Many people have nick names. I have had many nick names.

“Nick name” derives from the English spoken in the Middle Ages. It originally was “eke name” meaning a name supplemental or in addition to our given name. There is a creative aspect to nick names that differs from formal naming.

The derivation to modern English would have followed a logical process. First, nick name is alliteration. That means both words start with the same letter or sound, being /n/.

Alliteration is common in the English language such as in Henry Higgins who was big on speaking proper English and Donald Duck who is not. It is also when parents name their children using the same first letter such as Jack and Jill.

Donald Duck's sister Della Duck used rhyming rather than alliteration to name her children Huey, Dewey and Louie. She probably had enough of alliteration but wanted cute names for her children. Alliterating or rhyming your children’s names is probably only cute when they are very young or if they happen to be ducks.

Eke name was likely transformed to our modern day nick name by copying the /n/ from name to the beginning of eke resulting in neke to make the alliterated form of neke name.

Speakers of any language will often simplify words making them easier to say. No one pronounces the /th/ in clothes. It requires too much effort. The vowel /i/ requires less effort than the /e/. It is understandable that in casual English neke would become nick, Henry Higgins notwithstanding.

Alliteration in this circumstance is indeed fortunate. Otherwise, we would have been left with “ick names” of which there are many but of a different purpose from nick names.

Our principal in junior high school was a frightening woman with the given name of Alice. Among ourselves, we referred to her as “Nightmare Alice” who was a character in a comic strip at the time. I have known a “Crooky”, “Barny”, “Brooks” and “Leap” based on a deformed spine, body odor, preferred brand of whiskey of an alcoholic, and a lurching limp.

Nick names usually are endearing and may highlight some physical or personality feature in the realm of the positive. My dad called me “Punky” when I was a preschooler. My older brothers called me “Pee Wee” through most of my early school years in recognition of being the youngest and smallest member of the family.

A friend of my older brother called me “Rabbit” one day while I was eating a carrot for lunch in Grade 1. It stuck like glue through most of high school. Most everyone in my community, children and adults alike, knew me by that nickname and few probably knew its humble origins. Some thought it was because I ran fast in sports. Girls in my high school said I moved fast. I just liked carrots. High school friends still call me “Ed” which is my middle name. Mary sometimes calls me “Doc”or “GH”.

I have also known a “Slim”, “Shorty”, “Red”, “Bounce” and “Happy” based in weight, height, hair color, manner of walking and temperament. There was a man who loved peaches and was addressed as “Peaches”. Judging from the size of him, he also loved the pie crust and ice cream that went with them.

His wife was jokingly called “Pains” but not in her presence. She was obsessed with her physical ills. Anyone asking her “How are you” quickly regretted it and wished for a comfortable chair with an ample supply of food and water. Peaches and Pains were quite an alliterated pair.

Nick names are often initiated by and limited in use to spouses, other family members or friends. They are, in fact, supplemental or in addition to our given names. They can, however, also encompass a much larger community beyond our immediate social circle. Many of those people may not even know our given name or us very well.

The nick name then extends beyond the limits of the definitional boundary. It functions much like a given name. The creativity and cleverness of the nick name cannot be fully appreciated without knowing the given name and the person reasonably well. Is the nick name still a nick name when it has lost its meaning?

© C O P Y R I G H T   2 0 0 9.  Gary Holdgrafer ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.