Friday, November 25, 2011

What's In a Name?


I recently found out that my good friend Carly has been called Bob the majority of her life. I have known Carly for about 6 years and I am not entirely sure how this bit of information never came up in conversation. And if you consider the background for this becoming her nickname (you can read about that HERE) and know what a lover of hockey I am then it becomes even more surprising that this never came up.


This got me to thinking about names, nicknames and the meaning behind them. When I was growing up my brother Dave called me Stinky. I am not really sure why. I don't remember giving him an actual reason for it. Who knows though, maybe I was a gassy kid. And if I was, I will own it. Although I think if anyone was actually stinky I assume it was him since he is a boy and all. To this day he still calls me Stinky, Stinky Stinkerson or any other creative names that include Stinky.

*update* I cannot believe I forgot to mention some of the loving nicknames I used to call my brother Dave. The most memorable one being a very long one that went in this order -- David Campbell Soup-Jelly Belly Floyd-Hamburger Helper-Chubby! I even put it in the form of a song. I am laughing at myself singing it right now. Ha!

Aside from being anointed Stinky by my brother, I have had many other nicknames. Pinky was my name back in my days working at our church camp. My maiden name is Floyd--so it makes sense. In high school it was Yivan. I currently go by three names--confusing yes, but I soldier on. I think it is MUCH more confusing for others. In fact when we first moved to Boston and started attending a new church, I had one friend who thought Yvonne and Evey were two different people. Ha! I had introduced myself to her as Yvonne and she always heard people talking about this new girl Evey. A lot of my friends back in Canada and a few here in the States call me Eve. Chris's entire family and most of my friends here south of the border call me Evey. My family and people who know me from way back when I was just a wee little thing just call me by my full name, Yvonne. I will answer to all 3. I am not sure I really have a preference, but I think I've just gotten so used to Evey, so that is the one I mostly go with but I am happy either way.

Even my dog has a handful of nicknames. Her name is Annabelle but for the most part she has always been Belle. Somewhere along the way we started calling her Bubba. I realize this is normally a name reserved for males, but if Carly can be called Bob then surely calling my dog Bubba is acceptable. We use Bubba so often when referencing the dog that she will now answer to Belle or Bubba. We even caught Chris's mom calling her Bubba last week.

Nicknames that drive me nuts are athletes. The lack of creativity sometimes amazes me. I have noticed this especially with hockey players. While some do have some fun and creative nicknames some are just plain pointless. For example if your last name is Conklin, Conks is your nickname. I'm just sayin'--that's dumb. Goalies are the worst for this since they generally have their nicknames on the bottom part of the front of their masks. Some examples; Conklin - Conks, Anderson - Andy, Dubnyk - Dubs. Really? That is the best you can come up with. Poor. What happened to good nick names? Maybe I am expecting too much, but I just want a little creativity. Maybe I could market myself and get hired as the "Nickname Creator" for the NHL. I bet there's good money in that.

So what are your nicknames and the stories behind them?

4 comments:

Ian McKenzie said...

I think Cujo was imaginative, even if it was based on Curtis Joseph's name.

I was called Bud growing up. That sounds like an ordinary, though manly nickname. However, it has a floral background.

I was born in Brazil. Apparently, the bunch of vowel sounds that is my first name was difficult to pronounce in Portuguese. Being fair-skinned and blue-eyed, I was as beautiful as the bud of a flower.

Andrea said...

I have two things to say:
1) Did you know that my brother (and indecently, my whole family) has always called me "Bob"? He has never called me "Andrea".
2) It took me a looong time to get used to calling you "Evey", because you were introduced to me as "Yvonne". I finally forced myself to start calling you"Evey" because that's what everyone else was calling you! LOL!

QueenieCarly said...

Ha, Andrea! I'm the same. My dad introduced me as Carly-Ann (my given name) a few years ago and I remember noting how foreign it sounded in his voice. It was like I was surprised he knew my name at all!

It's funny, actually. I don't often answer to Carly outside of the office. Though Queenie originated at work, it has adopted many variations, Bob has spread beyond my family and Rigby is pretty common as well (yes, my name, but still...) Kevin has his own names for me and they vary depending on the day.

Also, add Hill - Hillie to your imaginative goalie list. ;)

Victorylane said...

I will never understand why people started calling me Dex at work. Because Amy is so tongue twisting?