# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/121 "2023-02-25T15:28:07Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The mathematician [R. H. Bing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._H._Bing) had only initials. > > Supposedly, > > > [@](#): > > > > It is told that once Bing was applying for a visa and was requested not to use initials. He explained that his name was really “R-only H-only Bing”, and ended up receiving a visa made out to “Ronly Honly Bing”. I once worked with a guy with the surname of “Obie.” When asked what his surname was on the phone once, he replied that it was, “Obie. O, B, I, E.”, thereby adding the spelling in an attempt to be helpful. He later received something in the mail addressed to [Firstname] Obobie. We called him “Ob-Obie” the rest of the time he worked there. 😄 Speaking of names, this very same co-worker had a son named Sam. He very nearly named his daughter “Ella” before realizing that it maybe wouldn’t sound great to have two children named “Sam and Ella.” Because it sounds very similar to “salmonella,” of course. ---
**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 25, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/122 "2023-02-25T19:53:25Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > It has been fashionable in France to adopt Anglo-sounding names,for sone years - particularly Kevin, for some reason. Interestingly, this show has a Kevin! ---
**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 25, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/123 "2023-02-25T22:50:50Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > It has been fashionable in France to adopt Anglo-sounding names,for sone years - particularly Kevin, for some reason Well, Kevin is an anglicized version of a Celtic name, so perhaps this is popular in Brittany? ---
**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 25, 2023, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/124 "2023-02-25T23:02:23Z")
It’s an anglicized version of Irish _Caomhín,_ a diminutive of the Irish adjective _caomh_ “dear, pleasant,” from Old Irish _cáem_ (or _cóem_) “dear, precious.” The Breton cognate is _kuñv_: adding a Breton diminutive would get you _Kuñvig,_ which is not in use as a name and doesn’t sound much like Kevin. (-_kuñv_ in Breton is equivalent to _great-grand-_ in English for relationship titles: _mamm-kuñv_, “great-grandmother.” The equivalent suffix in Welsh (_cu,_ mutates to -_gu_) is just _grand-_: _mamgu,_ “grandmother.”) ---
**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 25, 2023, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/125 "2023-02-25T23:10:48Z")
I’m not saying it is a Breton name, just that the affiliation is there and that might be part of the name’s popularity. ---
**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 25, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/126 "2023-02-25T23:40:35Z")
My point is that the affiliation **isn’t** there—Breton has more than its share of Ks and Vs and is related to Irish, but there’s no particular reason for Bretons or French people to go for anglicized Irish names in general. The fact that Breton and Irish are both Celtic is well known, but they’re not as close as, say, French and Italian are, and people wouldn’t perceive the connection. It’s pretty clearly something French picked up from English, Celticity incidental. French Wikipedia says Kevin was unknown as a given name before the 80s, and mentions Kevin Costner and a few other mass-media culture Kevins as the origin; the information on Patrick is less detailed, but suggests it peaked about a generation earlier, with fewer French Patricks overall. Eric is also pretty popular, and I had thought that was a Celtic derivative (because it is a Breton name), but apparently the French Erics are largely using the Germanic name of St Eric of Sweden. ---
**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 26, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/127 "2023-02-26T19:24:19Z")
My father had a sister named Maude - but she was born around 1910 or so. ---
**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 26, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/128 "2023-02-26T22:35:52Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Kevin was unknown as a given name before the 80s Unknown, or exclusive? My Uncle Kevin was Greatest Generation and my bro Kevin is a late-born Boomer. My family has a large number of anglicized Irish names, including my own. ---
**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 26, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/129 "2023-02-26T22:49:22Z")
Unknown in France, I meant. Lots of Kevins in the anglosphere. Unless you’re French, in which case I’m just wrong—following Wikipedia isn’t always the safest course! ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/130 "2023-02-27T02:45:35Z")
Breton is closely related to Welsh, not Gaelic. ---
**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 27, 2023, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/131 "2023-02-27T12:19:50Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > My great-uncle Guy was Gaetano. My great grandfather was Gaetano, but he legally changed his name to Thomas G. because he wanted to sound more American. The first time my grandfather visited relatives in Brooklyn, he heard his father talking Italian to his great grandfather. In surprise, he asked his brother, “I didn’t know dad could talk Italian!” His brother replied, “Our parents never speak it because they don’t want us to have any hint of an Italian accent.” Every time I see or hear the name Gaetano, I think of that story. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2023, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/132 "2023-02-27T13:35:04Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > It’s my impression that birth certificates are inviolable–you can put anything you like on them (true?) Other people have discussed restrictions in other countries, but not the US. California (and I expect other states) require names to be all alphabetic letters. No digits or non-alphanumerics. I only know this because Elon Musk tried to name a son with a “12” embedded within it and they refused to accept it. So the “12” got changed to “XII”. Also, I think they changed the Æ to AE for the same reason. > [@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. > > Later found out his name was ‘Boyette’ I suspect it was a family name or something. My landlord’s name is Boy. He’s east Asian, although I don’t know what nationality/ethnicity. He goes by Bob usually and that’s what I thought his name was. I would occasionally get some junk mail to Boy [his last name], which I thought was a typo in their database. Eventually I found out it actually was his name. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/133 "2023-03-14T18:33:16Z")
From Old Norse, where it means “ruler’s counselor”, and predates [its anglicized form, Ronald.](https://www.thebump.com/b/ronal-baby-name) ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/134 "2023-03-14T18:59:10Z")
> [@chela](#): > > there’s Hazel A woman I know has a daughter named Hazel who’s a college freshman, but the girl goes by Haley, which is a common enough first name that everyone just assumes it’s her “real” name. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/135 "2023-03-14T19:03:37Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > I know a woman in her twenties named Abigail. Do not dare call her Abby! In contrast, I know an Abby whose legal first name is just that, and has to correct people who refer to her as Abigail. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/136 "2023-03-14T19:57:44Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I think there was a very popular book about that time about a girl named Maude. There was also the actress Maude Adams, best-known for playing Peter Pan starting in 1905. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/137 "2023-03-14T22:57:19Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > From Old Norse, where it means “ruler’s counselor”, and predates [its anglicized form, Ronald.](https://www.thebump.com/b/ronal-baby-name) That’s odd. He came from an Italian American family. But thanks. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/138 "2023-03-14T23:47:16Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > A former White House worker named Ivana was nicknamed Ivanka. Her mother, also named Ivana, is famous for her unconventional burying place. I’ve heard that Russian names tend to have a lot of nicknames, and that it’s usual for the same person to have different nicknames from different people. A Russian classmate told me that it always seemed odd to her that everyone in America called her the same thing, just because that’s the version of her name she happened to introduce herself as. Meanwhile, I only just learned a few days ago, from a Women’s History Month poster at my school, that “Sonia” can be a nickname for “Sophia”. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2023, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892/139 "2023-03-15T12:31:55Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > I know an Abby whose legal first name is just that, and has to correct people who refer to her as Abigail. I like the apocryphal girl who goes by Liz. When people ask if that’s short for Elizabeth, she explains no, Lizard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-into-nicknames/979892.md?page=6)