What's an interesting nickname in your family?

+13 votes
1.7k views

You'd think with a name like Eowyn, I'd have had a lot of nicknames but I've never really had any.  Unless you count Forest Elf. laugh

Most families seem to have some good ones.  Maybe not as extreme as George Kelly Barnes, who was known as Machine Gun Kelly.  

What's an interesting one in your family? Where'd it come from?

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in The Tree House by Eowyn Walker G2G Astronaut (2.4m points)
reshown by Chris Whitten
Pug nose Mike.
My sister is nicknamed "Bubbles". Mom said her face was round as a bubble.
brother jimmy called wazoo ,uncle Eddie bumbo ,sister Tracey moose ,friend mike Oscar if I sit long enough I bet I could come up with a few more
There's a great-great aunt in my tree who was called "Pelly." Not so odd. But what's odd is that it's a nickname for her actual name "Othello." Not a name that would ever come to mind for a girl.
Tweety Bird, Gooch, Gupper.
When our first grandson William was born our son and his wife stayed with us while their house was being built.

My wife Sue often often became involved in spoon feeding William and as he slowed and became sleepy she would say 'More'.

When he ate the last spoon full she would say 'All Gone'.

Eventually when William began to talk he called her 'Morgon' not Grandma.

The nickname stuck and the rest of our grandchildren also do the same.
My Mother was born in 1910 her given name was Wilhelmina. During WW1 her school friends nicknamed her Billie as a reference to Kaiser Wilhelm due to her having Prussian grandparents. She used that name all of her life.
My dad was a great one for nicknames, so everyone had several. My uncle Harold Robert (known to his wife as Hal and his mother as Bobby) was "Beeeer!" or "Duke" (he walked like John Wayne), I was "Gus" (named from an overheard remark to a drunk named Gus to get up off the floor) and "Gusgus" (after a mouse in Disney's Cinderella) and at school "Smithsonian", my brother was "Doc" (from him chanting: 'Put something in the pot, Doc', after a children's TV program when he was little) and "Zukzuk" (after the fat mouse in Disney's Cinderella, because he was chubby). Mom (Clara) was Lilly or, after the song, Hi Lilly, Mom, Mew, or Mewgie, Dad was P.O.D. (for Poor Old Dad), Pinky (he hated that, but had strawberry blond hair, which I assume was the origin of the name) or predictably Smitty. Our various pet dogs had numerous names: Buffy became Buffington von Schmidt of Windsor (he was buff-colored, we were Smiths and we lived in Windsor Hills), Kiera became Barky, then Barkworth and J. Alfred Barksworth, Tanya became Tatiana Romanova, otherwise known as Sweet-Wheat. The habit remains: to my family I am "Betty" for reasons unknown, and my son affectionately calls me "the Beast".
Frodo & Bilbo as well as Mame.....
Tie- one of my aunts cutest words for a long time she couldn't say "bye bye" she'd say Tie Tie, and the name stuck.

54 Answers

+15 votes
With being born in 1945 and not having many girls named Alexis around I have had several nicknames through the years. Here are some of them: Al, Ex-Lax, Lex, Lexy-Lou, Lexis ( my mother and her mother called me this, and now it sounds like a car ). Many girls now go by Lexy, but their parents won’t like it when they are called Sexy Lexy. My husband is Mike Nelson, and he was called Sea Hunt for several years, guess that really dates us.
by Alexis Nelson G2G6 Pilot (843k points)
Several of my 2xgreat grandfather Thomas Staples Irwin's children had interesting nicknames. The strangest was his eldest son John, who was known as Bunny. I would love to discover how this came about.
That that does sound like an unusual nickname for a boy. Maybe that was one of his first words.
My son also has "Bunny" as a nickname! (only among family members)

His real name is Corbin but he doesn't care for the nicknames Corey or Corby, so we usually just call him by Corbin. Though I would sometimes call him "Buddy" (cause he's my little buddy). Then his older sister started calling him "Bunny" (in place of Buddy), so that kind of stuck!  :)
That is really sweet. Sounds like his older sister loves him. Knick names often have more meaning than we often realize.
I have an uncle Bunny
Do you know how he got that nickname?
Nope.  He was always 'Uncle Bunny'
+12 votes
My grandmother, Lillian Florence (Meacham) (Hughes) (Gunn) (Grey-Clarke) Gunn (born 1886),  was known as Meena.  When she was a child, with bright blonde pigtails, she was thought to resemble Princess Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, and the name stuck the rest of her life.

My grandfather, Battiscombe George Gunn (born 1883), was known as Jack.

My father, John Battiscombe Gunn, was know as Iain or Ian.

My mother, Freda Elizabeth (Pilcher) Gunn was known in her family as Betty

Her sister, Margaret Evelyn (Plcher) Irwin was known as Lu.

Lu's son, Michael Irwin, was know as Joe.

My mother's Aunt Alice (Brown) Cooper was know as Pip.

My father's half brother, Patrick Cairns Hughes, was known professionally as Spike (but Pat in the family).

Pat's first wife, whose name was Margery, was known as Bobby.

I have two brothers-in-law, one named Cedric and one named Eric, and a family friend named Frederick, who all are called Ric or Rick.

Eta that my nth great grandmother, Mary Dally (Battiscombe) Gunn was known as Dolly.
by Janet Gunn G2G6 Pilot (157k points)
edited by Janet Gunn
I just love that nickname "Meena"!
+9 votes
My grandmother was nicknamed "Ollie". It's pronounced "Oh-lee". Not "Aw-lee" Her name was Olympia.
by Chris Ferraiolo G2G6 Pilot (756k points)
Ollie is both male and female.  In the McIntosh line, there's mom & dad, both Ollie, and one son named Ollie.  and it's not short for anything.  It's just Ollie.
+8 votes
I had a great uncle who was called Duck.  I have no clue as to why.  Everyone in town must have called him that though since I found several newspaper articles using Duck as his first name. His given name was William.

A cousin was called Possum. No one can tell me the reason,  but I'm sure there must have been some story behind it. His name was Lewis Victor.
by Karen Raichle G2G6 Mach 8 (86.7k points)
edited by Karen Raichle
It would be interesting to know the stories behind those nicknames!
In the south (USA) Duck is a common nickname for good old boys.
+8 votes
My great grandmother was known as "Birdy" but her given name was Margeurite Post.

On the other side my great uncle John went by Jack.
by
+9 votes
Over the years I have had a few interesting nick names. Most recently, during my years playing Cricket I was known as Pete Repeat, because of my habit of failing to score any runs, more specifically getting out for a Duck. At work I was known as Falcon, because of my obsession with the car of that name, which has not changed even though the car is no longer built. When I was in the Army I was known as Gypsy because I was always wandering off on some tangent of my own.
by Peter Honeywood G2G1 (1.3k points)
+10 votes
My family has had a few. Like Devil Jack that's my maternal great uncle, I think. Baby, sister, dada. My husband family has lots of them. My husband is p-nut or nut, his brother is Coonie, his dad was Moose, his cousin is Noonie, his uncle, Musk. Louisiana folk have nicknames for everybody!! Lol I think there is a Bubba in there and a Couzan which simply means cousin in Cajun french. Oh another is Pot and not because of the drug. Lol he has a birth mark on his head and his siblings couldn't say spot and they would tell him he had a pot on his head. It stuck.
by Misty Musco G2G6 Mach 2 (28.3k points)
What fun nicknames! I bet Devil Jack has an interesting story behind it, lol!
My grandmom knows the story. I think it had something to do with being a pretty mean prankster. I will have to ask her the story.
I have to second that Louisiana families have nicknames for everyone! My dad’s family had some wild ones. Moosie, Cocoa, Coon, Ba-Bay... the list goes on and on! And don’t forget about all the “T” nicknames like T-Mike, T-Paul... haha! Love it!
Yes, I forget about all the T- people. There are a lot of those!! Lol
+9 votes
My great grandmother had a brother named Ferdinand and another one named Francis, but Ferdinand was always known as Curly, and Francis was always known as Spot. I was talking about what I had found on that side of the family to my mom one day, and she had no idea who I was talking about until I said their nicknames. She had never known them by anything other than Uncle Curly and Uncle Spot.
by Emily Yaden G2G6 Mach 1 (15.2k points)
+7 votes
I started out as Christina, parents called me Christy, and it came out of my brothers' mouth as Kiki.  I have been called Kinky, Kicki, Koko, Kikola, Kikster, etc.

My brother, middle name of Cherubusco, was called Bucky.

My grandfather, Cherubusco, was called Buck, or Cherry.

My great great aunt Florence Lewis, was known as Sugar.

Her sister, Nora McGavock Lewis, was Gandy.
by Kiki Newton-Moore G2G Crew (480 points)
+8 votes
My grandmother was called Mouse because she was so quiet (something she outgrew, lol!). She used to call me Mouse when I was a kid for the same reason.
by E Childs G2G6 Pilot (131k points)
+7 votes
My father was nick named "Taffy" due to the fact from when he was a young lad and made to choose prison or work on the land by the courts in the Isle of Man. He choose to work on the land, in Wrexham. He always had a bag of Toffee's in his pocket, and when people seen him they'd say "here comes Taffy with his Toffees" and as he has three son everyone that knew my father always said to us "you can tell your Taffy's son" so all the lads are nick named " Taffy".
by Richard Sayle G2G6 Mach 1 (10.8k points)
+6 votes
My 3x Greatgrandfather William was called Big Bill so of course his son was called Little Bill until the day he died.
by Marcie Ruiz G2G6 Mach 5 (59.5k points)
+7 votes
My grand father had a cat he named Algernon Sidney Susan Pluckerface.  When regaled with the story of the name of the cat, my older sisters, kindhearted and loving souls they were as children, immediately took it upon themselves to adulterate my nickname of L.J.to that excellent moniker as my new nickname.  LJ - Alger...   A simple play on phonetics.children like to do.

Though it was a bit disheartening as a child to be called that in public, they soon tired of it as it was too long to say and reverted back to just LJ after a few years.

Of course as they progressed through school and began to learn the sciences, my nick name of LJ was soon replaced by Algae.  Along with their little sing song, There's a fungus among us, Algae.  This nickname is still brought up at family gatherings to the mirth and enjoyment of all.

Needless to say, I have completely forgiven my sisters, Chicken Legs and Bertha Butt.
by LJ Russell G2G6 Pilot (215k points)
What a kind brother you are LJ!!  Or should I call you Algae??  Better not otherwise my 'CindyLouWho' moniker will slip!

My sister from Florida is in town staying at my other sister's house and I am just getting ready to go see them for the afternoon.  I am sure that sometime during the day I will be reminded I am actually named after one of the eukaryotic lifeforms.  ;)

Better than their other pet name for me that alluded I was a member of the Acrasidae family.*

* Slimeball

Hi Slimeball! I'm McScruff, sister of Madball.
+5 votes
I had an Uncle Erks (real name George Henry Hubert).  Apparently, when he was at school, he was really thin and weedy, so he was called 'Hercules'.  Hercules got shortened to Erks, and it stuck right up to his death in his mid-forties.  He had a younger brother called 'Wigs' (real name Walter).  Still haven't figured that one out...

Their father was called 'Midge' - because he was so short.
by Ros Haywood G2G Astronaut (1.9m points)
+6 votes
My dad was Walter Archibald Smith but was mostly known as Bungy (perhaps Bungay).
by Ron Smith G2G2 (2.9k points)
+6 votes
My father-in-law, whose given name was Earl, was known as "Pretz" thought to be short for pretzel, because of his, and his brother's, heights - all above 6 feet.
by
+6 votes
In old Franklin Township, Plain, Wisconsin the rural large families all named their kids after their likewise many siblings, nicknaming was essential to know who you were talking about. For example their were two Patrick Walshes of nearly the same age, one was Sweet Pat and one was Lazy Pat, my great grandfather (bar tender) not a farmer! There was also  a Nervie Joe in town. No one seems to know if he got the name for being daring or jumpy. My husband comes from a 10 generations of Richard Beeson’s mostly Quaker’s, and to distinguish him, an uncle called him the Beeby Eyed Beeson.
by MaryDon Beeson G2G3 (3.8k points)
+7 votes
When my granddaughter Anya was about two I called her "Tiddle Winks" one time -- she made a face at me and said that's not my name. So I continued to use it despite objections and still do now and then.

I plan to write her a special note in a card to hand her the day of her wedding next month -- it will be addressed to "Tiddle Winks, my favorite granddaughter." She will have to explain that to Peter.

I expect I will also get her usual reply -- "I'm your only granddaughter" to which I'll reply "Yes!" along with a big smile.
by Walt Steesy G2G6 Mach 4 (46.6k points)
+5 votes
My mom has a couple cousins who all got interesting nicknames. My favorites were Mutt and Tater. Haha!
by
+5 votes
My gggg grandmother had a nickname that was used on almost every record. Took me almost 20 years to determine it wasn't her real name. When I finally had that breakthrough, the lady in the historical records section said would have used a nickname, too.
by
I have found a couple of nicknames that my family even used in a census. Doing genealogy is so fun, and it is often like solving a puzzle. Glad you were able to figure it out.
Well, what WAS it?

One that I can easily remember is my husband’s great aunt Albina Mincici Hill. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hill-24625. She went by Mecca after she was an adult, even on the census. Guess she was not that happy with her given name. 

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