I wonder if our dog Sasha has an identity crisis? She gets all sorts of names – Sassy, Sass-rat, Floppy-ears, Teddy-bear Head, Princess Sasha, The Baby, The Rat, Muppet, Little-one, Bubby and Sassle to name a few…
Makes me wonder, why do we use nicknames? Often there is emotion tied to a nickname – whether it is love, or humour or ridicule. Quite often nicknames are also descriptive, but as a caricature of a particular aspect of appearance or behaviour.
Is it just a basic human trait, this ‘tagging’ of people, pets, even places with associative names, or is there some historical or cultural reason that we use nicknames?
On his genealogy blog, Dick Eastman suggests nicknames are used for practical reasons – for instance abbreviating long names.
Another blogger, barefeetallowed looks at the relationships between people who give each other nicknames – some good, some not so good!
To be continued…
Thinking about nicknames has made me quite sentimental about my own nicknames, past and present. My very first nickname was “Liss”. This came from my family, but only lately has transferred into wider use amongst friends and acquaintances.
My very first non-familial nickname emerged during sixth grade in primary school, during a strange sort of fad where everyone at school *had* to have a nickname. There was Bunno, Shoobs, Boong and Boydo to name a few. For a while we were stuck on a suitable nickname for me.. until Wicko came up with Mif – formed from my initials MF. This nickname stuck right through into highschool and beyond!
Enter working life and for a long time I was back to Melissa, or Meliss. Oneday, one of the guys started calling me Mel and soon it was what everyone was calling me. It stuck even after I switched careers, without any prompting from me.
I’m a bit tired of Mel. I think it is partly to do with wanting to move on from an aspect of the past and having found the real essence that is ‘me’, and she is *not* Mel – if that makes sense!
In my present part-time job I still go by Mel – although this is to allow customers to distinguish between me and the boss, who is another Melissa. So it is a convenience thing, which is a little bit annoying but I put up with it. (Not quite as bad as that period in my childhood at a new school where the teacher in her wisdom said I had to get used to “Melissa Jane” because of the other Melissa in my class!)
Otherwise, in my professional capacity I am Melissa. To my family, friends, and in my own mind I am Liss 🙂
Hi Liss, I found what you wrote about nicknames very interesting, and I just want to let you know that Connor our nephew has already given Ilse a nickname. He calls her Remus Girl.
Based on the fact that Ilse looks so much like his mummy’s dog Remus I presume? Very cute 🙂