# Is Nellie Short For Anything Specific? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899 "2009-03-26T19:02:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/1 "2009-03-26T19:02:34Z")
I have Googled this and it seems I’ve found the name “Nellie” to be short for, basically, any other name that contains the letter “N.” With that in mind, is there any _specific_ name it is short for? Or is it just a sort of generic nickname for girls, like “Skip” or “Chip” is for boys? ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/2 "2009-03-26T19:03:12Z")
Eleanor, sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/3 "2009-03-26T19:04:21Z")
I was going to say _usually_ Eleanor. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/4 "2009-03-26T19:04:35Z")
Neli is a common nickname in some Slavic languages - it’s short for Anelia. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/5 "2009-03-26T19:09:59Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I have Googled this and it seems I’ve found the name “Nellie” to be short for, basically, any other name that contains the letter “N.” > > With that in mind, is there any _specific_ name it is short for? Or is it just a sort of generic nickname for girls, like “Skip” or “Chip” is for boys? I think it used to be a nickname for either Helen or Eleanor… but over time, it became a name in its own right. Some of the more famous Nells, like Nell Cater, have “Nell” as their given names. The most famous Nellies I can think of, however, were men. MVP second baseman Nelson “Nellie” Fox, and rapper Cornell “Nelly” Haynes. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/6 "2009-03-26T19:11:53Z")
I know one who uses it as a nickname for Ellen. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/7 "2009-03-26T19:16:50Z")
It’s a corruption of “mine Ellen”, in the same way as “Nan” derives from “mine Ann”. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/8 "2009-03-26T19:24:02Z")
I know a Janelle who uses Nellie as a nickname. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/9 "2009-03-26T19:25:36Z")
I know an Antonella who goes by Nellie, as well as a Helen who goes by Nellie. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/10 "2009-03-26T19:27:57Z")
I heard of an elephant who packed her trunk, she was called Nellie 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/11 "2009-03-26T19:30:28Z")
Some potential meanings for Chip and Skip are among the many at [Nickname - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickname). ---
**Author:** ![Marienee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Marienee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marienee)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/12 "2009-03-26T19:36:28Z")
Around here, Nel and Nellie are usually short for Petronella, which is I believe the feminized version of Peter, or for Cornelia. However, this is almost certainly not true where you are. In English I thought it was the short form of Helen, but apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/13 "2009-03-26T19:38:19Z")
I was thinking Ellen as well, from “Nelly” Dean in _Wuthering Heights_ who is actually Ellen. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/14 "2009-03-26T19:40:21Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Neli is a common nickname in some Slavic languages - it’s short for Anelia. In Polish, it’s Aniela. That was my grandmother’s name (and Nellie was her nickname). The Slavic version of “Angela”, I think. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/15 "2009-03-26T19:43:05Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > I heard of an elephant who packed her trunk, she was called Nellie 😃 ooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH You beat me to it and now I’ll have that song stuck in my head for the rest of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/16 "2009-03-26T19:49:52Z")
I knew a Nell whose full name was Genelle. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/17 "2009-03-26T19:51:46Z")
For guys, it’s a variation on Nelson as for Nellie Fox, Baseball Hall of Famer. My father also had some friends named Nelson back in the '20s and '30s he called Nellie. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/18 "2009-03-26T19:53:27Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I knew a Nell whose full name was Genelle. As do I! Hmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/19 "2009-03-26T22:22:27Z")
My great grandmother was Ellen Jane Gray, who went by ‘Nellie’. I had a hell of a time finding her in my search. ---
**Author:** ![GCU\_Stout\_Heart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gcu_stout_heart/32/3032_2.png) [@GCU\_Stout\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GCU_Stout_Heart)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899/20 "2009-03-27T01:02:08Z")
My gran was known by all as Nellie, and her name was Helen. I think this is quite common in Scotland amongst that generation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nellie-short-for-anything-specific/490899.md?page=2)