A kid my brother went to grade school with was (and still is, as far as I know) known as Turtle. Because…well, he looked like a turtle.
My freshman year roommate in college became known as “Carpet Head” because he had really short tight curly hair.
A couple of girls who were roommates both somehow got dubbed Phyllis, even though neither was named Phyllis. And when referring to both of them together, they were The Phyllii.
I totally forgot about Evergreen. Her name was something normal, like Lauren or Mary or whatever. But her obsession with the color green > Evergreen.
I knew a teenager nicknamed Noodles. Apparently, before he was born, when he was wiggling around inside his mom, it made his dad think of noodles - and the name stuck for at least 15 years.
I had a great aunt who always went by Sue. I had always assumed that was part of her name (first name Henrietta). Nope. No Sue, Susan, Suzanne or Susannah anywhere as part of her name.
An ex always went by Pete. He was legally Roby, Jr. As a toddler, his mother’s mentally challenged Uncle Pete lived with them and he followed him everywhere. He became known as Little Pete, shortened to Pete as an adult.
I know a Suzannah who goes by “Zany.” It’s not strange, but it is kind of funny.
These are mostly from high school and college, though two are from business:
Sea Pig (HS football)
Armadillo (HS football)
Joonie (HS Football)
Crash (HS guy who never had a crash or even drove a car much)
Fast Eddy (College oarsman)
Doug the Head (College)
Lance (Male business associate actually named Jay)
Doc (Me by business associates…I am no sort of doctor at all and do nothing medical)
These were so commonly accepted that the individuals would sign notes with their nicknames and schedules would be issued using their nicknames.
When I was in my first squadron in the Navy, one of the guys I worked with was always giving people nicknames. The 3 I remember (this happened in the mid-70s, so yeah, I’ve forgotten much):
Fred - one night, he couldn’t remember my name, so he called me Fred, and Fred I remained for 2 years. Totally random and unrelated to any part of my name or anything.
Suzy - short for Suzy Homemaker - bestowed upon my friend Valerie because of a prank one of the other guys played on her. She thought it was hilarious and used it for years.
Stony - his real name was Grant, but he got the nick because “He looks like a Stony.”
Oh, and the guy giving out nicnames was named Terry, but he went by Pete, which was part of his last name, so it was a logical nickname.
One more from another squadron some years later. A rather dopey LtCdr walked into the wardroom where a poker game was in session. Yep, he said “You guys playing cards?” and he immediately became Flounder. He didn’t get it…
Younddago ( never knew real name) After setting shovel down on a conveyor, and then asked where is shovel, all he could do was point and say " Yondago " ( as in yonder it goes)
Yard ( Prentice) Carried a load of sod to his boss, and when it was discovered everyone said he was Gilbert’s Yard Boy, and it stuck
Pickle ( Robert) Last name Dill
LookBack ( Jerry) Not sure of origin, might have been in HS basketball, after his dunks when running back down court always looked back at bench for approval.
Honeybun (Greg) No idea of origin
Leon ( Joel) Once got punched from behind, and went out like Leon Spinks
E.T. ( Bobby) Kind of looked like ET
Bag ( Lorenzo) No idea of origin
Wooly - A co-worker from Maracaibo, Venezuela who anglicized his name Guillermo to William. When he answers the phone he says “This is Willy” but it sounds like he’s saying Wooly.
Flash - My ex husband’s nickname given to him by guys he worked with. He would get lost in thought a lot. Another guy they worked with was half Peurto Rican and half Irish, they called him Spic and Spud.
Tony the Foot - a man I used to work for, he owned a bar and grill in North Bergen, NJ. He wasn’t with the Mafia, he and his wife used to be dancers.
When I was at university I lived on campus. In my residential college there was someone in my year I knew quite well, although I wouldn’t say we were close friends.
At some point early in our first year he ended up with the nickname “Ucker.” I confess that I didn’t know the origin, but I didn’t bother questioning it for quite a while. After all, nicknames don’t necessarily need to make sense. Eventually I asked someone:
Me: “Why is John [not his real name] called ‘Ucker’?”
Them: “His surname is Cox.”
Me: “Yes, I know that.”
Them: “Think about it.”
Me: “… Cox … Ucker … Ohhh!”
A kid in High School was called Dippa Dempster. Originally one of his mates called him “Dipstick”, the insult Rosco P Coltrane used on Dukes of Hazzard and sort-of-but-not-really sounds like “Dempster”, but in the 80s there also used to be an ice cream in New Zealand called the Dippa, a banana flavoured, chocolate dipped popsicle, which he enjoyed eating often enough that Dipstick turned to Dippa and then Dip.
I also currently have a friend called MPS, spelled out. His real name is Peter S–, but he has a weird sense of humour and when a mutual friend said his name to the lyrics of “Mr Dobalina Mr Bob Dobalina”* as “Mr Peter S–, Mr Peter Peter S–” he liked it so much he signs everything as not Mister Peter S–, but MPS.
*I think that’s from The Monkees originally
In the early 90s, I attended basketball games of my then-home team Golden State Warriors. One of their players, Keith Jennings – one of the ten shortest all-time NBA players – was known by everyone as “Mister Jennings.” Whenever the arena announcer said “Mister Jennings,” the Mr. Dobalina song would play in my head.
I knew a guy in college who carried a small hatchet on his bike to defend himself from hostile dogs. We called him Axeman and his residence Axeman Manor.
Back in high school I had a couple of friends who got tagged with the nicknames Elmo and Fudd. I lost track of Elmo decades ago but I’m still in touch with Fudd.
