Opie...short for what?

Cafe Society
1

What was Opie Taylor’s full name? For what name could Opie be a nickname?

Thanks!

2

Supposedly he was named after bandleader Opie Cates.

The Social Security Death Index shows about 700 people with given names of Opie. Rare name, but not unprecedented.

Now, as to who was the first Opie, that’s a good question.

3

Oprah.:smiley:

4

Or it’s possible that his given name was something like Orville Periwinkle Taylor, and they called him O.P. or Opie for short.

5

Original Post, of course.

Could be Original Poster, too.

6

Word on the street is that “Opie” is an actual surname of Cornish origin. Apparently it was also occasionally used as a first name, at least in the Southern US: Opie Read was a Nashville-born journalist of some note.

7

Again, it is a Southern thing. We use weird names.

8

I thought it was Opie Cunningham… :smiley:

9

Opus?

10
  1. Opium
  2. Opprobium
  3. Hi, Opie!
11

Do we ever see how Opie spelled on the series? Like we see Aunt Bee is spelled “B-E-E” and not “B-E-A” on signs and such the “gang” has made for her. As in “Welcome Home Aunt Bee.”

12

The ending credits?

13

This site seems to suggest a Norse origin, which would be odd (though not, of course, impossible) for Cornwall. It’s surely not from the Cornish language. Iona and Peter Opie are famous folklorists (as such things go). The name doesn’t appear in any of the reference works I have on names.

14

From:
http://www.tagsrwc.com/faq/index.php?cat=2#a14

15

oppenheimer?

S^G

16

Opie Name Meaning -Cornish:
from the medieval personal name Oppy, Obby, a pet form of various personal names such as Osborn, Osbert, and Osbald.

17

apparently Andy Griffith and Sheldon Leonard named Opie Taylor after a radio personality Opie Cates that Andy listened to growing up . Cates , according to Wikipedia, was a clarinet player,band leader and radio actor whose real name was Opal Taft Cates - so it would seem that for Cates, Opie was an affectionate form of Opal although Opie is still a genuine name in its own right as evidenced by my preceeding blog.

18

That was answered in the second post…four years ago.

19

Moved to Cafe Society.

Note that this thread was started in 2008.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

20

LMAO. I was tempted to write that.

I asked my mom once, who for some reason hated Ron Howard, what’s Opie short for? She said DOPIE! :eek: