Conference oass::babynames

    I have an aunt Doris, but I found out a few years ago that her REAL
    name is Pauline!  Go figure.  _I_ wouldn't want to go by Pauline, but
    neither would I want to go by Doris.
    
    But maybe these people just don't like the "common" nicknames that go
    with the names (Charlie, Ginny, etc.), and don't like the formality of
    the full names, and the nicknames that they have chosen are ones that 
    they are comfortable with, and there are meanings behind them.
    
    Heck, _I_ used to go by Kitty.
    
    K.C.

    My great aunt's name was Amanda, but was always called Lanoire.
    Your guess is as good as mine!  Actually, I really do know why
    she was called that...  see, my family in French-Canadian and
    nicknames are *very* common.  Aunt Amanda had darker skin than
    anyone else in the family and Lanoire translated literally means
    "the black" but when used in the proper context, it means "the dark
    one".
    
    My sister-in-law's real name is Dorothy but has always been called
    Jennie.  I believe she changed it to Jennie legally after she married
    my brother when she was changing her last name...
    
    - K

I have an aunt whose name is Catherine, but EVERYONE calls her Tudy
(the 'u' sounds like the 'oo' in cook).   Her brother (my uncle) is named
Ambrose, but he goes by Hammy, except by his wife, who refuses to call him
that.

I have another uncle (by marriage) who goes by Boozer.  I don't even know his
real name.

I think alot of weird nicknames are given by adult relatives when the child
is very young, and they kinda stick before the child thinks there's anything
unusual about it.  And when they get older their given names just sound too
formal.

� �ori

    Lori - Boozer as in a "clown"?  I have an uncle who I always knew as 
    "Booz or Boozo"  his was a cut-up, clown etc.  I can't even think of his 
    real name!!! 
    
    I have an aunt who was always called "sis or sister" her real name is
    Elaine and has 8 brothers and sisters.....and I can't count how many
    neices and nephews.

My grandfather, James, went by Shine.  He got the name by playing a
part in a minstrel show in his teens.  That was his character name.

His sister, Margaret, went by Sug (pronounced shoog, for sugar) ...
a nick name for a nick name!

My husband's friend's wife's name is Merge.  At least that's what
everyone calls her.  I don't think it's her real name, but I don't
know what it is.

(I don't know if this counts: my Mom, Maryliz, goes by Miz or Mizzie.
You can sort of tell that the nick name comes from the name in this
case.  Still it's not ordinary!)

My aunt, Margo, goes by Mike.  (Well, they thought she was going to
be a boy, and it stuck.)

-Amy who_goes_by_Amy

    My husband has 2 cousins who are sisters.  The older one (she's in her
    70's) goes by Duchy because when she was a youngster, she always had a
    dutch-cut hair style.  The younger one goes by Peachy because she had a
    peaches-and-cream complexion when she was a little girl.  Talk about
    names that stick.  I have no idea what their real names are.
    
    I went to school with a boy named Richard who only answered to Scott.
    
    And my father nicknamed me Charlie when I was just a few days old
    because I was supposed to be named Carolyn Ann after his mother, but at
    the last minute my mother changed her mind and I was named Cathryn
    Mary.  In protest, my dad started to call me Charlie, and it stuck, but
    he's the only one that uses it.
    
    Cathy

    Honestly, I spoke with a woman in Denver yesterday, who's name is 
    LUCKY.  I almost asked her to repeat herself, but before I could,
    she started spelling it out.  Maybe she gets a lot of inquiries...
    
    I won't bother wondering how *that* could have come about...

    Why?  Who knows!  I know that in my family, nicknames are a way of
    life!  It isn't as bad as it was when my grandfather was alive, but
    it's still pretty bad.
    
    We have cousins named Toots and Pal (Pal is Toots's husband).  Toots's
    real name is Alice, and no one remembers what Pal's real name is.
    
    My grandfather had a nephew he alternately called Booney and Danny.  I
    always figured that his name was Daniel so they called him Daniel
    Boone, which evolved into Booney.  Well, the evolution was accurate to
    a point.  They called him Daniel Boone becase he had a coon skin hat. 
    His real name, however, was Vincent.
    
    He had other nephews nicknamed Chummy, Plum, and Buz.  He was great
    with nicknames.  My sister is pregnant for her first child, and she's
    taken to calling the baby Stash  (as in Stacia) because her husband is
    Polish.  I told her it's a good thing Gramps isn't alive 'cause it
    would stick for sure!!
    
    As kids, my oldest brother Doorsy because he slammed doors; my youngest
    brother was Candles (I won't tell you why, though).  My middle brother
    was Creamo (get it?  Cream o'Farina).  Girls didn't get as many
    nicknames.
    
    My  brother has always called me by little nicknames, and my nephew
    seems to be following in the family tradition.  Last month he started
    calling me Aunt Snoutsin (I have no idea where he got this - I don't
    have a big nose!).  Sure enough, the family's picked it up!  Looks like
    I have a new nickname!
    
    
    Susan