# origins of the name bubba **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444 "2008-07-14T15:35:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ntcrawler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@ntcrawler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntcrawler)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/1 "2008-07-14T15:35:45Z")
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](http://www.fugly.com/media/IMAGES/Scary/sailor_bubba.jpg) for instance? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/2 "2008-07-14T15:38:05Z")
My understanding is that it’s a Southern “mush mouth” rendering of “Brother” ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/3 "2008-07-14T15:39:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/4 "2008-07-14T15:42:23Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/5 "2008-07-14T15:46:08Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] My understanding is that it’s a Southern “mush mouth” rendering of “Brother” [/QUOTE] Replace “mush mouth” with “18-month old” and you’ve got it. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/6 "2008-07-14T17:12:34Z")
While not specifically listing the form _bubba_, OED does have\* bubby\*, which is clearly related. > [@](#): > > bubby, n.2 > > [Bartlett and Webster say a corruption of brother: but the word looks more like Ger. bube, bub, boy.] > > ``` > In U.S. a familiar name for a little boy. > > ``` > > 1848-60 in BARTLETT. 1864 in WEBSTER. There’s also _bub_, which also comes from _bubby_. > [@](#): > > bub, n.6 > > A form of familiar address to boys or men. (Cf. BUD n.3) > 1839 C. F. BRIGGS Adv. H. Franco II. 189 ‘Speak louder, Bub,’ said one of the vice presidents, encouragingly. 1872 ‘MARK TWAIN’ Roughing It v. 51 Well, I shall have to tear myself away from you, bub. 1896 McClure’s Mag. VI. 485/2 She always called him ‘bub’ when she wanted to vex him. 1902 S. E. WHITE Blazed Trail xxviii, Well, bub,..blowed that stake you made out of Radway, yet? 1948 Chicago Star 24 Apr. 3/4 Hey bub{em}can I get a squint at yer uppers? ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/7 "2008-07-14T17:28:26Z")
My Alabama uncles call each other bubba all the time. It means “Brother” to them. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/8 "2008-07-14T17:28:51Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/9 "2008-07-14T18:18:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Bubba is also how you say “grandma” in, I think, Polish. Yiddish. (bubbe) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/10 "2008-07-14T18:21:15Z")
FWIW, if you’ve got a bubba and you aren’t a bubba, chances are you’re a sissy. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/11 "2008-07-14T18:23:42Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] FWIW, if you’ve got a bubba and you aren’t a bubba, chances are you’re a sissy. [/QUOTE] Sometimes if you’ve got a bubba AND you are a bubba… ---
**Author:** ![bufftabby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bufftabby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bufftabby)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/12 "2008-07-14T23:10:14Z")
I knew one person growing up whose legal name was, in fact, Bubba. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/13 "2008-07-15T00:05:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2008, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-the-name-bubba/456444/14 "2008-07-15T01:09:07Z")
Around my house its short for Bubbadog.