What’s in a name?
People can acquire nicknames for all sorts of quirky reasons.
At school, Gavin Atkinson became known as Nivag Nosnikta because it sounded so silly when you said his name backwards.
Peter Hepworth was Heppy, Paul Brown was PAB (pronounced Pee Ay Bee) and Michael Coleman was simply Coleman. Geoff Patterson was originally known as Paddy, but one of the girls twigged that he always knocked about with Peter & Paul so he became Mary.
Girls acquired various names as well. There was Kiki (after Kiki the Frog in Hector’s House), Julie Bigknockers (self-explanatory) and Gobbler, after the goings on at a party that I wasn’t invited to.
Three girls from Nottingham were known as Princess, Spray-on and Flapper. A guy with a big nose was Captain Beaky, Neil Hallett-Carpenter used to tell us ” call me Carpenter” so he was known as Hallett (Until we found out his middle name was Plumpton!)
Nigel Lord became Lord Nigel, Peter Martin became Herby after he nominated someone in writing with the words “I, Peter Martin, herby propose…” and Dan from work became Dan, Dan the Asset Man (or “the Gimp”) from working in the secure cage.
One particularly loud fireman in Saudi became “Tannoy” and a Filipino there became Marcos because he looked like President Marcos.
I’m sure I’ll remember more…
December 8th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
I never had a nickname in high school, which bothered me a bit, as if I wasn’t important enough. It was an all girls’ school and we were not very imaginative with nicknames usually basing them on the surname. Since my name then was the same as yours , save spelled with an “a” because my Dad was a Scot, it didn’t lend itself to manipulation, nor did my first name.
December 8th, 2007 at 11:06 pm
JMB, funny that. If you go far enough back in my family tree, we were Grays bu tsomeone changed it by deed poll when they moved down to the Newcastle Area. (We have a Grey Street, a Grey’s Monument etc.)
When I was at Primary school, a Scots lad used to call me “Een”, a very hard vowel and about the only way of shortening Ian. Grey is as short as can be as well with only one syllable.
I was known as “Prof” at school, but I don’t remember when it started.