How did these names happen? How do we get Bob out of Robert or Peggy out of Margaret? Here are some others that bother me:Chuck out of Charles
Dick out of Richard (no jokes please)
Hank out of Henry
Nancy out of Ann
Hal out of Harry
Bess out of Elizabeth
Ted out of Edward
Bill out of William
Jim out of James
And I'm afraid that's all I can muster up today.
I'm more than just Bob from Robert. There's also Bert, Robbie, & Rob.
ReplyDeleteOh... did I just give up the "R"?
Then there's Mary, which has the nicknames of Mercy, Molly and Polly. My favorite one is a great aunt of mine, whose name was Sarah, but they called her Sadie.
ReplyDeleteIn my genealogical studies, I've seen that it was common in English to migrate consonants -- R became L, W became B, M often became P. As to why, I think that's lost in the darkness of history. Maybe it was based on the way babies pronounced things.
And Jack out of "John" (like John F. Kennedy was always called "Jack").
ReplyDeleteGreat points. Since this entry I've done a little research and learned more about this subject. Interesting!
ReplyDeleteIsn't Hal also a nickname for Harold?
ReplyDeleteHm, I think you're right. Isn't Harry short for Harold?
ReplyDeleteLarry for Lawrence. (My dad hates being called "Larry")
ReplyDeleteNate for Nathan.
I can understand Nate for Nathan because it's just an abbreviation, like Tom for Thomas (why isn't it "Thom"?), but yeah, Larry for Lawrence is a good one.
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