Comments on: The Origins of 10 Nicknames

By: Misia

Misia — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 18:59:43 +0000

My name is actually Malgorzata (Malgosia for short) which is a different form of Margaret. Growing up I had to teach people not to make nicknames for me but to actually learn the way I pronounce my name (Maw-go-sha). It all depends on what you want to be called and if you allow people to nickname you something strange.

By: Amelia

Amelia — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:36:09 +0000

Awesome article! This has definitely answered more than a few questions I have had on the etymology of certain names. I have a grandfather named Lawerence(who goes by Larry) and he has a sister everyone calls Peggy. My grandmother I am named after got a name change from Amelia to Amy years ago, because no one could pronounce it correctly ages ago when she first came to America from Cuba.

By: Gaby Davis

Gaby Davis — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:54:37 +0000

Hey! Im Julie Shuers daughter. Read the nickname post. So glad you like the idea, my mom tells me it derived from me. The issue of illogical nicknames has alluded me for years, a topic i questioned for two reasons; One being as a person who has gone by a nickname since day one nicknames have always had relevance to me, secondly as someone who is stubbornly literal im constantly frustrated by the nonsensical such as why in the world a person named richard would ever choose to be called a word short hand for penis. Thank you for your answers. I can rest easy now.

By: Sarah in Canada

Sarah in Canada — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 18:28:53 +0000

Much to my mothers chagrin, my grandparents tried to get me to respond to Sari (Say-re). Luckily, my great aunt warned me to correct people if they started using nicknames. She was always Aunt Sadie and I had no idea she was actually a Sarah until I was a teen.

By: xanderjones

xanderjones — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 16:01:54 +0000

I had a girlfriend in HS named Sarah, but I always called her Sarai. I’m not Jewish or anything, I just thought it sounded cool!

By: Xenovore

Xenovore — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:33:07 +0000

I have a friend named Brittany that goes by Bob or Bobby in her family. A young niece couldn’t pronounce “Brittany” so she shortened it to “Bob” and it caught on with everybody. =)

By: Jester

Jester — Fri, 28 May 2010 13:02:59 +0000

How about “Heidi” coming from “Adelaide”?

One of my brothers had/has it the worst. His name is Patrick, and he had quite a number of nicknames growing up – Pat, Patchy, Peachy, Peaches, Petey, Patch, etc. :)

By: Dazee

Dazee — Thu, 27 May 2010 21:43:58 +0000

Now that I think about it.. my entire family is nicknamed.. None of my immediate family has a name that isn’t shortened.
Ronald – Ron
James – Jim
Barbara – Barb or Barbie or Aunt Bab
Barbara(me)- Barby
Rosemary – Rosie/Rosi/Rose (Posie)
Nicolas – Nic
Katlynn – Katie

I even know a Christina who goes by Stina.
I still don’t know how Barbara became Babs – I know from Barb to Bab to Babs.. but still!

By: Strubisatoaster

Strubisatoaster — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:47:03 +0000

@TheBear, don’t forget Alfonso and Alonzo!

I’ve never heard of Sally as being short for Sarah, but one of my cousins is Sally, which is short for Selma.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:58:17 +0000

My daughter is Margaret -called Maggie, although, I kind of like the idea of calling her Daisy, but I’ve not heard of that before now. I always wondered about the Edward-Ted and John-Jack thing, being a fan of the Kennedys I always wondered that.

And then there’s Mel — for Melanie, Melody, Melissa, Melinda, and of course, Melvin