Nicknames and Aliases

[kybearfuzz]

Yesterday I was talking to a co-worker about how people tend not to use their first names, but their middle ones and sometimes their nicknames. It got me to thinking about my dad and his gaggle of friends, almost all of whom had nicknames.

My dad was known as "T-Bud" since he was a child. No one seems to recall where it came from, but he rarely used his legal name of "James." He was once nearly taken to jail by a police officer who couldn't verify his identity with his work because the lady who answered the phone didn't recognize Dad's given name. His nickname was so ingrained in his identity, we even put it on Dad's tombstone to keep confusion to a minimum for future generations.

I was thinking yesterday about his group of friends and how many of them had the odd nicknames. In doing so, it surprised me how many of them were just the strangest collection of small-town oddities.


"Cheese" was a coworker of my dad's when he worked for a funeral home. Always in a suit and well put together, he stood out among Dad's friends as respectable. His nickname was a play on his last name of Schiesz, which is pronouned "Shee-z."

"Ham" was a large, heavy man who always drove up in an El Camino. He had those mutton-chop sideburns and no facial hair. He was always a nice guy, but I admit that I always seemed to keep my distance from him. He and Dad would go to the local speedway to watch the car races on Saturdays. Why "Ham?" I have no idea.

"Onion" was a worker or manager at another local funeral home where Dad didn't work. He was an older man with thinning, greased-back gray hair. When he was around us kids, he would pop out his lower dentures and act like he was combing his hair with them. Classy. Why "onion?" Again, no idea.

"Rub Tub" was probably my dad's best friend and a complete asshole. Heavy-set and obnoxious, I spent the majority of my childhood avoiding contact with him, scowling at him at every opportunity. He would play "games" where he would squeeze my fingers between his stubby sausages until they hurt. I kicked him the shins once during that game and got in trouble, but I felt vindicated despite the spanking by my dad that followed. He had two sons named Tom and Jerry (seriously!) who were much older. My dad and he took all us boys camping once. It was a disaster. Why the nick? Who knows.. who cares...

"Junebug" is one of the nicest guys in the world. He would often visit my parents, usually bringing a bag of corn or tomatoes or some other produce that someone had given to him that he'd never eat up on his own. He has had white hair since I was a kid and was always hard of hearing. Now he's almost completely deaf and almost yells when he talks, but he refuses to wear hearing aids. I'm not sure how old he is, but he must be in his 90's. I've not seen him in years, but my mom hears about him every now and again.

One last friend didn't have a nickname, but was such an odd character I didn't feel right to not mention him. His name was Tom. He was heavy, big-bellied man with blue eyes and a deep, booming voice. Perpetually stuck in the 1950's, he wore white tee-shirts, blue-jeans, and kept his hair in a big, black, slick pompadour. He was a nice guy, but often irritated my mom as he expected to be fed or given cigarettes any time he visited. He also had this nasty habit of leaning back on the couch and falling asleep at the drop of a hat. In the list of Dad's friends with nicknames, I often wonder why Tom didn't get one.

Given that my dad would be in his late 70's were he alive, it's not surprising that most of his friends above are deceased. Only Cheese and Junebug are still around, Cheese being much younger than the rest of Dad's crowd.

The nicknames pretty much stopped with Dad's generation, though he certainly did attempt to give them out to my siblings, but most of them didn't stick. Though, today my sister is still known sometimes as "Luther" to my eldest brother, "Sadie" to his twin, and "Booger" to the rest of us. That however is a story for another day :)

Comments

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

You put this post behind the cut for the "disinterested" ... I promise you, Mark ... Anyone who reads this will be fascinated! I hope it generates discussion. It's a fresh, interesting topic!

My first and middle names are James O'Neil ... I've never been called Jim or James, unless someone completely doesn't know me. I have always been Neil. Just for you ... my nickname growing up was "Sunshine". (Shhh ... don't tell anyone:)

My nephew is Jeffrey O'Neil ... When he was born in 1983, I was living in NYC. I was in my 5th floor walkup at Bway and 103rd when my brother called ... Jeff's first words to me about the birth of his son? (think thick Texas accent) ... Neil, you're an uncle! His name is Jeffrey O'Neil ... Jeffrey after me and O'Neil after you! But, I'm gonna call him Buddy! ... My reply ... Why, Buddy ... Jeff: Because, he's my little buddy ... LOL!

Thanks for this post! HUGS!

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Why "Sunshine"? I'm just curious as it seems to fit :)

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

What can I say? Until, I hit puberty I was a really happy kid, determined to make everyone else around me smile. I'm still a half cup full guy, though beaten down a bit after the events of the past three years. Still ... I'm much more likely to make the choice to be sunny, rather than gloomy:)

HUGS!

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

You know, my little brother's nickname was "Booger". Now, only me and occasionally my sister call him that. He has threatened me under pain of death (and he's a cop, so he has guns) against ever letting his in-laws hear me call him that ;)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I just want to start singing, "Booger's got a gun... Booger's got a gun..."

I see several billboards around the area for a casino game called "Boogie Nights" at a local casino. I want to take a photo and change it to "Booger Nights" and send it to my sister.

[ironranger1.livejournal.com]

Definitely interesting. My family has similar history, but actually in the family - mom's side. My uncle & aunts and great-uncle's and aunts all had nicknames: Fats, Curly, Palooka, Honey, Jocko, and Dangerous Dan MacGrew (me) for the guys. The gals were/are: Toots, Dolly, Pegger, Linda-lou, Buhl Blabber, were a few I remember.
- Dan

[dewittar.livejournal.com]

I think using middle names is more of a Southern thing. Me and my siblings use our middle names (sometimes there are several middle names from which to choose). My husband uses his middle. And it confuses the heck out of these New England Yanks. During my recent surgeries I had to remind the medical team to call me Rodney if they needed a response from me in a drugged state, otherwise I would not know they're speaking to me. So now there are all these notes on my medical files because they think it's so unique. Not!

I never got to my nicknames: Skipper, Rodsberg, RodMan

[prisoncitybear.livejournal.com]

Sounds like the lost cast of Happy Days.
My Dad was known as Annie in his frat days, due to our last name (Oakley).
My buddy Bryan calls his partner Lisa for some reason he has never been able to sufficiently explain. Even Anna calls him Lisa.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Nicknames due to what sounds like a private joke seems unfair.

And you're dad was called "Annie"? Oh, that's funny. :)

[mississippicub.livejournal.com]

I think nicknames are pretty cool :) My grandfather was always known as Mac, and given his real name was Francis it was probably a good thing. In fact, to everyone back in Mississippi that's what I am known as as well. It started in college, and caught on with my colleges.

Still, that is not as interesting as a fellow frat brother I had. He went my Branch. His real name was Milton Marshall... lol so it was probably a good thing. His father was called Twig and his grandfather was known as stump.... I often wondered if he called his daughter bush.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

LOL... bush.. heh... :D

In keeping with it, I wonder if his grandchild will someday be called "tree..."

[pink-halen.livejournal.com]

My maternal grandmother tried very hard to pick names that wouldn't engender nicknames. Somehow most of her children had a nickname. Most were benign like RD but one was especially interesting. My uncle Walter got his nickname because a little neighbor boy couldn't say Walter. He called my Woggie. That was occasionally shortened to Wog. My uncle Carson was known as Cork.

I'm glad I avoided the nickname game.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Little kids misprounouncing things have caused a lot of nicknames. One of my friends is nicknamed "Nooners" because his sister couldn't pronounce "Junior" when he was little. The nickname stuck all through high school and I would guess his close friends and family still use it.

[bruinwi.livejournal.com]

My sister, Esther, got the nickname "Osh" from our youngest sister, Julie. It is used only within the family, though.

I never gained/earned a nickname; my pen name is self-inflicted.

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

I like the thread this 'nickname' topic has generated. Did you have a nickname?

I've had several. "Mikie" "Little Buddha" "Skippy" and "Cook" are the big ones.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Hey Mikie,

Largely, I've dodged the nickname thing myself. The only one I can recall that was used over and over again was "Hoss," which was something my one cousin called me, after the character on Bonanza. It was a good one, considering I had a brother named Joe. Still, it didn't last long after I hit the double-digit ages.

Skippy?

[boomerz1.livejournal.com]

I'm one of those people who goes by their middle name in certain circles. Most of my family members and a handful of friends that I grew up with call me Tim. This was so I wasn't confused with my father Bill (which never really made any sense to me since almost everyone called him Beej or BJ anyway.)

Most members of my family have passed on and there were many relatives who went by their nicknames - like Aunt Hunchie and my cousin Tweety - and for the life of me I could not tell you what their given names were.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I love those types of family nicknames usually remembered as being used for the little old ladies. I think that is why my mom had Dad's nickname put on his grave stone. To help alleviate confusion for anyone, especially any future generations.

[madknits.livejournal.com]

I've never had a nickname, but my father had three cousins, each the son of one of his mother's brothers. They all named their first born sons after their own father. So my dad had three cousins all named Joseph Same-last-name. Of course they were called Slimmo (he was very slender), Powerhouse (he was a weightlifter) and Pappanuch (I have absolutely no idea). And of course, I called them all Uncle Slimmo, Uncle Powerhouse and Uncle Pappanuch.

Each of them named their own first born sons Joseph, and later, two of the cousins met at one of the very large universities in Boston. They'd not seen each other since they were very small children (families growing apart and all), and were in a class together. The roll was called, and there were two guys named Joseph Same-last-name. They met after class, did the math, and figured their dads were first cousins. They became best friends, went into business together after graduating, and were each other's best man when they got married.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Wow... that's a lot of Joseph's in one family with same last name!

My family recycles some names. My grandfather, father and I all have the same middle name of Edward. My first name is the shortened version of my maternal grandfather Marcus. The twin is also a Joseph, after our paternal grandfather, and passed that name down to his son as a middle name.

[jccub1.livejournal.com]

An awesome post :) Makes you actually think about all the nicknames you have come across... Nicknames were rife when I was a kid - just a few I had were Noj, Bert and Brains.

Through my teens we resorted to initials - I was JC or Mr C for a long time, and likewise with a lot of my friends.

Nowadays, we still have nicknames but it's only amongst close friends. I'm now Clarkie (how original) or Peggy, my partner's Jotto/JR and there's also Smurf, Oz, G-spot and Waz. We only ever use them in front of each other - never when other people are around.

Incidentally my kid brother's name is Sven (I kid you not) and I can't count on two hands the number of nicknames he's had over the years...poor bastard.

[designerotter.livejournal.com]

What a fascinating post you've hit upon! Hmm, I wonder if you ever write plays .... your own experience plus the comments provide an extraordinary mine of characters. Or... you could write a book on the topic of nicknames - bet it would sell!

The only time I recall having a nickname was in boot camp in the US Army. We had a 'guide-on' (that's a flag bearer when the platoon is on the march)named Abraham. He was Polynesian, from Hawaii... so we always called him 'Pineapple' During smoking breaks I'd pull a small pad out of my fatigues and draw the guys or whatever... so they often called me (I blush to say) 'Rembrandt'. There was an interesting fellow with a thin face, jug ears, and slightly protruding buck teeth and, not meaning any disparagement (he was actually quite intelligent), I named him 'Rat'... and it stuck, but he was very good-natured about it.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

I had no idea this post would generate such discussion, but it's been a lot of fun going through the different nicks running about and how they were created.

And your days in the US Army sounds very similar to college nicknames. We also had a wiry guy with a large nose and no chin named Rodney who everyone called "Weasel" and he seemed to enjoy the nickname.

And I think "Rembrandt" is very fitting :)

[dorisduke.livejournal.com]

My sister was called either Spud or Potato. This being me fathers little Irish potato.

I was called Pooper. or pooper the purple pup.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

LOL.. you know I have to ask. Why "Pooper" or "Pooper the Purple Pup"?

[dorisduke.livejournal.com]

Ya know, I do not know. I know the purple part came as from my birth, I was purple from a struggle to survive and any time I got cold as a child I turned purple. But where pooper came from, I have no idea ;-{)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

Nicknames have strange origins sometimes. :)