# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/101 "2023-02-22T17:28:07Z")
My older brother was named after my father so, when I was born, my father pretty much left naming me up to my mom. She chose “Jasmine” simply because she thought it a beautiful name and liked it very much. She gave me “Turquoise” as a middle name for the same reason. My buds call me “Jazz” for short, which is just fine. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/102 "2023-02-22T18:15:03Z")
When my son was born I told someone his name was Scott. The woman shook her head and told me as much as she likes the name, she could never name her son Scott, since everyone would call him Scooter. My son, Scott, is 29 years old. Nobody has _ever_ called him Scooter. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/103 "2023-02-22T18:59:55Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Although 20 to 30 years ago, “old-fashioned” girls’ names started to be popular again. Abigail. I know a woman in her twenties named Abigail. Do not dare call her Abby! ---
**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 22, 2023, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/104 "2023-02-22T19:02:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My son, Scott, is 29 years old. Nobody has _ever_ called him Scooter. In my experience, babies get called Scooter if they spend a significant amount of time scooting instead of crawling. Nothing to do with their given name. ---
**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 22, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/105 "2023-02-22T19:43:22Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Then she finally decided on Maude. I think there was a very popular book about that time about a girl named Maude. It’s amazing how many outrageously popular books of their time are completely forgotten today. ---
**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 24, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/106 "2023-02-24T00:12:31Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > she could never name her son Scott, since everyone would call him Scooter. Odd, since Scooter Libby (of Dick Cheney’s staff fame) was named Irve Lewis, and Scooter Rizzuto (of baseball fame) had a first name of Phil. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/107 "2023-02-24T07:51:38Z")
So that’s your real name? One of the very few to do that, I’m guessing, here or elsewhere. I briefly knew a girl named Fiji. The name was her father’s idea, and she liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/108 "2023-02-24T12:04:52Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My son, Scott, is 29 years old. Nobody has _ever_ called him Scooter. I’ve known a number of “Scotts”, and I never heard anyone call them “Scooter”, either. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/109 "2023-02-24T12:08:09Z")
Yep, and it goes back to the “BreakupGirl” days when I first started posting on line. There a gazillion “Jasmines” out there, so it certainly doesn’t reveal anything about me as an individual that someone could use for any malevolent purpose. ---
**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 24, 2023, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/110 "2023-02-24T12:24:12Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I think there was a very popular book about that time about a girl named Maude. My grandmother (b. 1873) was a Maude. It might have come from the Tennyson poem (which became a popular parlour song _Come Into the Garden, Maud_), or from its being given to one of Queen Victoria’s grand-daughters. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/111 "2023-02-24T12:34:21Z")
That business about you can use any name you want to as long as there is no intent to defraud - still true. But it never said anyone else had to use whatever name you chose - banks and driver license agencies and employers and such have always been entitled to ask for ID and use the name that is on the ID. They didn’t always do that but it started way before 9/11. What happened since 9/11 is that you needed ID for purposes that you did not need it before and some entities became real stickers - before 9/11, everyone acknowledged " Billy" was a nickname for “William” and if the proof of residence I took to the DMV to get my license in 1980 said “Billy” and my birth certificate said " William" , it was no problem. Nowadays, if my airline ticket and ID don’t exactly match, I might have a problem at the airport even if the discrepancy is that one has a middle initial and the other doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/112 "2023-02-24T12:51:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Former Vice President Dan Quayle was actually short for “Danforth”, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone named just “Dan”. I haven’t either , but my husband’s actual , on the birth certificate name is “Danny” . Causes lots of problems. ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/113 "2023-02-24T16:53:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > . Former Vice President Dan Quayle was actually short for “Danforth”, …and Lenny Henry is Lenworth. [Lenny Henry - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenny_Henry) ---
**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:** [February 24, 2023, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/114 "2023-02-24T18:18:56Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Odd, since Scooter Libby (of Dick Cheney’s staff fame) was named Irve Lewis, and Scooter Rizzuto (of baseball fame) had a first name of Phil. Yeah, it _can_ be a nickname for Scott, but: - A number of well-known “Scooters” are/were _not_ actually named Scott - It doesn’t seem to necessarily be the go-to nickname for Scott I might guess that the woman that @kayaker met happened to know one or two Scooters, and for her, at least, it was the obvious/expected nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/115 "2023-02-24T21:02:40Z")
I always assumed it (Guy) came from diminutive of Guillermo (Sp), Guillaume (Fr) or Guglielmo (It) with the last giving rise to Guido. The only reason I’m familiar with those names is that they are Romanized versions of my name - William/Wilhelm. Tell someone in Spain your name is “Bill” and they look at you like you have 3 heads. ---
**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 24, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/116 "2023-02-24T22:27:33Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I’ve known a number of “Scotts”, and I never heard anyone call them “Scooter”, either. Whereas I’ve known two adult Scotts who are called Scooter by friends and/or family. I also know a woman who insists on being called Scooter, much to the embarrassment of her adult daughter. ---
**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 24, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/117 "2023-02-24T23:04:16Z")
My great-uncle Guy was Gaetano. ---
**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 24, 2023, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/118 "2023-02-24T23:45:35Z")
> [@carnut](#): > > Whereas I’ve known two adult Scotts who are called Scooter by friends and/or family. I’ve never known a Scooter, and I’m old. The only one I can think of (who I definitely did _not_ know) is Scooter Libby. And his actual first name is Irve. > [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](#): > > Tell someone in Spain your name is “Bill” and they look at you like you have 3 heads. We just started watching a police procedural from France called _Astrid_ on PBS. There is a French character named William. Not Guillaume. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/119 "2023-02-25T14:09:27Z")
A former White House worker named Ivana was nicknamed Ivanka. Her mother, also named Ivana, is famous for her unconventional burying place. ---
**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 25, 2023, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/120 "2023-02-25T14:29:09Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > There is a French character named William. Not Guillaume. It has been fashionable in France to adopt Anglo-sounding names,for sone years - particularly Kevin, for some reason. And Patrick rather than its French equivalent Patrice. On the other hand, French conventional diminutives for given names are a whole different story ([don’t call M. le Président Macron "Manu](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/20/president-macron-double-standards-france)", by the way) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892.md?page=7)