Nicknames/short names that don't make sense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Betsy for Elizabeth- that's me... And no one seems to get it.

FYI many of us who use nick names didn't choose them.

+1 I’m a Margaret/Peggy and my older siblings chose it. My niece is another Elizabeth/Betsy and her parents chose it.

[Anonymous]

They don’t need to make sense to you. No one is particularly bothered by your opinion that calling James Patrick because it’s his middle name (which you have no way to know most is the time) “doesn’t make sense”

[Anonymous]

Sally for Sarah

Nancy is a nickname for Ann!

My SIL is Nancy Anne. Then there’s Ann and Nancy Wilson, sisters of Heart.

Lisa as nickname or Italian equivalent of Elizabeth. I know sisters Lisa and Elizabeth.

[Anonymous]

My kids all have names that have numerous potential nn options. Mary thought it would nice for them to evolve their nn as they get older.

Think - Katherine- Katie- Kate

[Anonymous]

Matty for Matthew

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dick and Richard

Jack and John

Peggy and Margaret

Chuck and Charles

For classic ones, yes, these always baffled me. ESPECIALLY John --> Jack!

I’ve never understood Jack for John or Harry for Henry. They’re not shorter, which is supposed to be the point of a nickname?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dick and Richard

Jack and John

Peggy and Margaret

Chuck and Charles

For classic ones, yes, these always baffled me. ESPECIALLY John --> Jack!

I’ve never understood Jack for John or Harry for Henry. They’re not shorter, which is supposed to be the point of a nickname?

Harry is how many small children pronounce the name Henry. It's actually one of the more obvious nicknames (for those of us with small Henrys, or Henrys with younger siblings).

A PP explained how the name Jack might have come about. Important to note also that in medieval times, it was very common for 2 kids in a family to have the same name, so nicknames were needed to distinguish them from one another.

[Anonymous]

Trace, Trey and Trig for the Third
Cuatro for the Forth
Cinco for the Fifth
Beto for Robert
Sandy for Alexander

[Anonymous]

^^^ Fourth

[Anonymous]

Trixie for Patricia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dick and Richard

Jack and John

Peggy and Margaret

Chuck and Charles

Betsy and Elizabeth

Betsy & Peggy are clearly childish mispronunciations that stuck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Daisy for Margaret is from Maisie as a nn then turned to Daisy. It's actually been around for generations. I like it.

Uh, no it's not. Where on earth did you come up with that from? It's because Marguerite = Daisy in French.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're right, all nn probably do have a REASON, but some of those reasons are dumb. Calling your kid TeeJay is fine and seems logical. Calling your little Thomas John, CRAIG, while you're still pregnant is weird! Why not just name your kid Craig. (this is just an example name, but I've run into this sort of thing and that is what I'm complaining about). Also, I don't take anything on DCUM seriously, that's probably why I don't think this thread is overly judgmental. I actually enjoy kind of pointless threads like this more than "serious" threads that don't go anywhere and turn into debates about public breastfeeding or when to turn your toddler forward facing (been there done that).

You seem to have a pretty narrow view of names, like that thread where the teacher thought an Isabella should always be called Isabella even if the kid went by Bella. I haven't come across any extreme examples like you mention, and since you admit it's a made up one it's hard to judge what's going on, but a name has to do a lot over a person's lifetime, so it makes sense to me why parents might want a name that provides options over time. Little Timmy can decide to be Elizabeth or any of the other nicknames later if she wants, but if her parents had actually named her "Timmy" she'd be SOL. As for Jordan and Danny, it seems to me to be a nice solution in the event that the parents actually like BOTH names and don't want to decide. My DH and I went with a name theme that we realize our kids may grow to hate, so we purposely chose names that have nicknames outside the theme so our kids have options later.

OP here. The thread has helped me realize that it's the forced unnatural nn that I don't like, forced being key and something I didn't stress in my original post. Maggie for Margaret wouldn't be very forced because it's well known. Same with Bill for William. These nn wouldn't leave people feeling confused.

I may have a narrow view of names, not sure what that means actually, I guess I'm too narrow. However, I have a name that has what I call a "nickname" but really it's just the first few letters/sound of the name. This probably happened out of lazyness on my parents part but at least it just happened naturally, I appreciate it.

I knew a Stephanie in elementary school, actually I knew 3 in my 2rd grade class. So instead of everyone being confused all year, the teacher asked if one of them would like to go by Stevie (the others went by Steph and Stephanie). Looking back this seems reasonable. She still goes by Stevie to this day, I do wonder if her parents minded.

Oh sweetie, all these nicknames had to start somewhere. Stop judging and get on with your life. What a stupid thing to get all worked up about!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tuck for Tom
Bo for Robert

I knew a Tuck for Chuck. His sibling couldn't pronounce Chuck. I think Tuck is cute.

Better than the alternative!

My kid used F* instead of TR* when saying truck for a good year! My personal favorite was when he was talking about not wanting to share: "I no give two trucks to Henry."

[Anonymous]

Janet Jackson played Penny on Good Times as a child. Penny’s nn came from the last syllable of her real name, Millicent, because a penny is one cent.

I always wondered why none of the Stephanies I knew were called Fanny.