# why is GW Bush nicknamed dubya? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2006, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928 "2006-11-27T11:57:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/21 "2006-11-27T15:51:24Z")
[QUOTE=Jonathan Chance] I also believe it’s his family name from his parents. He’s ‘Dubya’ to distinguish himself from his father. Dorothy is ‘Doro’. John Ellis Bush is ‘Jeb’. So there’s a family tendency, my guess is from GHWB, to assign nicknames. A tendency GWB seems to share from reports. There’s also brothers Neil and Marvin and a died-in-childhood sister Pauline. But I don’t see much info on naming issues for those three. [/QUOTE] It is a tendancy of Dubya’s mother Barbara’s family to give nicknames to their members. Pauline was called “Robin” from her full name “Pauline Robinson.” Neil was Whitey, from his blond hair. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/22 "2006-11-27T16:01:21Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] Personally, I like to think of them as Bush the Elder, Bush the Younger. [/QUOTE] Although I’m not much of a Bush-basher, I prefer “Papa Bush” and “Baby Bush”… You know, like the Duvalier’s? … Hello? Is this thing on? After saying “W” a couple of times, apparently I normally pronounce it “dubaya” and this explains why I tend to exaggerate the “Duuuubya” when referring to our beloved leader. As to why I believe anyone cares how I pronounce “W”, I’m still compiling data. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/23 "2006-11-27T21:33:08Z")
> [@](#): > > This entire thread has been a bash, after a fashion. HIs supporters don’t call him Dubyuh. I’m pretty sure I have heard his supporters referring to him as “Dubya”. It’s consistent with the down-holm, folksy image he’s cultivated for himself. Remember, one of the points which won him votes was that “he seems like the kind of guy you could have a beer with”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/24 "2006-11-27T22:29:39Z")
> [@](#): > > This entire thread has been a bash, after a fashion. HIs supporters don’t call him Dubyuh. But nobody than his supporters calls him The Promised One. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/25 "2006-11-27T23:20:46Z")
I like **Tris** ’s term: George the Second. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/26 "2006-11-27T23:24:10Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] I like **Tris** ’s term: George the Second. [/QUOTE] Or Shrub ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/27 "2006-11-28T00:00:09Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] After saying “W” a couple of times, apparently I normally pronounce it “dubaya” and this explains why I tend to exaggerate the “Duuuubya” when referring to our beloved leader. [/QUOTE] Same here. Dubya can also be said “Duh-bya”, emphasizing that people who don’t like him think he’s not the smartest President ever. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/28 "2006-11-28T01:06:56Z")
From the bizarre linguistic area of Southwestern PA, we often say dubya when referring to the letter. I even tend to shorten it more when referring to a web address by saying “dub, dub, dub…” But then again, I’m weird. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/29 "2006-11-28T02:33:54Z")
[QUOTE=CapnPitt] I even tend to shorten it more when referring to a web address by saying “dub, dub, dub…” But then again, I’m weird. [/QUOTE] No, you’re not. There was a talk show host in LA who used that term for years (Nick Federoff, who had a gardening show–go figure). I often wonder why that vocal shorthand never caught on. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/30 "2006-11-28T02:37:45Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] It is a tendancy of Dubya’s mother Barbara’s family to give nicknames to their members. Pauline was called “Robin” from her full name “Pauline Robinson.” Neil was Whitey, from his blond hair. [/QUOTE] But what do they name their members? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928/31 "2006-11-28T02:47:09Z")
I wonder how many Americans really say “double-u”. I think we more often say somthing closer to “dub-oo-u”, but you have to say it pretty fast. Think of how the call letters are said for stations east of the Mississippi: WABC, or whatever. Maybe it’s just me, but I speak what would be considered standard newscaster type American English, and if I’m honest with myself, I rarely enunciate “double-u” that clearly. And the Texas pronunciation would be DUB-ya, with the “u” drawn out as though it were more like: DUHB-ya. Just in case any feriners didn’t know where the accent goes. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gw-bush-nicknamed-dubya/381928.md?page=1)