Name Calling

It seemed that growing up in New York was replete with informality.. foremost of which was the names we called each other. In my family: Father was Daddy; Mother was Mommy; William was Billy; Edith was Eydie; Robert was Bobby.. and then there was Nancy.. her name already ended with a phonetic "E". Around the neighborhood: Thomas was Tommy; Nicholas was Nicky; Leonard was Lenny; John was Johnny.. and then of course there was Ray and Al. I think that these names paled compared to what we saw back then on TV- there was:
  • Beaver and Lumpy on Leave it to Beaver;
  • Potsie, Chachi and Fonzie on Happy Days;
  • Opie, Gomer and Goober on The Andy Griffith Show;
  • Hoss and Little Joe on Bonanza;
  • Bud and Princess on Father Knows Best;
  • Meathead and Dingbat on All in the Family;
  • Radar and Hot-Lips on M*A*S*H;
  • Rerun and Raj on What's Happening!!
Don't see many names like these on television anymore. Sometimes names can be pretty mean. In the six grade I got a buzz-cut and for years I had to live with the "Eggy" moniker - that one really made me feel bad. Sometimes names are simply terms of endearment - they are pretty special and can evoke sweet memories.

Do you remember any names that stand out? Maybe I missed some on TV?

8 comments:

  1. I was carrot-top to kids. Parents called me tootsie, punkin or Suzan when I was in trouble instead of Suzy.

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  2. I was Piglet for a while when a substitute teacher mispronounced my last name (Pingleton)

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  3. I was a redhead and in elementary school there was a boy that would always say to me ~~"I'd rather be dead than red on the head." At first it hurt my feeling, but he did it so often my 2nd grade teacher told me he did that because he "like" me. I told him that, and he never said it again!!
    My maiden name was Dill, so Dill Pickle was another name I got ~~~~
    Fun post Bob ~~

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  4. When my middle daughter (now 14) started taking Spanish, she started calling me Eduardo (my first name is Edward).

    Over the past year, however, that has morphed into Wardo. Whether I like it or not, that is now how all three of my kids refer to me. It is especially strange when i overhear them talking to their friends ("I'll get Wardo to drive us...")

    I kinda miss "daddy" but am glad it hasn't morphed again into "Weirdo".

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  5. Wow, how did I miss this post the other day? One of my most memorable names in elementary school was "Hee Haw". My best friend had a little sister with Down's Syndrome and she thought I looked like a donkey! (I tell myself it was the long braids I wore not my face). It was endearing because she was so sweet.

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  6. Such great stories here. Thanks all for sharing them!

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  7. We called each other by our "real names" in school - Donald, Michael, Therese. But what I think is a shame are all the REAL nicknames: Corky, Wonnie, Beezee... I only know one kid with an actual "nickname" like those.

    Therese Z

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