# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/61 "2023-02-19T04:17:09Z")
My great-great-grandmother from rural Ohio was named Daisy (full legal name, insofar as that was a thing in her time: she lived around 1880–1950). Anyway, she’s Daisy on all the documents. But my grandfather told me that her “real” name (among French-speaking family) was Marguerite. I remember because it was some years before I made the connection between Marguerite and Margaret. ---
**Author:** ![Feurmann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/779978/32.png) [@Feurmann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feurmann)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/62 "2023-02-19T05:43:22Z")
This is only tangentially related, but has anyone noticed how much more common it is for male jazz musicians to be referred to by nicknames than male classical musicians? Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, and so on. Female jazz musicians tend to be referred to by their proper name (or at least, one by which they are known). Similarly, ensembles tend to be referred to by the full name ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/63 "2023-02-19T06:08:43Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > An old boyfriend loved that his given name was Randy “because I sure am” he’d say proudly. However, it is a nickname for Randolph, Randall, Bertrand, Ranulf, and Andrew amongst others. My brother Randy’s name is Randal. One l. My mother had to confront his 5th grade teacher because she insisted that it was Randall and used that name on all his official papers and was arguing with _him_ about it. She was a retired Navy officer who apparently couldn’t handle a name outside the norm. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/64 "2023-02-19T06:19:58Z")
I went to school with a guy named ‘Boy’ We kids just thought his parents couldn’t think of a name for him. As kids would do. Later found out his name was ‘Boyette’ I suspect it was a family name or something. He’s still in business in a town close to here. ‘Boys Plumbing’ I wonder if his business is good? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/65 "2023-02-19T08:34:26Z")
A couple more: My great-aunt Dora was “officially” Theodora Dorothy can become Dot or Dotty or Dolly Euphemia was quite common in Scotland, but usually as Effie Alexander - Alec or Alex or Sandy (I can’t help wondering if a certain political career might have been different for a Peggy Thatcher) ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/66 "2023-02-19T17:19:15Z")
We planned to name our daughter just “Maggie” but eventually decided on Margaret for her birth certificate, to give her options later in life if she wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/67 "2023-02-19T17:27:35Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > He’s still in business in a town close to here. ‘Boys Plumbing’ > I wonder if his business is good? Well, it would stick in the mind. If it’s in big letters on his truck, he’d save on ads. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/68 "2023-02-19T21:11:15Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I went to school with a guy named ‘Boy’ > We kids just thought his parents couldn’t think of a name for him. As kids would do. What’s wrong with… “Guy”? Which may or may not be short for something (eg Guido), but is a “real” enough name as per this topic. ---
**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, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/69 "2023-02-19T21:19:49Z")
> [@Feurmann](#): > > This is only tangentially related, but has anyone noticed how much more common it is for male jazz musicians to be referred to by nicknames than male classical musicians? It surprises me not at all that jazz would be a more informal milieu than classical. > [@mtnmatt](#): > > We planned to name our daughter just “Maggie” but eventually decided on Margaret for her birth certificate, to give her options later in life if she wanted. My niece Margaret goes by “Meg”, and is constantly annoyed by people assuming that she’s “Megan”. > [@DPRK](#): > > What’s wrong with… “Guy”? Which may or may not be short for something (eg Guido), but is a “real” enough name as per this topic. Isn’t “Guido” itself a nickname? The original would have been “Gaius”, as in “Gaius Julius Caesar”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/70 "2023-02-19T21:40:29Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Isn’t “Guido” itself a nickname? The original would have been “Gaius”, as in “Gaius Julius Caesar”. Wiktionary says it can also be a form of Germanic Wido (short for Witold, Widukind, …) but in that case it is still a nickname/short form/diminutive. There is also (unrelated to Guido/Gaius/Wido) the Hebrew name Guy (= “valley, ravine”) which is not a short form of anything. ---
**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, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/71 "2023-02-19T23:12:48Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Which may or may not be short for something (eg Guido), but is a “real” enough name as per this topic. Per Wikipedia: Guy (/ɡaɪ/, French: [ɡi]) is a French and English given name, which is **derived from the French form of the Italian and Germanic name Guido**. Unrelated to this, Guy is also an Anglicization of the Hebrew name Hebrew: גיא, romanized: Gai, which means “ravine”. I know a couple of men named Guy. One pronounces it the English way (though he looks quite Gallic) and the other pronounces it the French way and gets upset that some friends mispronounce it. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/72 "2023-02-19T23:30:37Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > My brother Randy’s name is Randal. One of my cousins is a one ‘l’ Randal. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/73 "2023-02-19T23:47:58Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > 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. My father’s first name was John, not short for anything, but he was referred to as Jack by everyone who knew him, and he always corrected those who called him John. He was born in 1915, so maybe his parents were fans of Jack Pickford. ---
**Author:** ![moes\_lotion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@moes\_lotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moes_lotion)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/74 "2023-02-20T00:04:12Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > I know a couple of men named Guy. There used to be a Guy Motel on the highway between Rivere-du-Loup QC and Edmunston NB, which afforded me a small bit of amusement whenever I drove by. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/75 "2023-02-20T02:39:36Z")
I had an uncle whose name was James. He was known as Jakie. His wife called him Jake but no one else in the family did. I have no idea how that came from James. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/76 "2023-02-20T03:01:44Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > His wife called him Jake but no one else in the family did. I have no idea how that came from James. Maybe influenced by “Jacques”, the French version of “James” (both derived from Latin “Jacobus” from Hebrew “Yaakov”)? Other than that, I got nuthin’. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/77 "2023-02-20T03:05:29Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Maybe influenced by “Jacques”, the French version of “James Ah, I didn’t know that. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/78 "2023-02-20T04:05:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > My niece Margaret goes by “Meg”, and is constantly annoyed by people assuming that she’s “Megan”. If anything, it would be the other way around— “Megan” comes from “Meg.” Megan is a double diminutive: Margaret \> Meg (in English) + Welsh -an (diminutive suffix) = Megan, more or less Welsh for “Maggie.” Bethan is similar (Elizabeth \> Beth + -an), but I don’t think that one is used much outside Wales. ---
**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 20, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/79 "2023-02-20T14:41:23Z")
My father was named Gene and he recalled his teachers always assuming that his name was actually Eugene. My BIL is the third of his family to be named Ervin Dewitt, and they all use the name “Ed” or “Eddy” based on the initials. Virtually everyone he deals with assumes his actual name is Edward. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/80 "2023-02-20T15:32:42Z")
My great-aunt’s name was Theresa but was called Tessie. There are a lot of girls with just Tessie or Tess as a first name. Also, Terry/Terri/Teri are nicknames for Theresa/Teresa. These names also are used on their own. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892.md?page=5)