Are you into nicknames?

For some reason, my family seems to gravitate towards nicknames. Even back when I was little, my Dad called me “Pumpkin Seed” when I was very small and then as I grew he started calling me “Kat.” He still calls me Kat from time to time. When we started our family the nicknames started coming fast and furious.

Lora was “Pretty” when she was little and I continued calling her that from time to time as she grew. I used to call her “Wo” for some reason when she was a teenager too – not sure about where that came from.

All four boys have been “Bud” from time to time over the years. The strange thing is that Daniel, David, and Michael do not have their given names shortened at all. We have been careful to keep those intact, however other names have cropped up. Daniel is sometimes “Dano” and David is “Davo“. Michael has been “Miksey” since he was very small and now Isaiah calls him “Mickey” (which he doesn’t actually like so much). Isaiah on the other hand…he has become “Zaya” and that has been shortened even further to “Zay” most of the time. Isaiah calls himself “Zaya” now, which is pretty cute.

As far as the other girls – Sarah for some reason is “Savvie” – don’t ask me why…I can’t remember. Ruthie is either “Ru” or “Rudy.” Abigail goes by “Ab” or sometimes “Abbus” – although she doesn’t like “Abbus” too much.

I thought I would include some instructions for coming up with a nickname that I found (could be useful for coming up with usernames for websites as well):

1. Reflect on why you want a nickname. Is it for parody reasons? Is it for personality reasons? Is it more for alias related reasons? 2. Brainstorm. Think of any words or ideas for a nickname that you like.3. Use the Internet to find out anything you can about the name you are thinking about. Especially websites such as www.google.com, www.wikipedia.org, and www.urbandictionary.com.4. Test out how it sounds. Listen to it said out loud, are you comfortable with having that as your new nickname? Can you really refer to yourself as that name? How are your friends and family reacting to it?

5. Choosing an extra symbol might be right for you; a symbol, insignia, or logo to separate your name from others (ie. “ACE (@)”).

6. Think about your interests. What do I do frequently that makes me unique? Write these things down.

7. Think about funny situations. Has anything ever happened to you that was major and made you laugh out loud?

8. Think of what people say about you. Do they say you look like an Easter bunny? Perhaps you can call yourself “Happy Bunny”. Do people say you walk like a model? Perhaps you can call yourself “K-Moss”.

9. Change other nicknames you’ve heard. You could take a common nickname and make it more unique. Perhaps “hotrod could become Hotrod Todd

10. Maybe add a y at the end or just shorten your name. Ex: “Linda” could become “Lindy’”, or “Hillary” could become “Hilly”, (or simply drop the “y” and make it “‘Hill”).