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A Brief Discussion of
Nicknames and Diminutives
First things first: the word nickname derives from the Middle English phrase “an eke-name” where “eke” means “additional.” A nickname is a name, any kind of name, that one is called in place of one’s real name. Some nicknames are affectionate phrases used to describe a person. Shorty Smith is presumably short, for example. Slim Pickings is skinny, and Red Cooper may have red hair, while Scarface Capone has a scarred face. During the Middle Ages, many of these descriptive nicknames evolved to become surnames (last names, family names, etc.). Thus, an ancestor of Neil Armstrong must have had strong arms, and Jane White had an ancestor with a pale complexion or hair.
But the most common type of nickname is the Diminutive, usually a shortened or otherwise altered version of one’s true name, such as Jim, for James, Jack for John, Ted for Theodore, or Betty for Elizabeth. Diminutives are usually used with inferiors or equals, such as children and servants, or close friends or relatives. Usually meant affectionately, often times there are varying degrees of diminutives. A man is William to his acquaintances, Will to his friends, and Willie to his mother. Nicknames of this sort are among the oldest parts of language still used. Jack remained a nickname for John for centuries after its origianl connection and lost. Until the 20th century, one could still find Neds and Nans for Edwards and Anns, again, alghouh the original connotations have long since past. Some connections are so old that we do not really undestand how it happened, as in Peggy/Margaret or Polly/Mary or Billy/William.
“Diminutives” are formed by corrupting, shortening, or otherwise changing a person’s given name into something different. This happens in a variety of ways:
Sometimes, longer names are contracted, as in Margaret to Greta, Konradt to Kurt, Teresa to Tessa, or Henrietta to Hetty.
Other times a letter (usually “r” ) is dropped, as we see in Maggie from Margaret, Kit from Christopher, Biddy from Bridget, Fanny from Frances, and Hattie from Harriet.
One of the most common forms of the nickname is the “short” form. These nicknames are formed when part of the regular name is lopped off, leaving a stub. For example:
From the back:
Beth from Elizabeth
Derick from Theoderick
Drew from Andrew
Fred from Alfred
Tony from Antony
From the front:
Alex from Alexander
Ben from Benjamin, or Benedict
Eliza from Elizabeth
Fred from Frederick
Marc from Marcus
Sam from Samuel
From the middle
Della from Adelaide
Liz from Elizabeth
Lisa from Elisabeth
Stoffe from Christopher (German)
Before the 17th century or so, the most common diminutive endings were the Norman/English “in” or “kin”
Jack, for instance, was originally from the name Jakin, a corrupted form of Jenkin (John+kin). And the name Hank is short for Han-Kin, or Hen-kin, or Henry-kin.
Other “kin” names include:
Adekin - Adam
Hobkin - Robert
Hodgekin - Roger
Perkin (Peterkin) - Peter
Thompkin - Thomas
Watkin - Walter
Most of these nicknames have died away, leaving behind only surnames. Only a few of this type of nickname have survived to this day, including:
Robin for Robert
Colin from Col (Nicolas).
But in modern-day English, the most common type of diminutive is formed by using the ubiquitous Scottish “ie” (or “ee” or “ey”) diminutive ending. It was applied at first, only to names popular in Scotland. Christie was originally a male name, from Christopher, as was Jamie from James, Charlie from Charles, Davey from David, etc. Later, the Scottish “ie” spread to the rest of England. Thus we get Johnny from John, Gracie from Grace, Rosie from Rose, Markie from Mark, Marty from Martin, doggy from dog, or horsey from horse.
Many other languages utilize the “diminutive ending” as well.
The Germans are fond of “chen” as in Gretchen (Margareta), Kätchen (Katherine), Röschen (Rose) or Trudchen (Gertrude).
In Spanish, an “ita” (for girls) or an “ito” (for boys) tacked onto the end makes a name a diminutive, as it does for:
Anita - Ana
Juanita/Juanito - Juan/Juana
Carlito - Carlos
Carmelita - Carmel
Carmencita - Carmen
Evita - Eva
Josecito - Jose
Lolita - Lola/Dolores
Lupita - Lupe
Manolito - Manuel
Pepito/Pepita - Pepe
The Irish Gaels used “an” or “in” (often Anglicized as “een”)
Aodhan / Aidan - (“Little Aodh”)
Colleen - “Girl”
Doreen - “Little Dora”
Mairin / Maureen - (“Little Mary”)
Brian - “Little Hill”
Ryan - “Little King”
The French use several such endings, including: “ot/otte,” “on/onne” “in/ine/line” and “et/ette.”
Alison - Alice
Annette - Anne
Babette - Barbara
Charlot - Charles
Guillaumet, Guillaumin, Guillaumot - Guillaume
Jeannette - Jeanne
Jeannot - Jean
Madelon - Magdalene
Manon - Marie
Margot - Marguerite
Masset - Thomas
The French also used these diminutives to make masculine names feminine, as in:
Antoinette - Antoine
Bernadette - Bernard
Charline/Charlotte - Charles
Claudine - Claude
Henriette - Henri
Huguette - Hugues
Jacqueline - Jacques
Lucette - Luc
Mauricette - Maurice
Pierrette - Pierre
Yvette/Yvonne - Yves/Yvon
Later the English and Scotch took these endings (ine, ette, otte, etc.), “Latinized” them by adding an “a,”and created names like Adelina (Adele +ine +a), Henrietta (Henri + “ette” + “a”), Paulina (Pauline +a) etc.
The Scotch were especially prone to this, creating many names like Alexandrina, Davina, Dolina, Jamesina, Malcolmina, etc. Some were more successful than others.
“Mine Ann” led to Nan.
“Mine Ed” led to Ned.
“Mine Ellen” led to Nell.
“Mine Oliver” led to Noll.
“Mine Abel” led to Nab.
Letter Swapping ‘n’ Dropping
When the Normans invaded England in 1066 they transformed not only politics, religion, society and language, but names as well. They brought their large stock of Germanic names, only Frenchified, reflecting their language.
The native Anglo-Saxons (now the lower classes) faced with an unfamiliar language and strange pronucnations. Often, they were uncomfortable with the Norman “R” found in names like Richard, Roger, and Robert, and Henry/Harry.
Another factor to consider is that most diminutives are coined when speaking to children, or when children are addressing one another. Sounds that many English-speaking children have trouble pronouncing the letter “R” as well as other sounds. The name Ouida, for example, came about a mispronunciation of the name Louisa. In names, the sounds of R is often switched for an L or a D. Often times it is dropped altogether.
Other times, a middle “r” would be swapped for an “l” or a “d” giving us the nicknames:
Hal from Harry
-and-
Molly or Mally or Maidie from Mary
-and-
Dolly and Dodie from Dorothy
-and-
Sally and Sadie from Sarah
R’s at the beginning of names fared little better, often being replaced with “Ds,” “Hs,” or even “Ns.” Robert gave up the nicknames Rob, but also Dob, Hob, Nob, and later, Bob. And Richard gave up the nicknames Rick, but also Dick and Hick, while Roger clocks in with Rodge, Dodge and Hodge.
In Scotland the “r” in Mary sometimes became an “n” in Minnie (á la the French Manon for Marie). In Ireland the name Nora yielded the nickname Nonie. Vice Versa, Annabel was often altered to Arabel.
Every now and then, other letters were switched out. In some cases, a “p” would be swapped for an “m,” as in the names:
Polly - from Molly, from Mary
-or-
Peg - from Meg, from Margaret
And in the 19th century Bill was coined from Will, and Bob from Rob.
Other nicknames were created when the letter R was simply dropped, as in these names:
Babs, from Barb, from Barbara
Biddy, from Bid, from Bridget
Dot, from Dorothy
Fanny, from Fan, from Frances
Kit, from Christ, from Christopher
-and-
Meg, from Marg, from Margaret
Kate - Katherine (kate-her-in)
Dotty - Dorothy (door-oh-tee)
Betty - Elizabeth (ee-liz-ah-bett)
Matt - Matthew (matt-hew)
Ted - Theodore (tee-oh-dor)
Tom - Thomas (tom-as)
Tony - Anthony (ann-tone-ee)
Please note that Thomas is still pronounced with a hard T (as is, to a certain extent, Anthony)
Another similar example comes from the name Richard, with the nickname “Rick,” reflecting the hard “k” rather than the soft “ch” (“rick-hard”).
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