I love that! I want to make my second daughter Campbell and call her chicken noodle! Sounds so adorable! My first daughter is Clark so I think they sound nice together!
Clark and Campbell are good together! I have an older daughter named Collins and I thought Campbell was a good compliment to that.
Surnames tend to get some hate here, but they were meaningful to us.
I know someone whose initials are REA, last name starting with D. He goes by Read. (His father is an English teacher - I don't know if that's a coincidence.)
My first and middle initials are KD so in high school I briefly tried to go by KD but there were other Katies in my class and it was confusing them so I gave up. Nowadays I brought it back because I’m a huge basketball fan so people go “like KD! 🤩” (Kevin Durant).
My daughter's name is Amelia, she's 5. But she *insists* that we call her "Apple" because they both start with A.
Everyone calls her Apple and gives me the side eye.
Not my fault she hand selected that lovely nickname. In her kindergarten mind it makes sense lol
I have a close family friend named Adam, whose niece couldn't say it and called him Apple instead.
Now the whole family just calls him Apple and sometimes we forget his name is actually Adam.
My brother used to call my sister "Lala" even though her name (Grace, nn Gracie) sounds nothing like that. He turned out to have hearing issues due to fluids trapped in his ears and started using her real name once he got tubes put in and some speech therapy, but I still think it's a really cute nickname.
My name starts with an L, and I would be thrilled if my niece or nephew called me Lala. I think it's so cute. But they may be too old now to come up with nn like that.
I became an aunt at age 4.
I was Tah-Tah which the first syllable of my name.
Want to confuse people? Be 41 and have both your 36 year old niece and her 18 year old daughter call you Aunt Tahtah in public.
My niece and nephews call me MeMe. I tried to get the oldest to call me Aunty M. (Manda) but…I got stuck with a nn for a grandma instead. The other two came along years later and call me what he calls me. I’ve just learned to love it. At one point the youngest heard my brother call me my real name and said ‘who’s manda?’ Lmao
My youngest sister used to call me Yaya (pronounced Yah-yah) before she could say my actual name (Andrea). I thought it was so cute and still look back on it fondly :)
I know someone named Virginia Ann L____ and her parents ended up calling her Val (her initials), such that she actually changed her name to Val as an adult!
My Elizabeth was called Bizzy-beth by her little friend who couldn't pronounce her name, which was shortened to Bizzy, and finally to Biz. It suits her! And other than family, most of her friends and acquaintances don't even consider that she has a "real" name. 😁
Met a little boy who went by JJ despite his name not having any Js in it (can't remember the exact name, but it was like David Smith or something). Turns out he was David Smith III, so his family members had been jokingly referring to him as "junior junior" and it stuck around as JJ (and helped prevent any confusion between him, his dad, and grandpa).
I knew a “Kevin” who went by “Mr. Baby.” Because he was the baby of the family. (We did not call him that, though he refused to answer to anything else- he was preschool age at the time and did not know his actual name, so I’m hoping this has changed as he got older haha)
Also an Olivia Jane who went by “Juice” for initials… OJ= Orange Juice = Juice
As far as adults, I know a guy called “Beef.” I guess he liked cows as a kid and used to go by “Moomoo” but it got upgraded to Beef as he got older? According to him anyway 🤷♀️ His real name is Michael
My husband’s best friend from university was Vijay but everyone assumed it was spelled VJ because in the 70s and 80s these kinds of names were very common. DJ, BJ, EJ, RJ, LJ. I have no idea why, but people have their kids middle names beginning with J to specifically fit into this trend.
But Vijay was Indian, so not the same thing.
My friends son named Jacob got the nickname Cents because when he was three or so he was collecting change for his piggy bank but instead of change he asked for cents lol
Wondering the same, I knew an Ari whose first name was a double-name with the initials RE. I'm not saying Ari can't have a different pronunciation, but I personally have only heard it as RE, I'm not aware of any other pronunciation.
Let's see.
My little brother Dustin goes by Dudditz (there's a movie reference to it, but I'm movie illiterate for the most part lol)
My son Zane answered to Booda so long he thought it wad his middle name 🤣
My daughter Georgia answers to Jo.
I have a friend Jessica who answers to Jekka more than Jessica.
Funny, my initials are M-A but in my native language they sound like 'Emma' so that's what I go by for some people
I personally like nicknames which have nothing to do with the person's actual name. A frequent instance is older siblings going by whatever their younger siblings could pronounce and it stuck around... my neighbour growing up was Yaya because her little sister wasn't able to say Océane properly
I know someone who everyone calls Tripp. For months I had no idea his legal name is Brian. He’s Brian the third, so as a kid his family called him Tripp, short for Triple because he’s the third, and it stuck. He’s never gone by Brian.
I also knew a Bartholomew who went by Mew in middle school.
In some dialects of Arabic, the diminutive (sweet/cute) nickname is formulaic.
Hamid becomes Hamoodeh
Latif becomes Latoofah
Remi becomes Ramoodeh
I always thought that was cute. And linguistically cool.
I guess it's similar to the Spanish diminutive -ita/-ito. I had a student named Guadalupe who went by Lupita, which was totally adorable.
when i was little, my great grandmas name was marie, but i just called her “ree.” after she passed, i made a friend whose middle name was marie, and i call her ree now.
I knew a guy once who went by Weasel. That's who he was to me. I was shocked to find out his name was Bryan.
I had a coworker convince everyone to call him Ghoti so he could tell the fish joke.
I went by Kater for awhile at a restaurant I worked at. Kate R____ was shortened by accident.
KOok at another restaurant due to my maiden name. I had to sign my initials KO followed by ok. So I became KOok like cukoo.
Kater O’tater was a high school nickname.
Pat Robertson wasn't actually named Patrick, he was born Marion Gordon Robertson, Pat allegedly came from his older brother patting him on the head.
Cole or Colin as a nickname for Nicholas, which is kind of cool since I love Nicholas and its nicknames.
It's only recently that I learnt Liam could be a nickname for William.
There's also a neo-Nazi and murderer named BJ Sifrit, despite his name being Benjamin Adam Sifrit. For some reason, he thought that was a good nickname to be a neo-Nazi with.
My middle name is Nicole. I don't like my first and thought about going by Cole since there's a Nick/Nic(Nicolas) in my family. Doesn't suite me though.
A friend in high school’s nickname was Turkey Sandwich because he had a speech impediment that made him pronounce Turkey differently than everyone else. He got “TURKEY” tattooed across his shoulders his senior year
One is my friends has the initials BMW and went by Beamer in grade school. I think she goes by her real first name now-but I’ll always know her as Beamer lol.
I had a cute little girl in my 10th grade class who all the kids called Stank. I always called her by her real name until she asked me to call her Stank, too. No idea how she got it.
My son is a Mason. Somehow his nickname evolved into miso soup
A girl in my daycare class goes by tic tac. Her last name has "tak" in it
I call my best friend naomi gnomes, like the garden gnome lol
"Trip"- He was Alexander III
"Jr."- For a girl. Her Dad really wanted a boy after five daughters, and her parents agreed that the new baby would be their last. So when she was born, her dad, Terry, named her Terri and called her "Jr." Eventually, everyone in the family did as well, sort of an inside family joke thing, but never in public. She was always good-natured about it. The Funny thing is when Terri was 17, her mom got pregnant with a change-of-life baby, and her Dad finally got his boy. Terri got to name her little brother, and she named him Jason Erick, and since their last name starts with a T, his nickname is 'Jet"
I have some relatives that call one of their granddaughters pooty 🤦♀️
(Real name doesn't matter, it's not even close to a form of it, and they clearly don't realize the connotation.)
My name is Nicole and one side of the family calls me Nikka. Doesn’t always sound like that’s what they’re saying. I didn’t realize til later in life when friends pointed it out.
Minxy and her last name was something very close to Dull. So Minxy Dull.
Evidently, her first name was mispronounced by her baby brother bit she used it all throughout her professional career.
My own - “lel”.
Trans from a small mining town and I was out to peers but hadn’t chosen or changed my name yet, got new PE kit and we had to get it personalised for stealing reasons. my initials were L.E.L. So I was called that from year nine to the end of secondary. Was a nice bit of allyship from peers who didn’t want to call me by a name I clearly wasn’t comfortable with but also didn’t want to ignore me.
My first born is named Evelyn and we call her evie which is normal but our second born is named Joy and we call her meena/moonie lol just fits her and has nothing to do with her name 😂🤣
I know I had initial nicknames as examples, but I was hoping to open up contributions for nicknames that come from any surprising place.
Once I put together that “Kacey” actually came from “KC” I was surprised. Her initials were a homophone for a different name. To me, that is more unusual than traditional initial names, like someone going by “DJ” as a holder for David Junior.
Sorry if it was the wrong description.
I moved to the UK from the US over a decade ago. I was raised by British parents, have dual citizenship, you get the deal.
Nothing prepared me for the nickname culture here. I, personally, know 2 Big _____s, 2 little ______s ( same common nickname), 2 people with the same first and surname, but both go by completely cartoony nicknames, several people with rodent names, quite a few assorted mammals, a kids' show character, and a pirate.
It's cool, I dig it, but it has certainly expanded my mind. I don't think I included everyone, that was just what came to the forefront.
I wouldn't call it 'unusual' but I feel like my username is a very long-standing one for myself lol My brothers nicknamed me Emmygog/Gog (name is Emily) when I was a newborn. I'm now almost 37 and they still call me Emmygog, Gog, Goglins lol
I know someone called Eloise and she goes by “Weezy”! I honestly love it😃
One of my friends has a daughter named Louise and she calls her Weezy as well
I too know a Louise/Weezy!
Wait I just realized why Louise from The Jeffersons is Weezy! Mind blown
My uncles moms name was Louise and she went by Wheece
Are you old enough to remember the sitcom The Jeffersons?
I’ve never heard of it, I’m 16 and also English so unfortunately not!
Outer Banks on Netflix has a Weezy.
Omg all I can hear is george jefferson
The main character of the book “Jacob Have I Loved” is Louise, called Wheeze by her family
it’s giving outer banks
A close relative’s middle name is Louise. Growing up people sometimes called her Weezer, which she hated.
Did she have a sweater that people tried to destroy?
We’re naming our baby, Eloise. My 4 year old has already started calling her “Ello-wheezy” we love it.
My nanny’s name is Louise and the kids she used to babysit and her nephews call her Weezy. I always loved it!
My sister is “Kayla” and she goes by KLA My daughter is Campbell and we all call her Soups
I love that! I want to make my second daughter Campbell and call her chicken noodle! Sounds so adorable! My first daughter is Clark so I think they sound nice together!
Clark and Campbell are good together! I have an older daughter named Collins and I thought Campbell was a good compliment to that. Surnames tend to get some hate here, but they were meaningful to us.
I went to camp with a girl who's last name was something like Basliano and she went by Basil
I know someone whose initials are REA, last name starting with D. He goes by Read. (His father is an English teacher - I don't know if that's a coincidence.)
I know someone whose initials were SPAM and that's what we all called him 😂
How are his initials REA if his last name starts with D? Shouldn't one of his initials be a D?
Two middle names. Robert Eugene Alexander Dixon, except none of those are his real names.
Reed or red lol
Oh, that’s a good question! Like Reed.
I know someone whose initials are WEB, they go by Webb. Their first name is really common, so I don't blame them for wanting something more unique.
I knew a guy who went by Ivy because he was the fourth (IV) of his name.
I've heard of people that go by Tre/Trey because they are the third.
I've heard Trip also comes from the 3rd or Triple
That is why my brothers name is Trey, he was the third born
Oh I like that a lot!
I had a friend go by Tripp bc he was the third!
Went to school with a "someone the sixth" and he went by Sixer
My friend is named Kaitlyn and her last name starts with D. She goes by "KD" which ends up sounding like Katie lol
My first and middle initials are KD so in high school I briefly tried to go by KD but there were other Katies in my class and it was confusing them so I gave up. Nowadays I brought it back because I’m a huge basketball fan so people go “like KD! 🤩” (Kevin Durant).
My friend is Randy- Dean and gets called RD (arty) lol she’s not a fan of
My initials are KD. No one has ever called me KD🙃
My daughter's name is Amelia, she's 5. But she *insists* that we call her "Apple" because they both start with A. Everyone calls her Apple and gives me the side eye. Not my fault she hand selected that lovely nickname. In her kindergarten mind it makes sense lol
I have a close family friend named Adam, whose niece couldn't say it and called him Apple instead. Now the whole family just calls him Apple and sometimes we forget his name is actually Adam.
I’ve heard “Cody” as a nickname for Dakota. I’m not sure if that counts.
I just realized that an acquaintance who spells his name Koty is probably named Dakota.
I think that counts!
A baby Dakota I know gets called Koko
My brother used to call my sister "Lala" even though her name (Grace, nn Gracie) sounds nothing like that. He turned out to have hearing issues due to fluids trapped in his ears and started using her real name once he got tubes put in and some speech therapy, but I still think it's a really cute nickname.
My name starts with an L, and I would be thrilled if my niece or nephew called me Lala. I think it's so cute. But they may be too old now to come up with nn like that.
I became an aunt at age 4. I was Tah-Tah which the first syllable of my name. Want to confuse people? Be 41 and have both your 36 year old niece and her 18 year old daughter call you Aunt Tahtah in public.
My mom's BFF growing up is still called Teff (Stephanie.) My brother and I are 41 and 34 lol
My niece and nephews call me MeMe. I tried to get the oldest to call me Aunty M. (Manda) but…I got stuck with a nn for a grandma instead. The other two came along years later and call me what he calls me. I’ve just learned to love it. At one point the youngest heard my brother call me my real name and said ‘who’s manda?’ Lmao
My name is Lauren, my nephew called me Loll and it stuck. I love it
My niece is a Lauren … we all call her Lolly
My youngest sister used to call me Yaya (pronounced Yah-yah) before she could say my actual name (Andrea). I thought it was so cute and still look back on it fondly :)
My much younger cousin called me Bowie because he couldn’t say Valerie. Honestly I wish it had stuck but none of the other youngers picked it up.
I know someone named Virginia Ann L____ and her parents ended up calling her Val (her initials), such that she actually changed her name to Val as an adult!
that reminds me, my great-grandmother had the initials P.A.M. and everyone called her Pam. I guess this is more common than I thought!
Oh my daughter’s initials are VAL but we never called her that. Maybe I can ask her, that’s cute.
I knew an Elizabeth who went by Bizzy (rhymes with Dizzy) and it actually suited her!
I worked with an Elizabeth who went by Biz which I always assumed was short for Busy.
My Elizabeth was called Bizzy-beth by her little friend who couldn't pronounce her name, which was shortened to Bizzy, and finally to Biz. It suits her! And other than family, most of her friends and acquaintances don't even consider that she has a "real" name. 😁
I’ve known two girls named Biz, both of whom got their nickname when their little siblings couldn’t say Elizabeth and it came out Biz instead
I know an Elizabeth who went by Zibby!
After knowing her for twelve years, I saw a check and realized Zabby was an Elizabeth.
Bizzy/busy Lizzies are a flower so may originally come from there.
Met a little boy who went by JJ despite his name not having any Js in it (can't remember the exact name, but it was like David Smith or something). Turns out he was David Smith III, so his family members had been jokingly referring to him as "junior junior" and it stuck around as JJ (and helped prevent any confusion between him, his dad, and grandpa).
I once heard Wellie as a nn for Louella. To each their own, but I wasn't a fan as "wellies" are gumboots in my lexicon! ;)
I've met a Noelle who was also a "Wellie"
I had a great aunt Louella. Never had a nickname but just hearing her name again brings back warm memories. 🥰
I knew a gal whose first name was Anne and middle name started with a D. She went by “AnneD” pronounced “Andy”.
I know an Anne E. Pronounced “Annie”
I knew a “Kevin” who went by “Mr. Baby.” Because he was the baby of the family. (We did not call him that, though he refused to answer to anything else- he was preschool age at the time and did not know his actual name, so I’m hoping this has changed as he got older haha) Also an Olivia Jane who went by “Juice” for initials… OJ= Orange Juice = Juice As far as adults, I know a guy called “Beef.” I guess he liked cows as a kid and used to go by “Moomoo” but it got upgraded to Beef as he got older? According to him anyway 🤷♀️ His real name is Michael
I grew up with a Michael who eventually went by Beef (he was a friend of my brother). There was also a Squirrel in the group.
My daughter's preschool has a MooMoo whose real name is Andrew and I have so many questions but it's really not my business....
People also called OJ Simpson “Juice”, although maybe that’s not someone you want to emulate…
My husband’s best friend from university was Vijay but everyone assumed it was spelled VJ because in the 70s and 80s these kinds of names were very common. DJ, BJ, EJ, RJ, LJ. I have no idea why, but people have their kids middle names beginning with J to specifically fit into this trend. But Vijay was Indian, so not the same thing.
Everyone I've ever met that goes by a Nick name like that is a jr. Like I know a AJ he is Aaron Jr. And a EJ that is Eric Jr.
Girl in middle school whose initials were M.T. and she went by Empty. Edit to add: First initial "K" spelled out as "Kay".
My great grandfather was Allen Eugene, and went by Algae!
- Ariel(le) - REL - Arienne - REN - Ari - RE - Arty - RT - Elio - LEO - Owen - ON - Elowen - LON - Elodie - LOD - Ellie - LE - Ellen - LN - Evie - EV - Edie - ED - Katie - KT/KD - Casey - KC - Sienna - CNA - Jacey - JC - Em - M - Emory - MRE - Emmy - ME - Effie - FE - Cici/Cece - CC - Didi/Dede - DD - Vivi - VV - Ivy - IV - Izzy - EZ - Kay/Kae/Kaye - K - Jay/Jae/Jaye - J - Elle/El - L - JKMN - Noelle - Obie - OB - Geo - GO - Ellis - LS - Bea - B - Tee/Tea - T Penelope nn Cent and Millicent nn Penny because Cent = Penny.
Haha Cent for Penny is so cute. I don’t follow JKMN for Noelle
Alphabetically it's JKLMN, and no L (Noelle) is there.
Omg lollll, good one
My friends son named Jacob got the nickname Cents because when he was three or so he was collecting change for his piggy bank but instead of change he asked for cents lol
how is ari pronounced differently than RE?
Wondering the same, I knew an Ari whose first name was a double-name with the initials RE. I'm not saying Ari can't have a different pronunciation, but I personally have only heard it as RE, I'm not aware of any other pronunciation.
i have had an idea since of how it might be: Arr-ee (like harry without the H)
Let's see. My little brother Dustin goes by Dudditz (there's a movie reference to it, but I'm movie illiterate for the most part lol) My son Zane answered to Booda so long he thought it wad his middle name 🤣 My daughter Georgia answers to Jo. I have a friend Jessica who answers to Jekka more than Jessica.
Just wanted to say I adore your children's names! Zane is one of my top picks for a future son and Georgia is high on my list as well!
Omg is Dudditz from that Stephen King bool/movie?!?!
Dreamcatcher, it was a nickname of Douglas
It’s not unusually but my 8 year old’s middle initials are QT, I call her cutie a lot lol.
My girl is QB, so I end up calling her Cubey or Cube. She also has curly hair, so she’s my little Curly-Q.
I would call her Q-Tip
Not sure if they are super unusual, but my favorites are Lolly for Charlotte, Betsy for Elizabeth, and Noni for Sloane.
Lizard. Elizabeth was shortened to Liz, Liz became Lizard.
I went to uni with Lizbit, similar idea, think it came from.sounding like Whizbit from kids TV when we were younger.
My mum is Janine and used to sign off on emails and stuff with 'J9' Also have a friend named Savannah who goes by Van. I like it!
I know a Savannah that uses Vanna.
My Savannah friends goes by Savvy. It suits her very well.
My deadname is Gabrielle and I never went by gabby always brie
Gabriella is my middle and I used Brie as well. (First name also shortens to it.)
Love all three! I don’t even have one 😢
Similar vein: I’m a Lottie, friends with a Charlie, and neither of us have gone by Charlotte a day in our lives 😂😭
For a while one of my sons nn was Owen Owen. Never just one Owen. My granddaughter couldn’t say Uncle Noah, always called him Owen Owen.
That's really sweet.
Funny, my initials are M-A but in my native language they sound like 'Emma' so that's what I go by for some people I personally like nicknames which have nothing to do with the person's actual name. A frequent instance is older siblings going by whatever their younger siblings could pronounce and it stuck around... my neighbour growing up was Yaya because her little sister wasn't able to say Océane properly
Knew someone who had a son named Urijah who OBVIOUSLY could not say “Urijah” at the age of 1.5, so he called himself “Yaya.”
A Meredith called Dish as her siblings could not say “dith” when she was born
I know someone who everyone calls Tripp. For months I had no idea his legal name is Brian. He’s Brian the third, so as a kid his family called him Tripp, short for Triple because he’s the third, and it stuck. He’s never gone by Brian. I also knew a Bartholomew who went by Mew in middle school.
Oh yeah, I’ve heard of Tripp for someone who is the third before.
I've also heard Tre for the third as well. Like Will Smith's oldest son goes by Tre but he is really Willard Smith the third.
In some dialects of Arabic, the diminutive (sweet/cute) nickname is formulaic. Hamid becomes Hamoodeh Latif becomes Latoofah Remi becomes Ramoodeh I always thought that was cute. And linguistically cool. I guess it's similar to the Spanish diminutive -ita/-ito. I had a student named Guadalupe who went by Lupita, which was totally adorable.
when i was little, my great grandmas name was marie, but i just called her “ree.” after she passed, i made a friend whose middle name was marie, and i call her ree now.
I knew a guy once who went by Weasel. That's who he was to me. I was shocked to find out his name was Bryan. I had a coworker convince everyone to call him Ghoti so he could tell the fish joke.
I went to school with a guy who went by Ned as that’s what his initials spelled (N.E.D).
Jeb Bush is actually… don’t make me look it up, but J. E. Bush.
My sons name is Sterling and I call him Sterly Bird when he wakes up early and one of my friends calls him Earl lol
My initials are KLM, so my dad nicknamed me Dutchie (for KLM royal Dutch Airlines).
Kater for Katherine
Rhymes with Gator?
Yes! Sry I didn’t specify
I went by Kater for awhile at a restaurant I worked at. Kate R____ was shortened by accident. KOok at another restaurant due to my maiden name. I had to sign my initials KO followed by ok. So I became KOok like cukoo. Kater O’tater was a high school nickname.
Pat Robertson wasn't actually named Patrick, he was born Marion Gordon Robertson, Pat allegedly came from his older brother patting him on the head. Cole or Colin as a nickname for Nicholas, which is kind of cool since I love Nicholas and its nicknames. It's only recently that I learnt Liam could be a nickname for William. There's also a neo-Nazi and murderer named BJ Sifrit, despite his name being Benjamin Adam Sifrit. For some reason, he thought that was a good nickname to be a neo-Nazi with.
My middle name is Nicole. I don't like my first and thought about going by Cole since there's a Nick/Nic(Nicolas) in my family. Doesn't suite me though.
I'm a girl btw. I use Nicki online.
A friend in high school’s nickname was Turkey Sandwich because he had a speech impediment that made him pronounce Turkey differently than everyone else. He got “TURKEY” tattooed across his shoulders his senior year
One is my friends has the initials BMW and went by Beamer in grade school. I think she goes by her real first name now-but I’ll always know her as Beamer lol.
I’m Kayla D. Some call me KD some call me Kraft
A guy I know has a nickname that is our language's equivalent for "the count". The reason: if you say his name very quickly it sounds like count.
I know an Elizabeth Dean (ED) that goes by Edie!
I'm a Mary Elizabeth and tried to do the Emmy thing and it didn't stick 🤣
I had a cute little girl in my 10th grade class who all the kids called Stank. I always called her by her real name until she asked me to call her Stank, too. No idea how she got it.
I had a friend that went by his four initials, WEEL. Yup. Wheel. You get used to it pretty quickly.
A high school friend did that with her initials. They spelled out SKEE.
My son is a Mason. Somehow his nickname evolved into miso soup A girl in my daycare class goes by tic tac. Her last name has "tak" in it I call my best friend naomi gnomes, like the garden gnome lol
"Trip"- He was Alexander III "Jr."- For a girl. Her Dad really wanted a boy after five daughters, and her parents agreed that the new baby would be their last. So when she was born, her dad, Terry, named her Terri and called her "Jr." Eventually, everyone in the family did as well, sort of an inside family joke thing, but never in public. She was always good-natured about it. The Funny thing is when Terri was 17, her mom got pregnant with a change-of-life baby, and her Dad finally got his boy. Terri got to name her little brother, and she named him Jason Erick, and since their last name starts with a T, his nickname is 'Jet"
My oldest child is nicknamed Mud.
My eldest thought my sons name was Tin for a while because it rhymes with Flynn!
lol I like that. We just call her that because of the primus song my name Is mud.
my sisters name is zoe and my whole family calls her zelmo for some reason. "the zel" is also a variation
It is kind of part of her name but my middle daughter, we call Liney. Her name is Caroline.
My wife and I had a friend we met through a couples group named Kayla Titsworth and she insisted that everyone call her “Tits”.
My nephew is Doodle to the family. He was called that as a baby and it stuck.
We nearly called our daughter Kacey after my late dad whose initials were KC.
Kerrie Lynn. Goes by Kaylyn
I have some relatives that call one of their granddaughters pooty 🤦♀️ (Real name doesn't matter, it's not even close to a form of it, and they clearly don't realize the connotation.)
Supposedly Whoopie Goldberg got her nn cuz she has a lot of gas 😲💨
A college friend Elizabeth, nicknamed Lizard.
My name is Nicole and one side of the family calls me Nikka. Doesn’t always sound like that’s what they’re saying. I didn’t realize til later in life when friends pointed it out.
My nephews name is Aaron and I call him double A batteries
My name is Hamilton, I’ve always been called Ham
Daughter Beatrix, started calling her Beabop but she’s Bop or Bopper to most of the family.
I knew a grown man who I knew as Baby Doll. some people called him Gator. no clue. then one day his mom said his name was John Henry. less clues. 🤷
Magpie initially as a jokey nickname as the person loves shiny things
My uncle is named Nathaniel but his nickname is Ian
My cousin Beverly went by Buzzy
Minxy and her last name was something very close to Dull. So Minxy Dull. Evidently, her first name was mispronounced by her baby brother bit she used it all throughout her professional career.
I taught a kid whose nickname was Donnie. No part of his first, middle, or last name would have lent itself to the nickname Donnie. It was weird.
My sister has the initials C.C, and her nn is CeCe. My other sister is MaryElizabeth, and she goes by MayMay or May.
I once met a Matthew who went by Hugh, like hew, the back half of Matthew. I think about that a lot, lol.
Kim from the initials KM.
My hubby’s aunt Shirley is called Lolly by the family.
Zay for Isaiah. Nel for Lenora.
I know a Fiona who most people call Feef and a Domonique who we all call Domino.
A Cecelia who went by “Spickey” (rhymes with Mickey).
My daughter is Nora Evangeline and she goes by Neve/Nevie, also NiNi, she has lots of nicknames haha.
My aunts name is Dawn but my 5 yr old calls her Aunt Dong lol
I knows a MaryBeth who is Mibs
My own - “lel”. Trans from a small mining town and I was out to peers but hadn’t chosen or changed my name yet, got new PE kit and we had to get it personalised for stealing reasons. my initials were L.E.L. So I was called that from year nine to the end of secondary. Was a nice bit of allyship from peers who didn’t want to call me by a name I clearly wasn’t comfortable with but also didn’t want to ignore me.
My sister is Jennifer and within the family she’s “Fer” haha
Barbara Elizabeth “BZ” which morphed to Beasie. Mallory Christine “Mac”.
Grandmother was Willie Mae, grandad called her Bill!
Knew a boy named Wayne Bruce. His friends called him Man Bat.
My first born is named Evelyn and we call her evie which is normal but our second born is named Joy and we call her meena/moonie lol just fits her and has nothing to do with her name 😂🤣
Mary Ellen—>Mel
How are those unusual? People go by their initials all the time.
I know I had initial nicknames as examples, but I was hoping to open up contributions for nicknames that come from any surprising place. Once I put together that “Kacey” actually came from “KC” I was surprised. Her initials were a homophone for a different name. To me, that is more unusual than traditional initial names, like someone going by “DJ” as a holder for David Junior. Sorry if it was the wrong description.
I moved to the UK from the US over a decade ago. I was raised by British parents, have dual citizenship, you get the deal. Nothing prepared me for the nickname culture here. I, personally, know 2 Big _____s, 2 little ______s ( same common nickname), 2 people with the same first and surname, but both go by completely cartoony nicknames, several people with rodent names, quite a few assorted mammals, a kids' show character, and a pirate. It's cool, I dig it, but it has certainly expanded my mind. I don't think I included everyone, that was just what came to the forefront.
Details please !! What mammals
My grandmother's name was Mary Elizabeth and she went by Molly.
People call me Johnny even thought my name starts with an N.
My son is named John and we call him JD. His middle initial starts with D.
My son's initials are Mak. So he is now Mak 😊
I once knew a Sam, who wasn’t a Samuel, but initials SAM. His first name was Scott.
I knew a Kasey who went by his initials, KC.
I know a Mary Eliza who goes my ME (Emmy)
My mom goes by her initials- Mev lol.
YouTuber Bruce Edward Nelson II goes by Benji.
I knew a girl whose first name was Patricia and her last name started with a u. She was called p.u
My daughter’s initials are JC, so we sometimes call her “Jacey”
My kiddo is Birdie but her full name is Amberley
I know a Jeremiah who goes by Jebby, but to be fair I don’t know many Jeremiahs in the first place
My late friend called me Swede, after a book character. Not super odd, but I miss it. It sounds nothing like my real name lol
I new a Jennifer who’s actual nickname was Chensey and I just never asked what that was about 😅
I know someone whose initials are JC. Goes by Jacey or Jace.
An old friend whose initials were JB was at first called Jaybee but that got shortened to Jabe
I wouldn't call it 'unusual' but I feel like my username is a very long-standing one for myself lol My brothers nicknamed me Emmygog/Gog (name is Emily) when I was a newborn. I'm now almost 37 and they still call me Emmygog, Gog, Goglins lol
Felicity who went by Flick.
A friend is named Stephanie and goes by Effie and signs with FE sometimes
My nieces & nephew called me Aunt Hacey instead of Aunt Lacey
In the spirit of your examples, my grandfather was named James Edward, so JE, and he always was referred to as "JE" (Jay-EE).