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What are some nicknames that are a stretch?
Inspired by a poll asking whether Lily is a stretch of a nickname for Elizabeth.An unfitting nickname I heard is Chloe; for Claudia. I quite like it, to be honest.

“Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist – while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!”-Lori Greiner
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Peggy for Margaret
Molly and especially Polly for Mary
Jenny for Jane (to a certain extent)
Paco for Francisco, how does that even work??ETA: Buffy for Elizabeth... is that supposed to be Betty in baby talk?

This message was edited 9/15/2021, 3:08 AM

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In Spanish, some nicknames come from baby talk (e.g Chus; for Jesús or Chago; for Santiago), so:Fra- becomes Pa- and then -co is added.Fun fact: not many Spaniards know the way Pepe is a diminutive for José. It actually comes from Josepe, a now archaic variant of José. The last syllable is repeated.
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Taffy for David
Chuck for Charles
Fritz for Friedrich
Nellie for Helen

This message was edited 9/14/2021, 7:55 PM

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Nellie comes from “ mine Ellie”, likewise Ned for Edward.

This message was edited 9/14/2021, 10:10 PM

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Dominique nicknames: Donnie . Minnie . Mikki Eleanor: Leni Veronica: Vera . Nicki . Vicki . Ronnie . Ricki . Roxy Vivienne / Vivian: Vinnie Abigail: Allie . Billie . Bailey Alexandra: Andri .. Xan / Zan . Xandi . Andra . Landry . Sandrie / Xandri Gabriella: Abbie .. Bella .. Belle .. Ella Violet - Etta . Lettie Rebecca: Rex . Ricki . Roxy . Ruby Gwendolyn: Glen . Glynn Plus millions more I’m sure.
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I really fail to see how you get Jack from John.I find it funny that Teddy is a nickname for Theodore. They don’t sound that phonetically similar.Dick for Richard is just sad. I imagine a kid named Richard Head.
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Here in South Africa, there is a very good classical music radio station which often features the work of a distinguished choir-master who is universally loved and admired; people also, quietly, sympathise with him because his fn is indeed Richard (and nothing else, no nn at all) and his ln is Cock. This is a genuine case of "What were the parents thinking?", though presumably they just weren't familiar with that kind of slang.
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My mother refused to believe me when I said Polly was short for Mary.
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James nn John never made sense to me.Agnes nn Nancy I love it but it doesn’t make sense.Helen nn Jean is one I’ve come across a few times.
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Agnes: if you pronounce it the French way, then Nancy makes a lot of sense. Anne -> Nan(cy), so An-yez -> Nan(cy) too. I think!
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Bob & Bill & PeggyBob as a nickname for Robert has always seemed like a stretch. Rob makes sense, but Bob should be short for Bobart.Bill for William - Where did the B come from? Since it has been used for a while people no longer seem to question it, but where are the Bs coming from in these old nicknames? Jack as a nickname for John - I like the name Jack, but the only thing that it has in common with John is the first letter. It isn't any shorter than John, so it doesn't serve a real purpose as a nickname. Molly as a nickname for Mary. Peggy for Margaret - Why and how did Peggy ever become a nickname for Margaret? The two are nothing alike. Okay, they both have a G in the middle, but they look entirely unrelated to each other.
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From what I understand Bob, Bill and Peggy come from rhyming slangBob > RobBill > WillPeg > MegMolly is of ish understanding. I can see how Mary could have became Malle if you put a heavy accent to Mary, and then from Malle to Molly No idea about Jack / John though
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I've heard about Cockney rhyming slang, but I hadn't considered it being used to alter nicknames. They still feel like a bit of a stretch as nicknames when contrasted with the name that they started with, but I can sort of see what they did there.
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Bobart is cracking me up hahahaThese nicknames were used at a time when 10% or so of all women were called Mary and most of the others were Anne, Margaret or Sarah. So they had to come up with kinds of odd nicknames to tell all of the Marys and Sarahs apart: Mamie, Molly, Sally, Sadie etc.I like some of the nicknames (Sally, Maisie etc.) but I would use them on their own now, not as a nickname, because most people won't make the connection.Peggy came from Margaret -> Marge -> Meg -> Peg -> Peggy, I guess. Megan is a Welsh pet form of Margaret and Pegan is as well.
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Pegan makes me think of a very square pagan or Benedict Cumberbatch trying to say penguin. Now that you mention it, Sadie is quite the stretch for a nickname too.
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In the absence of a time machine, these are guesses.Margaret: shortens to Maggie very easily. If you're bored or playful, Maggie can morph into Meggie. Once that's done, all you need is a sibling with a bad cold (this is the UK we're talking about, back in the Middle Ages probably) and you get Peggy.
Molly and Mary: I also detect the presence of a sibling here. R sounds are notoriously difficult for children, so Molly could be their best attempt at Mary. And it took on a life of its own and, same as Meggie, morphed into Polly.
Jack, or Jock in Scotland, = Johnkin = little John, like a lambkin! And it got shortened.
Bob and Bill also seem to be likely mistakes made by the very young; babies and toddlers find /b/, /d/, /p/ and /m/ easy to say (think baba, dada, papa, mama ...). Parents think this is cute, and perpetuate it.
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I never realized that Jack, coming from Johnkin, is little John. Johnkin is adorable and does make me think of Jack differently.
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I know that Lily can be short of Elizabeth, but that was done when there were so many Marys, Elizabeths, Annes and Margarets around that you had to be creative with nicknames. Also, Lily is now so much associated with the flower (and also a full name, a flower name) that it makes no sense to me to use it as a nickname for Elizabeth. I think people would even get really confused. Many of these old nicknames don't work anymore, in my opinion.I think these don't work anymore:Elizabeth nn Lily
Anne nn Nancy
Mary nn MamieI know that someone here once liked Penelope nn Poppy. That never worked for me personally. Claudia nn Chloe also doesn't work for me.But I hate far fetched nicknames or nicknames that are well established full names.And I am a hypocrite because I love Edward nn Teddy and many people think that makes no sense ;) And it doesn't, I guess. But Teddy is a nickname that you can really call any little child (like honey or bear) so I think it is okay.
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My friend, Elizabeth Josephine, has been known as Lilli all her life. She had two elder siblings who found Elizabeth too long and difficult: Lilli was the closest they could get. So, in her case anyway, it was a natural progression. I'm not sure where the spelling came from!
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