Topics:

Kids and nicknames

We spend so much time picking out the perfect names for our kids, so why do people — us included — keep calling them something else?

Sharon Benson,

Originally published in Today's Parent April 2007

Send
Share

We thought we had it all figured out, my husband and I: In naming our daughter, we honoured both her paternal and maternal grandmothers — thus Katherine Irene. But we also wanted to give her a moniker all her own, something short, elegant, mock-proof. Then it came to us: an acronym. The K from Katherine, the I from Irene — Ki. Perfect, right? So how come this perfectly named kid of ours has been called everything from Ick to Pumpkin Head?

Fact is, the name on a child’s birth certificate says more about the parents and genealogy than it does about the child, says Will van den Hoonaard, a sociology professor at the University of New Brunswick. “We might decide to name our baby after Uncle So-and-So, but as soon as this little eight-pounder is born, he acquires traits or behaviours that motivate people to call him by a more colloquial name.” This urge to rename is something people have experienced throughout history — for better or worse. Remember Bloody Mary? Chances are her mummy didn’t visualize her darling baby girl going down in history with that epithet. On the other hand, you probably wouldn’t complain if you were the parent of a guy nicknamed Air Jordan or The Great One. But not all nicknames commemorate the ability to sink a ball, slap a puck or orchestrate a reign of terror.

Subscribe to Today's Parent for just $14.95* That's only $1.25 an issue!