Celebrity, non-celebrity, whatever. Please give the reason for the nickname if it’s not obvious.
Also helpful - if known personally, was the nickname used BTB (Behind Their Back) or TTF (To Their Face)?
Mine:
Baseball player Jhostynxon García is known as “The Password”.
His younger brother, Johanfran, is nicknamed “The Username”.
@Mean_Mr.Mustard Are you limiting this to just athletes and celebrities, or are “normal people” with interesting nicknames fair game?
Regular people, celebrities, whatever. I only used my example because I like it.
Thanks for the question, I edited the OP.
mmm
I always thought mine was great.
My Daddy was expert at nicknaming.
We all had one.
When I first started working in advertising, I had a client whose birth name was Charles Obusek. He went by “OB” (pronounced OH-bee, like in “Obi-Wan”), clearly based on his last name. I’m not sure exactly how that nickname came about, but I do know that he strongly disliked being called by his actual first name.
Also, a co-worker would very frequently wear this same green shirt. We regularly referred to him as “Martian” THF.
mmm
Predating them, same general principle, major league catcher Doug “Eyechart” Gwosdz and big league pitcher Marc “Scrabble” Rzepczynski.
The husband of one of my best friends is known, to everyone, as Rick. His legal first name is Charles, and “Rick” has nothing to do with his first name, his middle name, nor his surname. When he went to Marines boot camp, there were two guys named Charles in his training platoon, which apparently would not do; someone started calling him “Rick,” and it stuck.
U.S. sports seem to not have many of the sort of fun and well-known nicknames that they used to; most commonly-used nicknames for athletes are just shortenings of their names (particularly ones like “A-Rod”).
But, that said, some of my favorites from the past include:
Back in college, I knew a guy whose actual name I can’t even remember but, in a weird fit of fancy, I decided looked like a “Spence”. So I started calling him Spence and then other people in our group started calling him Spence and that just sort of became his name. By my last year, he was just known as that to his girlfriend and everyone else and, from what I understand, the next year (after I had left) had his car license plate changed to “SPENCE”.
I dunno if that counts as a good nickname but it’s the first and only time I unilaterally changed someone’s name for all practical purposes.
I know a grappler who unintentionally ‘checked another guy’s oil’. The other guy complained about it a LOT, and the first guy got known as “The Mechanic”.
I was called Twiggy growing up.
I knew someone with the last name Tomson whose nickname was “No-H-No-P.”
Being born in the 50s, several of my friends are named David and Mike. The Davids are Dr. Jive, HDP and Quigg. The Mikes are Lefty, Melrose and Smitty. And, of course, there are the Debbies. They are Prudence and Lissa.
I was stationed with a guy in the Navy named Maynard Lipp. He used to joke that he was glad his mother didn’t name him Richard or he’d be called Dick Lipp. So of course. . .
I, too, am a Mike (born in the mid '60s); I have always had multiple other Mikes in my school classes, jobs, etc.
In high school, I was one of seven Mikes in my class of 75 boys; friends nicknamed me “Pistol Pete” (after basketball player “Pistol” Pete Maravich), not because of any basketball skill I had, but because it differentiated me from the other Mikes, and “Pistol Pete” rhymes with my last name.
In college, there was always at least one other Mike in my dorm; I got nicknamed “Herb” during my junior year, after the nerdy guy in the infamous Burger King ad campaign from that time. I didn’t particularly like that nickname, but it did stick until after I graduated, to the point that there were people in the dorm who did not realize that my given name was not actually Herb.
My favorite one of my friends was a buddy who came down with a very rare lung infection when he was in his 20s. Over 90% of people who got this infection are Black women who are over 60. His nickname: The Queen of Soul.
At one point I had two housemates both named Dave. In an inspiration of absolute brilliance (but you’d have to know them) I dubbed them Sparky and The Chief.
Benjamin David Goodman, aka Benny Goodman, the King of Swing.
George Herman Ruth, aka Babe Ruth, aka the Bambino, aka the Sultan of Swat.
My baby brother is Harry. He didn’t like being called Potter or people hollering "expelliarimus" every time he was introduced. He set out on a campaign to change his going-by name.
Alas, he ended up with Herman. Caused another set of issues.
His second wife didn’t even know his name was Harry til they married. She called him Herman til they divorced. That’s ok, we couldn’t quit calling her his first wife’s name. Alicia and Allison.
Hey, we didn’t expect her to stay any longer than the first one. So we were not real motivated.
I believe that came from his like of 16 oz beers.
I had an acquaintance in college who I knew for years as “Crackers.” I can’t remember his real name now. Darren, Darrell? Nickname came from him getting very high and eating an entire box of saltines.
I’ve got a friend “Zilla” who is a really large strong guy actually named John.