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.
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
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.
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?
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)
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.
Well, it would stick in the mind. If it’s in big letters on his truck, he’d save on ads.
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.
It surprises me not at all that jazz would be a more informal milieu than classical.
My niece Margaret goes by “Meg”, and is constantly annoyed by people assuming that she’s “Megan”.
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.
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.
One of my cousins is a one ‘l’ Randal.
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.
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.
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.
Maybe influenced by “Jacques”, the French version of “James” (both derived from Latin “Jacobus” from Hebrew “Yaakov”)? Other than that, I got nuthin’.
Ah, I didn’t know that.
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.
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.
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.