Robert = Bobby

Elizabeth = Betty

William = Billy

I don't get it either.

...Or how did 'Robert' become 'Bob'? Or William turns into Bill? My DH's name is Robert. It's funny when people (who don't know him well) asks me how 'Bob' is, because I don't know who they are talking about... "Who?"

Where do these nick names come from? Interesting question. My DH has an "Auntie", whose nick name is 'Billie'. Her real name is Maria. What?

Another spin on this. When I met my DH, whose name is David, *everyone* called him David. Everyone. Family, coworkers, friends, and me. Now, 20 years later, everyone calls him Dave. Including me. I have no idea when I made the switch, but I never call him David anymore. And all our friends call him Dave. I think coworkers still call him David.

How about when people call you the wrong name? My full name is Suzanne. But everyone calls me Sue, except for the doctor's office or any other "official" business. But when people see "Suzanne" in writing, they very often call me "Susan." Drives me nuts. As far as I'm concerned, Susan and Suzanne are two different names.

I remember when I was a kid reading a book about JFK. I thought that "Jack" was another brother. I think that I was almost done with the book before I realized that John=Jack.

Conversely my BF's name is 'Jimmie' and for official business people always try to call him 'James'. Nope. His name is *Jimmie* on his birth certificate, passport and drivers license. He hates being called 'James' because it sounds like a butler.

On another note I HATE it when people try to shorten my name and and a "Y" to it, for a nickname. It just sounds weird to hear and it is NOT my name.

I've often wondered about this as well, and have had conversations about it. No one seems to know the answer.

Here's another ome: Margaret to Meg.

I think we tend to associate so closely with our name and it can really annoy when someone gets it wrong. My name is May. I can't tell you how many times I've been called Mary by someone who read my name and inserted their own "r".

I was born in May and I hate it when people make fun of my name by asking me if my parents would have named me "October" had I been born in that month.

Anyway, sorry, I sort of got off track there. I think in the case of Maria to Billie, or cases like that, there is usually a family story associated with how that evolved.

The answers often come from places (like Scotland, Ireland etc.) where there were numerous relatives/friends with the same names so nicknames helped to establish some separate identities. Also -- there's the regional dialects and accents. Of course -- this doesn't account for many of the name changes or nicknames -- but might help to figure out some of them .....

Of course -- YEARS ago -- some names were changed on birth certificates because many folks could not write very well -- or not at all .....

I'm Jan (from Janet) -- and my DH calls me "Jannie" even when talking to other people about me. So .... with our Canadian (Scots/Irish influence) accents -- people often hear "Jennie" And when they meet me -- thats what they call me. I don't mind at all -- its just the way that they "hear" it!

As for the name "Elizabeth" -- well -- thats a compound name that has many nicknames -- and true names associated with it. Think of "Liz" "Liza" "Lizzie" or "Beth" which became "Betty" ..... just some examples ....

As for "Margaret" -- that name often became "Maggie" and it sounded like "Meggie" in some accents -- and somehow that became "Peg" or "Peggy" or the Irish version "Pegeen"

"Robert" is often "Robbie" or "Robby" (which in a Scots accent often turns into "Rabbie" as in the Scots poet "Rabbie Burns" just teasing!) -- which is turned into "Bobby"

"William" -- to "Will" or "Willie" -- and then to "Bill" -- again -- probably a regional accent!

Honestly -- this is just a theory of mine -- not really sure how it all works!

Jan

I always wondered why people named Richard would choose to go by "Dick"...... :o/

Not sure on Richard either. Rich rhymes with itch, so that bothers me too.

I once dated a Michael, but everyone called him Mikey, not Mike. It totally fit him, but I always thought of the cereal commercials for some reason. :O\

I was 9 when my mom had brother #2. They were discussing naming him Robert, after my dad, and how we would distinguish the two. My dad was both Bob and occasionally Robert. Gales of laughter ensued when I suggested we could call him "Bert". I didn't see the humor at the time, but now I do. It was kind of like suggesting we call him Poindexter. (He became Rob, but calls himself Bob now.)

Alright I've got one:

DH's name is Mike. Or so I thought for quite awhile. Turned out his name was actually Donald. Okay I thought - his middle name must be Michael. Nope. It's William. They said he was named after his grandfather. I said 'Oh, HIS name was Michael then?". No. His name was Donald. "His middle name was Michael?". No. On the 1st day of 3rd grade when going through roll call the teacher got to his grandfather and said you look like a Mike.

When I met DH's mom the first time she introduced herself as Elizabeth but everybody calls me Linda. I said "Middle name?" She said no. I just let it go and asked where the line was for me to pick a different name to enter the family.

I did give DS2 the middle name Michael. I swore that somebody in the family would have that name!

Dixiedo, I am so with you on that one. I don't get it.

I'm amused that "George" is sometimes abbreviated "Geo.". I mean, George is already only one syllable...

Well, nicknames were something I considered when naming my children. I wanted to pick names that had both a good long version as well as a good nickname that I liked. Like mothers getting upset when she names a kid James but hates Jimmy? Silly. Jimmy or Jim is a common nickname for James. One must be aware of this. So I named my son Gregory - love the nickname Greg too. I hose the name Gregory because there are many famous popes named Gregory including the one who created the calendar and a different one that created the Gregorian chant. It is a strong male name and cannot be mistaken for a girl's name. I went to school with a guy named Marian with a middle name of Thomas. The kids teased him terribly. He switched to using his middle name, a real boy's name.
But some of the nicknames do not seem to be directly corrected to the more formal name.

My GDad was George and was called Ned.
My brother almost named his son Beecher Richard_________ but then thought better of it.

My fatherÂs name was Arthur. His brothers renamed him Jack, which had no relationship to his middle name or any name in the family for that matter. He signed his legal name, but everyone  his mother, the other soldiers, employers - used the nickname. There was one exception. When he became a manager at a residential facility, he found upon arrival that everyone was expecting "Art". The name stuck. Key personnel lived in on site housing. My clean freak mother was not pleased with the state of our apartment. The residents whose mental disabilities werenÂt too severe could accept part-time jobs if they wanted to, so my father hired several fellows who did janitorial work to help my mother clean. They arrived unannounced with cleaning supplies in hand. "Art sent us." "WhoÂs Art?" she asked. The speaker just gave her a puzzled look. Finally she said, "Well, I donÂt know who Art is, but come on in. I can certainly use the help." One of the guys eventually got the courage to say, "ArtÂs your husband." When sheÂd tell the story, sheÂd laugh as say that she figured they were wondering why they were in residential care when a woman who didnÂt even know her husbandÂs name was on the loose!

yoga, that story is a scream. Thanks for the laugh!!

LOL yogacat!

I have a nephew who is a John and has always been called Jack. Love that name and so the original post lead me to doing a search. I ran across this on the web...."John is a name with history stretching back far into Biblical times. However, during medieval times, the name John was altered slightly in the Germanic tongues to Jankin or Jackin. Out of that, we get the nickname Jack." wig

This is a good reference if you enjoy looking up the origins of first names...

Here is a link that might be useful: Behind the Name

My son's second grade teacher insisted on calling our son Jacob, even our son kept telling her his name was Jake. I finally had to go in and ask her to please change his nametags and labels to say Jake, because that really was his given name!

Carrie