The Andy Griffith show.
What the heck is Opie short for?
The show never says.
It’s open to interpretation by the viewer, namely Me.
I’m going with Oppenheimer.
Hey I’m just a girl who loves Andy, you know?
I like the idea that it is the initials of his First & Middle name. Like O.P. Taylor.
Apparently, Ron Howard did mention in an interview with Jay Leno that Opie is named after a forgotten bandleader Opal “Opie” Taft Cates.
https://www.bnd.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/answer-man/article124542689.html
My very own take on Opie’s backstory: Opie isn’t short for anything. It’s a nickname derived from “Ope”, the backwoods expression that generally is the same as “oops”. Opie Taylor, therefore, was an accident.
That’s my version and I’m sticking with it.
I like it.
Oops, indeed!
So you’re saying:
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There is an answer to the question
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Opie is a nickname derived from a unique first name.
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Hi Opal!
And you’ve been waiting how long to use that?
(Well played)
Nice!
My first thought was of Hi, Opal.
I’ve always liked to imagine that Opie is short for Opossum.
Actor Walter Clarence “Dub” Taylor Jr. was on season 1, episode 3 of the Andy Griffith Show. Dub Taylor also played a recurring character named Opie Swanson across multiple episodes of the Dennis the Menace television series.
Hey. Slides right into my life story, possums and all. 
And just think, yesterday Andy was out “pinging crows”.
Interesting (to me, anyway) that the radio character Opie Cates played was a good-natured country bumpkin, possibly inspiration for Gomer?
And a couple of other Opies thru history:
Author Opie Read (1852-1939)
Philanthropist Opie Turner (1961-1962)
More commonly found as a last name. Actress *Miyoshi Umeki was married to director Winfield Opie.
*TV “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father” and movie “Sayonara.”
Well, at least in this thread, you are OP.
mmm
If Opie was a girl I’d say it could be short for Ophelia.
BJ Hunnicutt of MASH said he was named after his mother Bea and his father Jay.
Brian
This is an Eopie: