What are the origins of the name “Bubba”, specifically its use as a nickname for someone or something who is big, fat, ugly, and scary-looking, like this guy for instance?
My understanding is that it’s a Southern “mush mouth” rendering of “Brother”
I’ve always heard that toddlers have a hard time pronouncing “Brother,” so they often call their older sibling “Bubba,” and it sticks as a family nickname. Why this should be a particularly Southern thing, I don’t know.
Bubba is originally a variation on “brother”. I’ve heard it used by Southerners to refer affectionately to their siblings before (i.e., “my bubba”). The more malicious use of it for generic male Southerners of somewhat less intelligence than average is more recent and stems from its common use as a nickname.
Replace “mush mouth” with “18-month old” and you’ve got it.
While not specifically listing the form bubba, OED does have* bubby*, which is clearly related.
There’s also bub, which also comes from bubby.
My Alabama uncles call each other bubba all the time. It means “Brother” to them.
Bubba is also how you say “grandma” in, I think, Polish. Up here in Cleveland we hear a lot more of that use than the usage in the OP.
In the recent season of the show Weeds, the family is hanging out at Bubby’s house - their Jewish grandma.
Yiddish. (bubbe)
FWIW, if you’ve got a bubba and you aren’t a bubba, chances are you’re a sissy.
Sometimes if you’ve got a bubba AND you are a bubba…
I knew one person growing up whose legal name was, in fact, Bubba.
If you search the Social Security Death Index, you can find “Bubba” as a “legal” first name from as early as 1893. He lived in Texas. Another, 1895, he lived in Alabama. 22 listed in total. About 90%+ issued their cards in Southern states.
For what it’s worth.
Around my house its short for Bubbadog.