# Names into nicknames **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2023, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892 "2023-02-16T13:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/41 "2023-02-18T03:36:49Z")
I have a cousin named John. Traditionally, that was a diminutive of Jonathan. I also have a client named Tommy and one named Johnny. That’s their actual names as listed in court documents - they aren’t Thomas or Jonathan. As I think about it, lots of shortened nicknames have now become regular common names - e.g. Sam (from Samuel), John (from Jonathan), Tom (from Thomas), Joe (from Joseph), Tony (from Anthony), Will (from William), Tim (from Timothy), Ron (from Ronald), and Ray (from Raymond). ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/42 "2023-02-18T06:23:07Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > John (from Jonathan) When it’s from Jonathan, I usually see it spelled Jon. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/43 "2023-02-18T07:37:57Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > Did Jimmy Carter appear on ballots as “Jimmy” or did he appear as “James Earl Carter”? No idea, but I’m pretty sure I don’t recall Rafael Edward Cruz being listed by his given name. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/44 "2023-02-18T11:05:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@slicedalone](#): > > > > Did Jimmy Carter appear on ballots as “Jimmy” or did he appear as “James Earl Carter”? > > No idea… Actually, James Earl Carter had to sue to be listed as Jimmy on some ballots. > **[Maine Judge Rules for ‘Jimmy’ (Published 1976)](https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/17/archives/maine-judge-rules-for-jimmy.html)** > > Judge David Nichols reverses decision by Maine election officials Sept 16 and orders name of Dem Pres nominee to appear on ballot as Jimmy Carter rather than either James Earl Carter or James E Carter (S) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/45 "2023-02-18T11:08:21Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I have a cousin named John. Traditionally, that was a diminutive of Jonathan. Oooh - sorry, but I don’t believe that’s the case. John and Jonathan have different roots, but they both contain the element “yoha”, meaning “God”. Happy to stand corrected if someone has a reliable source that says otherwise. In my experience as a genealogist, in the populations I typically research (English, Scottish, Australian, with secondary research in some other English speaking countries), and in the eras I typically explore, “John” is a very common name and"Jonathan" is much, much less common. Before I read your comment I was going to volunteer the anecdote that any Jacks in my great uncle’s era were usually registered as John at birth, while the myriad of little Jacks in my children’s cohort are typically just Jack. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/46 "2023-02-18T11:54:53Z")
I know of a man named Ronal. Only one I ever heard of. No d in it. Born mid 1940s. I wonder where that name came from? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/47 "2023-02-18T12:02:53Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > Oooh - sorry, but I don’t believe that’s the case. John and Jonathan have different roots, but they both contain the element “yoha”, meaning “God”. Happy to stand corrected if someone has a reliable source that says otherwise. My name is John and over the decades I have grown sick to the point of _rage_ at people assuming it’s short for Jonathan. It’s not. I’m actually named after John Pickford (who aggravatingly enough went by “Jack”) by way of my grandfather, whose parents were associates of his. > **[Jack Pickford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Pickford)** > > John Charles Smith (August 18, 1896 – January 3, 1933), known professionally as Jack Pickford, was a Canadian-American actor, film director and producer. He was the younger brother of actresses Mary and Lottie Pickford. > After their father deserted the family, all three Pickford children began working as child actors on the stage. Mary later became a highly popular silent film actress, producer and early Hollywood pioneer. While Jack also appeared in numerous films as the "All American boy next... ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/48 "2023-02-18T12:54:57Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I have a cousin named John. Traditionally, that was a diminutive of Jonathan. Yeah, I’m going to pile on and say I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken about that: “Jon” is short for Jonathan, but “John” is a name in and of itself, not short for anything else. (Both names, John and Jonathan, occur (separately) in the Bible.) ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/49 "2023-02-18T13:00:51Z")
My father’s name was always Jack, and not Jack-for-John as some people assumed. His mother got it from a relative of hers who was killed in the Great War, I think. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/50 "2023-02-18T23:02:23Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > Did Jimmy Carter appear on ballots as “Jimmy” or did he appear as “James Earl Carter”? I don’t recall but I do remember that early in the campaign he was trying for Jimmy, and that he asked the press to call him Jimmy Carter, which they obligingly did. Certainly his campaign material said “Jimmy”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/51 "2023-02-19T00:07:14Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Sally was short for Sarah, but has been a “real” name for quite a while Huh, I always assumed that that was some variant of “Salvador”. When you meet someone named “Dan”, it’s almost always short for “Daniel”, even though both of them are perfectly valid Biblical names (Dan was one of the sons of Jacob). Former Vice President Dan Quayle was actually short for “Danforth”, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone named just “Dan”. > [@Moriarty](#): > > I have a cousin named John. Traditionally, that was a diminutive of Jonathan. No, “John” has long been its own name. Both of the New Testament Johns (after whom, ultimately, most of the other Johns were named) were just “John”, not short for anything. Another oddity: The English name “Mary” derives from Latin “Maria”, of course, which is the feminine form of “Marius”… but it also derives from Greek “Maria”, which was a rendering of “Miriam” (apparently a very common Aramaic name at the time of Jesus, given that there are about three of them in the New Testament). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/52 "2023-02-19T00:13:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Huh, I always assumed that that was some variant of “Salvador”. Really? Interesting. I know a Sally who got in trouble in school, because her teacher assumed she was a Sarah, and thus was defiantly signing forms with a non-legal name. I had a friend in college who did not believe that “Jack” was a nickname for “John” - I’m not sure who he thought Jack Kennedy was. Now that friend is a doctor - so beware. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/53 "2023-02-19T00:13:50Z")
The funny thing about getting dragged for my comment about John and Jonathan was that I hesitated before posting. I guess I should have trusted my instincts. Anybody else care to point out that John and Jonathan are different? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/54 "2023-02-19T00:40:03Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I had a friend in college who did not believe that “Jack” was a nickname for “John” Sometimes, it’s a translation of Jacques, though Jacques is actually the equivalent of James. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/55 "2023-02-19T00:41:37Z")
I met a guy with a weird name that I can’t recall. He was born in France and apparently they had a list of official names allowed and his parents picked an odd one that was close to some old family name they wanted to use. So sometimes you can’t name a child anything you want. But people will still call you by anything you answer to. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/56 "2023-02-19T01:36:02Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > Peggy is a nickname for Margaret (but not for my cousin Peggy)… And “Daisy” has also been used as a nickname for Margaret. It’s because its French form, “Marguerite”, means a daisy in that language. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/57 "2023-02-19T01:42:37Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I don’t recall but I do remember that early in the campaign he was trying for Jimmy, and that he asked the press to call him Jimmy Carter, which they obligingly did. Certainly his campaign material said “Jimmy”. Well, [here is his pardon of draft dodgers](https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/pardon-of-vietnam-era-draft-dodgers-jimmy-carter/YwGIPBSx47CyLQ?ms=%7B%22x%22%3A0.39803033848488134%2C%22y%22%3A0.5064374304687551%2C%22z%22%3A10%2C%22size%22%3A%7B%22width%22%3A1.1413121845710166%2C%22height%22%3A0.6888888888888889%7D%7D). It’s granted by “I, Jimmy Carter, President of the United States”, and signed “Jimmy Carter”. Really, though, “Jimmy” is just a diminutive of his full first name. It’s not like he’s using a completely different first name (e.g. Richard Carter, Jeffrey Carter, whatever) or an unrelated nickname (e.g. Champ Carter, Chip Carter, Butch Carter). ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/58 "2023-02-19T02:55:59Z")
I’m your average cross between a New England family and a WV coal mining family. My mother was a DAR. My father’s family has been in WV since 1840. I don’t have a middle name. My siblings don’t have middle names. None of my eight cousins have middle names. It wasn’t family custom…the family just didn’t see any point to giving middle names. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/59 "2023-02-19T02:57:51Z")
Interestingly enough, LatAm is full of people with “Gringo” names, … it seems to be an aspirational thing - which contrary to what many parents originally intended, end up being class-markers… especially when spelled wrongly: The amount of Jhonny (Johnny), Jhonatan (Johnatan) Dayana (Diana), Brayan (Brian) or Meikel (Michael) or Mileydi (My Lady) or Jeison (Jason)… is astonishing ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/60 "2023-02-19T03:33:45Z")
I had a HS classmate whose given name was Ted. One teacher insisted that his name had to be Theodore or Edward or something other than Ted and wasted a half hour of class time arguing over this. Stupid teacher. When my son was born in Switzerland we got a pamphlet describing the rules for naming. But foreigners like us were not constrained (mostly–I think names like Adolph Hitler would not have been allowed). The rules differed by Canton. In the Romansch areas, last names were permitted as given names since that was a practice there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892.md?page=4)