Fun Monday, Made up Names

Nikki, as the host of this week’s affair, asked that we share our special made up words. I didn’t quite play by the rules. I’m going to tell you about the made up names that have been a part of our family life for many years.

Dad made up names for us. He often called me "Shorty." As the youngest, the title served me well until I grew taller than two of my sisters.

I have perfect recall of a Sunday ritual, when dad would call out, “C’mon, Shorty, you want to go to town with me this morning?”

My eldest brother had the most nicknames. At first he was Ronny Jew-Baby. (Dad spent the 1920's "hobo-ing" around the country and saw and received much hostility and bigotry. That is why I know this nickname was not meant to be cruel. I never heard dad ever ridicule or belittle anyone's race or religion.)

Then as the years progressed dad and mom added to that the names "Hotshot" Manure Pile. The last two had to have something to do with an event in the barn yard.

My next brother answered to “Ta-mass’-cat.” This was a play on words with his middle name. As he grew older, no one ever called him Gerald. He was and still is Thomas.

The one exception for silly names may be my my late sister Nelda. No one can say if she was called anything else. Our 87 year old Aunt Deloris said that Nelda was named after one of dad’s old girlfriends. Apparently Mom loved the name when dad suggested it and didn’t care to whom it had belonged.

Sandra recollects dad walking through the door late each evening and calling out “There’s my "Sandy-bogus. Eventually he shortened it to just "Bogey."

She also answered to Do-Do – so named by her younger brother Michael "Doodle Bug," before he could pronounce her name. I called him worse things when I was growing up, because he really bugged me. (Brothers!) He certainly was cute as one, too.

"Nick-Oh-Luj" (pronounced with a long U) was my mom’s largest baby and was also a chubby toddler. Another brother said that dad would sing a song about “my fat baby” growing up “to be a man” when he rocked the little chunk to sleep.

All of us were light-haired toddlers except for my sister Patricia. She inherited the straight dark hair of our mother. I remember dad calling her his “Little Indian Princess” on many occasion. But for the everyday nickname he called her his “Trish-Oh-Lish.” I am so happy that dad didn’t rhyme my name and connect it with an “Oh.”

The tradition carried on with our three daughters. Doodle Bug brother christened my eldest as Karmyn Gooey when she was yet tiny. Gooey stuck. Our next two girls earned the names of Juice and Cakers. All three of these names are derived from the twisting of their middle names. The hubby still refers to them by these monikers when he speaks of them. (He's should be happy that no one calls him by his high school title of Wart Finkner.)

Now our grandchildren must abide by the family tradition. They are: Lil Bud, Red Headed Girl, Jammin’, Goober, Buttercup, Curlymop, Peanut and Dinkum.

We have a new nickname arriving in late May. Any suggestions?


Please take time to enjoy others entries to the St Paddy’s Day Fun Monday . You'll laugh yourself green.

Comments

hi Shorty, I mean Pam! ;) How nice it is to have this kind of tradition right? For the new gen version...I love Goober and Buttercup...and maybe I can suggest Bubbles or Smudge! :D
Ian said…
What wonderful nicknames! I came from a household where nicknames were NEVER used, so I've never had one of my own.

I have, at times, bestowed them upon my own kids though. My oldest was always very insistent upon his full name being used without any contractions. He does respond to "Buddy" though, and recently is showing an interest in being called P.J. (his initials). This is funny to me because our family dog when I was growing up was also named P.J.

My daughter's best nickname of all was Happy Harry Head Wound after her penchant for banging or cutting open her head. Now she's just "Sweetheart" or "Princess" or "Babydoll." Yep, she's a Daddy's girl.

My favorite nicknames for my youngest are "Crash Corrigan" (which he hates), "Captain Collision," and "Mr. Bump."

Ian
Gattina said…
The last I can say is that there is no phantasy in your family, lol !
ChrisB said…
All your nick names are such fun~ my father always called me sausage and I hated it because I was a fat child and this only emphasized the fact in my eyes!
Hootin Anni said…
Oh my....that is a list of words/names if ever there was one. Gooey? and Cakers? It's a good thing you don't do the name game song...especially with Wart Finkner!!! [sorry, I had dyslexia on that at first, reading 'fart'.]

Love your F M entry!
Judypatooote said…
Good mornin......when I was growing up my neighbor man use to call me birdbrain....now I wonder why? I love your pictures....
Gaynor said…
Great post Pam, having a peek into your early childhood! I had the nickname 'Spider' by my Uncle because of my long legs! Long and skinny - not so now!!!
SwampAngel65 said…
Great story, Shorty! I always wished my family did the nickname thing, but they never did. I'd be scared to hear what my nickname would've been anyway.

Happy St. Pat's Day!!
Anonymous said…
I have always been "Pickles" in my family. I have no idea where it came from, especially because I can't stand them!

Thanks for playing!
Peter said…
I'd say you got off pretty lightly with "Shorty" going by some of the nick-names for your siblings.
Anonymous said…
What a wonderful tradition and even more wonderful that you have created a "family-tree-of-nicknames." Only you could make this a type of historical Fun Monday out of this assignment. So interesting to not only read the names, but the history behind them. And not to mention, photos. You win !
Anonymous said…
Great post. However - between Sandra and me I think we have the distinction of most embarrassing nickname.
PAT said…
Shorty is what I called my paternal grandfather. I don't know how that name started. He was about my height, 5'2". That may have been where it started, years before I was born.

I've called our little ol' Gabi, Gabilicious, practically since the minute she was born and she looked at me with her great big brown eyes! Her little brother Drew is Drew-bugs. Xanti doesn't have a nickname, although Xanti is a shortened version of her name. Her baby brother Noah doesn't have a nickname yet, but give me time.

My cousin's nickname was Bugs. Only because I was sitting on the floor at my aunt's home and saw an ant crawling along and pointed and said Bug...I was a toddler...perhaps "Bugs" was in the vicinity...and the name stuck.

J's nickname is Moose, given him by his friends at work, many many years ago.

I love your family nicknames and enjoyed the photos, very much!

Pat
Coffeypot said…
My nick-name growing up was, 'Sit Down and Shut Up.'

Marni was Mouse or Mousie growing up, her kids are Bug and J-Man, also know as 'Sweet Tea' and 'Little Man.'
Anonymous said…
What a wonderful story of family traditions in name calling, hmm... nicknames. All our kids and pets have nicknames. I didn't sign up today, but I am having fun reading some of them.
Hi Shorty, Great post. I always enjoy family history type posts. It caused me to think about what I call some of my grandchildren. Rylie Smylie, Blondie, Brandon Banana Brain, Shanna Banana, Jeremy Grump Toad, and the list goes on. I wouldn't repeat the names I was called when I was young. They were not nice ones.
I love the nick names and I LOVE knowing that I am not the only one who makes up CRAZY nick names :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Anonymous said…
That explains the grandbabies' names.
Growing up, I was Punkin Nose (or just PN sometimes) to my mom and Slugger to my dad.
Makes me sorry I never really had a nickname. Love the old family photos, too.
BarnGoddess said…
great tradition! er shorty!
Kaytabug said…
Pam-oh-spam this was a GREAT post!!

In my moms family there was an Uncle Shorty..

I wish I had some ideas for the new lil one. I am sure you all will come up with a good one.
Sauntering Soul said…
Wow, your family came up with some awesome nicknames! Those are all great.
Sayre said…
Love the pictures, Shorty! My mom and dad called me Spook when I was little (and occasionally still do). I don't think anyone else got a nickname like that..
Amanda said…
Great post mom. I can deal with Kaykers. I'm jut glad that Uh-Oh Mandy Poopy Doh didn't stick!!!

I wonder why Aunt Nelda didn't get a nickname...
Sandy said…
Terrific job, Pam. Shorty is my husband's nickname and yes, he's 6'5". I had not thought of childhood nicknames in years but my brother, when he wanted to torment me, used to call me Samuella. Yeah.
Unknown said…
I'm glad your dad didn't rhyme your name either. That wouldn't have been pretty! You are a family of nicknames. We have none that have stuck through the years. For a short time one son was called Bacon by his sister (dunno why) and Doc by his grandpa (his initials are MD) I do still occasionally call my other son Gator. And I'm Reese (combination of my names).

See ya, Shorty. :)
Alison said…
cute names and great pictures!!!
BlondeBlogger said…
I love the pic of you and your dad! So sweet!

You all have a redhead in your family too....my cousin was always called "Red Rooster" by my uncle (her dad) for her gorgeous red hair.

I was just always "Dawn Marie" but I loved that...it's mostly what my grandma called me so it brings back sweet memories when I think of it.
~grey said…
I loved all the fun family nicknames... brings back so many memories.
DesLily said…
only VERY OLD relatives remember that my brother's "knickname" was Skippy.. (yep, after Skippy peanutbutter! lol)
Karina said…
How great is this post? I love all these nicknames! One of the things I hated in my childhood was that everyone around me had nicknames and I did not...still don't actually. It's just funny how something so small can actualy be such a part of your personality, you know? And all those nicknames just show all the love and affection in your family. Very sweet!

PS. I tagged you for an easy meme
these are soooo sweet! i love all the nicknames.

i actually almost NEVER call roo by her real name. roo, rooty, rootootski, rooty-tooty-fresh-and-fruity...

you know... NORMAL stuff ;-)
Attie said…
OOHH I love your post! I love those pictures!!!! My dad called me Huupps...couse i spit up alot!!
I think there is only one picture of me with my dad till a few years back!!!
Jenni said…
I always love your posts about your family, Pamela, and this is no exception.

We have had plenty of nicknames for our kids, but the girls are the only ones who still get called by them. Jo is really Jordan, but she is called Bobbie Jo, Josephine, Josefina, Jo-Jo, Joanna, and a million other things with "Jo" in them. Na is Naomi and she is called Na Na, Nonny, Naners, Mooch, Bella Muchella, Mucha Loocha, and a billion other things:o)
M@ said…
Ronny Jew-Baby. I love it. Sounds like a nice guy. I love Jews.
I think it's so lovely when families have nick-names for each other that last through into adult-hood!
Susie said…
This post got me thinking about all of our nicknames. We still use most of them. I have lots of silly names I give my grandchildren. It's hard not to use the "baby" ones on the 15 year old!!
xo
Anonymous said…
what about cagney and lacy??!!

Which were you? I can't remember
karisma said…
Hah! Funny names..Now Im going to see Gooey!
Carla said…
What a great post. I love names and language. I might just have to post on something similar. I find naming fascinating.
Claudia said…
Shorty, that's so cute!! My oldest sis always called me Kid. And my niece got the name Bratzilla from her dad. :)
Robinella said…
I call my sister Doo because her nickname was Doodlebug.
Molly said…
I did not do this Fun Monday, but it was mighty tempting. How about Spring Blossom for the new baby or Sunshine.
kitten said…
Who is doinf Fun Monday this week? I sure have been missing it!
Anonymous said…
That picture of you and your dad is heart achingly beautiful. The love just shines off the page, thank you for sharing it.

(Simply Jenn)

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