# Where the heck did "Dubyea" name come from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894 "2005-10-05T15:06:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/1 "2005-10-05T15:06:35Z")
I must have been in a Rip Van Winkle 20-year sleep, but somehow I missed learning why Bush is called “Dubyea.” Where did this come from and/or what does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/2 "2005-10-05T15:08:25Z")
It’s supposed to to be a southern pronunciation of the letter W. Which, of course is Bush’s middle initial. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/3 "2005-10-05T15:08:42Z")
It’s “Dubya.” As in a Texan pronunciation of “double-you,” as in his middle initial, W. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/4 "2005-10-05T15:09:16Z")
> [@KlondikeGeoff](#): > > I must have been in a Rip Van Winkle 20-year sleep, but somehow I missed learning why Bush is called “Dubyea.” > > Where did this come from and/or what does it mean? George **W**. Bush, as distinguished from his father George H. W. Bush. The “W” is pronounced “dubya” by some people (particularly Texans?). ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/5 "2005-10-05T15:38:25Z")
I also believe it’s a family nickname. I think I heard his father refer to him that way once. ---
**Author:** ![aamco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@aamco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aamco)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/6 "2005-10-05T18:45:16Z")
It’s so you don’t confuse George W. “W” Bush with George H.W. “G-Dawg Killa-face Pimp Masta fo Rizzeal” Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/7 "2005-10-05T19:43:54Z")
But I believe that’s how Bush himself pronounces it, right? ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/8 "2005-10-05T20:14:39Z")
In the early days of his presidency, I was so confused, because I’d see “Dubya” printed all over the place, but had no idea who it was. I thought that people were talking about some sort of esoteric foreign dictator or something, especially since most of the things I saw about him were angry. It was probably a year into the presidency that I realized they were referring to “W,” our president, and not some Sri Lankan Guerilla Leader. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/9 "2005-10-05T21:47:16Z")
When he was governor of Texas, he often signed memos with just the W. Some staffers called him that, and it was all right with him. These days, it’s mostly his detractors who call him that. It’s hard to say when the transition took place. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/10 "2005-10-06T02:48:51Z")
The earliest I remember hearing it was on **Conan O’Brien**. He would say “I like to call him ‘Dubya’,” but I doubt he (or his writers) coined it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/11 "2005-10-14T03:31:33Z")
Thomas Pynchon uses “Dubya” as a nickname for a “W” named character in his 1990 novel _Vineland_. I’d be surprised if it hasn’t been around for a very long time. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/12 "2005-10-14T05:04:36Z")
For a while, I didn’t understand “Shrub.” ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/13 "2005-10-14T14:23:21Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > The “W” is pronounced “dubya” by some people (particularly Texans?). Are there people who, in conversation, would pronounce the letter as “double-yoo” as opposed to “dubya”? That sounds like an affectation to me, the same kind of person who would say “wed-nes-day” or “feb-ru-ary”. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/14 "2005-10-14T15:02:16Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Are there people who, in conversation, would pronounce the letter as “double-yoo” as opposed to “dubya”? That sounds like an affectation to me, the same kind of person who would say “wed-nes-day” or “feb-ru-ary”. Having said it several times to myself just now, the nearest I can say is that in casual speech, I seem to say “dubba-you”. I’ve noticed though that quite commonly Southern (or any other “disreputable”) accents are spelled by just giving a phonetic spelling of words, even when those words aren’t pronounced particularly differently from the standard dialect. I’m sure some folks around here say “dubya” for “double-you” and have no trace of a southern accent. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-the-heck-did-dubyea-name-come-from/324894/15 "2005-10-14T16:37:00Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Are there people who, in conversation, would pronounce the letter as “double-yoo” as opposed to “dubya”? That sounds like an affectation to me, the same kind of person who would say “wed-nes-day” or “feb-ru-ary”. I have always said “double you,” beginning when I first learned the alphabet song. And I would never say “wed-nes-day” (or even “weddens-day”). But I do say “feb-ru-ary,” and a lot of people I know do as well.