2001-01-25T13:03:09Z")

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Confusion has set in for this non-American poster, ChiefScott. According to an Encarta site I’ve found, President Eisenhower was called “Little Ike” by his parents, with all the Eisenhower sons being called Ike. Could this be anything to do with a Germanic-American background?

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ike-eisenhower/51632/6 "2001-01-25T15:26:14Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ChiefScott \*  
> \*\*Ike was an affectation slapped upon him by his West Point cronies. \*\*

True.

Due to his near-constant playing of Cliff Edwards records on the dormitory Victorola, while dancing around naked.

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**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\
**Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ike-eisenhower/51632/7 "2001-01-26T03:03:48Z")

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O-o-o-kay, **Ukelele Ike** – so how come _you’re_ gifted with the famous “Ike”, hmm? Or shouldn’t I ask that?