Yesterday another blogger in the BlogHer sidebar had a post about nicknames. Mainly about her child’s nickname or rather potential nickname for her unborn child. It got me thinking about my nicknames and the nicknames of those around me.
Although I have a fairly short name I’ve always had a nickname. It is quite uncommon for my family to call me by my actual name. That could be why adopting the name Elle came easily. For those just catching up my name is Lisa. My parents call me Leese (pronounced lease). The long form, given to me by my dad, was Leese McGeese. It isn’t my favorite. My uncles call me Leeser.
When I started dating Derek (who by the way doesn’t have a nickname in real life other than D) there was a bit of a conflict. You see, his middle sister is also named Liese (yes, Lisa). They couldn’t call me Lisa K (my maiden name starts with a K) because Liese’s middle name starts with a K. At some point a friend of mine started saying, “listen here little missy” to me. Somehow in some convoluted way people started calling me Missy. In Derek’s family I have always been known as Missy. It was cute when years ago Derek’s grandmother said, “I’m glad you started using your real name” when I inadvertently signed a card to her “Lisa.” It was a mistake, but one that made me realize that the name Missy really isn’t my favorite. It may not be the best, but I’ve been known as such for nearly 20 years so I can’t go changing it now.
Like I mentioned, Derek doesn’t really have any real-life nicknames. Most of his family calls him D. My niece B (who we actually call B) calls him Uncle D. He does have another nickname that our friends Sam & Cari call him, but I won’t disclose it in public lest I be sleeping on the couch too.
Oleg has a nickname list a mile long. Typically we call him by his name, but he also responds to Babaganush, Batu-tu, Oggie, Ogig, Lil O, Little Man or when he’s in trouble Olezhek. The story behind Babaganush is here.
Even my pets (all of them ) have nicknames. Hammond (cat) – Hammy, Hamster, Hammer, Dammit. Truman (cat) – True, Trummy, Turdy. Fiona (cat) – Fi, Squee, Fifi, Squee-Wee, Kitty. Busy (dog) – Biz, Wizzy, Busy Dog, Wizzy Dog, Wizzer. Sparkles (chicken) – Sparks, Sparky. Betty Draper (chicken) – Bets, Betsy. Picken (chicken) – Picks, Picker. Grinnin (chicken) – Grinny, Grin, Grinner, Grins. Even the fish. Technically the fish is named Minerva Louise, but we call her (actually a him) fishy.
Personally I have a love-hate relationship with nicknames. Obviously I’m not overly fond of my own, but I do like a good creative nickname. What about you?