United States Nicknames

In the United States most of the nicknames fall in the first category. An American nickname is usually a shortened or modified variation on a person's real name, as the list below illustrates:

1. Shortened versions of longer names like Patricia to Pat and Robert to Rob.
2. Some nicknames have dropped a letter, usually an R so Francis becomes Fanny and Walter becomes Walt.
3. Some nicknaming traditions come from medieval times where the letter R would often be swapped for either L or D. Harold becomes Harry or Hal and Sarah becomes Sadie or Sally.
4. Swapping one letter for another in creating nicknames is common, usually the letter R was swapped for another. Robert becomes Bob and Richard becomes Dick, William becomes Bill.
5. A nickname can even come from the last part of the given name. So Andrew might be called Drew and Elizabeth would be called Beth.
6. The middle of the name may also produce a different nickname for instance Elizabeth can be called Liz and Virginia might be called Ginny.
7. More common are nicknames which drop the final one or two letters and add ie or ee or y. Examples are David becoming Davy and Margaret becoming Margie.
8. Nicknames can also come from a person's initials as in the famous author Clive Staples Lewis who is better known by the name C. S. Lewis. (Among family and friends he went by the nickname of Jack because he did not like either of his given names which is the reason most people give for using a nickname.)
9. A person's last name can give rise to a nickname. As when a person with the last name of Smith becomes Smitty.

It is not uncommon for a nickname to have no reference to the person's birth name at all. However, in the U.S., at least, the nickname will fall under the 4 categories mentioned above and the exceptions usually exist because of the traditions brought by the family from cultures or ethnic areas. In other countries and cultures, nicknames often don't fall into any of the four categories named above.

Native American Nicknames

In some religious denominations and in some ethnic areas, people go by several different nicknames over the course of their lives. Individuals had childhood names and then they would take adult names when they came of age through some rite of passage. (Some German Catholics also did this, Native Americans were not alone in this practice.) Native American tribes followed the practice in which the name given to a baby by his parents at birth, usually a virtue or trait the parents hope for the baby, is eventually replaced during adolescence with another name. Other nicknames by which a Native American may be known come from feats of bravery they may have achieved, special events that may have occurred at the child's birth, or objects in nature that appeared to the mother as significant at the birth of the child. It is sufficient to say Native Americans may have numerous nicknames and each tribe has its own nicknaming traditions.

African American Nicknames

Prior to the Civil War, African American nicknaming traditions had their origins in the days of slavery. A slave owner usually renamed his slaves. The names were sometimes derived from Greek mythology (Apollo) which were names not generally used by whites. Sometimes the slave's nickname was changed to a diminutive form of a name traditionally used by whites (like Tessy) or was descriptive of a physical characteristic (like Big Jim). Some slave owners gave Biblical names to their slaves (like Moses) in an attempt to convert them to Christianity. Slaves, however, often gave their children nicknames that were from their own heritage, and used those nicknames secretly in their communities.

English Nicknames

English nicknames usually follow the same nicknaming patterns that have been outlined above for the United States. However there were many nicknames that followed the Irish and Scottish traditions, detailed below.

Irish Nicknames

U.S. immigration records indicate that by 1850, the Irish made up 43 percent of the foreign-born population. Most of this immigration was due to the Irish Potato Famine which began in 1845 and lasted for about 6 years. Because of the huge number of Irish immigrants, it is likely that one or more of your ancestors was Irish. Irish nicknames often came from attempts to make the Irish name into an English equivalent. Otherwise the nicknaming traditions appear to follow those of the U.S. Probably the most prevalent change was that the Irish Gaels added "an" or "in" (often Anglicized as "een") to the name to make it the diminutive nickname.

Scottish Nicknames

It was the Scottish nicknaming tradition of using "ie" (or "ee" or "ey") diminutive ending which gave rise to the most common type of diminutive ending used in modern-day English. It was applied at first only to names popular in Scotland. Christopher became Christie, which was originally a male name. James became Jamie. Later, the Scottish "ie" became popular in England and gave rise to Johnny from John, Gracie from Grace, and Rosie from Rose.

Australian Nicknames

I have read that in Australia nicknames were often either mocking or humorous. For instance, red headed people are called "Blue" or Bluey. Tall people are called "Shorty", and all obese people are called "Slim."
Click here if you are interested in learning more about Australian nicknaming traditions.

Spanish Nicknames

In Spanish speaking cultures nicknames often were descriptive of a physical characteristic. Sometimes the nickname appeared to be less than flattering like "Gordita" (little fatty), "Pulguita" (little flea), and "Chaparros" (shorty). Yet in the Spanish culture when the nickname was spoken by a friend or family member it was never considered an insult but as a term of endearment. The Spanish diminutive ending is an "ita" (for girls) or an "ito" (for boys), which gives nicknames like Anita from Ana and Lolita from Lola and Pepito from Pepe.

Italian Nicknames

A fascinating article about "Italian Naming Customs" written by John Colleta, PhD says: "Many Italians brought with them to America the custom of calling one another by nicknames. Usually the nickname was an altered form of the given name. For instance, Pepina is short for Giuseppina, which in turn is a diminutive or affectionate form of Giuseppa (Josephine). Therefore, Pepina might be translated as Jo, and Giuse ppina as Josie. Giovannino, the diminutive form of Giovanni (John), may be translated as Johnny. Antonino (Tony) is short for Antonio (Anthony). However, both Giovannino and Antonino might be called simply "Nino."

Dutch Nicknames

Dutch nicknames fall into two categories. There is the shortened Dutch nickname and the endearing Dutch nickname. The shortened nickname was used by the Dutch for both males and females. The endearing nickname was used only for female names. This diminuitive nickname was created by attaching to the female name the suffix -je or -tje. Additions to a child's name also include -je, -tje, -ie and -ke. These additions were an expression of endearment. A Dutch boy with the name "Jan" will often be nicknamed "Jantje" in his childhood. These endings for boy's name may also be used to show an age difference in place of using Sr. and Jr. the father will be called "Jan" and the son "Jantje."

French and French Canadian Nicknames

In the early days, French Canadian given names were all Saints' names. So an ancestor would most likely use a nickname of some sort. For example, someone called Baptist may really be Jean Baptiste and Xavier will really have the name of Francois Xavier for Saint Francis Xavier. Most often babies were baptized with the first names of Marie and Joseph in front of the name they actually used. This leads to families with children who all have the first names of Joseph or Marie. There was also a tradition of naming children after their Godparent which would lead to families where many of the children have the same first name. These naming traditions were common even into the 1920s. So when researching French genealogy prior to 1920, the middle name would likely be the nickname that your ancestor would use. The French used several endings to make diminutive nicknames, including: "ot/otte," "on/onne" "in/ine/line" and "et/ette." Some examples include Annette from Anne and Babette from Barbara.

German Nicknames

In Germany, often the middle name becomes the public and official name for the rest of the person's life. Another tradition was to reuse a favorite name of a previous child if that child was no longer living in the home! The first name and middle name combination of the younger child would be different, but the child's nickname would be the favorite family name given to both children. The Germans also use the dminiutive ending of "chen" as in Gretchen (Margareta), Kätchen (Katherine), Röschen (Rose) or Trudchen (Gertrude).

East Indian Nicknames

In India, nicknames were sometimes taken from commonplace words. More often, the given name was made diminutive with a "u" being added to it. The addition of a "u" to the first name of a child would often result in a lifelong nickname.

There is much you can learn from studying the nicknaming traditions of your ancestors. Sometimes you can identify the ethnic origin of your ancestor by their nickname; at other times, if you find your ancestor's ethnic origin you can discover their birth name by knowing their nickname. Nicknames are just another clue to unraveling our connections to the people of our past.

Article written by Cindy Carman