# Indo-European Languages: Nickname patterns



## LilianaB

I have been interested how nicknames are created in various Indo-European languages. I mean nicknames created from first names only.


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## sotos

Could you elaborate your question, e.g. by giving come examples?
A thing that comes to my mind about Greek nicknames is that some are chosen so that they sound foreign, peculiar and non-understandable, therefore funny, in Greek. Others refer to professions or body characteristics.


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## LilianaB

What I really mean are diminutive forms of first names. In Russian, somebody called Alexander can be also called Sasha, for example. I am interested how people create diminutive forms of first names in different languages.


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## Favara

In Catalan it's usually the last 1~2 syllables of the name:
Vicent: _Cent_ (or _Cento_)
Antoni: _Toni
_Àngela: _Gela_
Francesc: _Cesc
_Joaquima: _Quima_, _Xima_ (from old/dialectal _Jotxima_)
etc...


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## bibax

In Czech the standard way how to form diminutives of the first (we still traditionally say 'baptismal') names is to add the diminutive suffixes to the root. Essentially the diminutive suffixes are the same for both the first names and common nouns (appellatives).

Simple diminutive suffixes:
 a) masc. *-ek, -ík*, e.g. hrad (castle), hrádek (little castle), hrádeček (little castle);
b) fem. *-ka*, e.g. ryba (fish), rybka (little fish), rybička (little fish);
 c) neuter *-ko*, e.g. slovo (word), slůvko (little word), slovíčko (little word);

Complex diminutive suffixes are: a) masc. *-íček* (= -ík + -ek), *-eček* (= -ek + -ek), *-ínek* (= -ín + -ek), b) fem. *-ička* (= -ice + -ka), *-inka* (= -ina + -ka), b) neuter *-íčko*;

 Examples:

 a) masc.
Petr, Petřík, Petříček;
 Pavel (Paul), Pavlík, Pavlíček;
 Jan (John), Jeník, Jeníček (a-e umlaut);
 Jiří (George), Jiřík, Jiříček;
Tomáš, Tomášek;

 b) fem.
Hana, Hanka, Hanička, Haninka;
 Jana, Janka, Janička, Janinka;

If the first name is composed from two roots (many Slavic first names like Vladi-mír, Jaro-slava), only one root is used (either the 1st or 2nd):
Vladimír, Vládík, Vládíček, Vládínek;
Jaromír, Jarek, Jareček;
 Jaroslav, Slávek, Sláveček;
Miroslava, Mirka, Mirečka;

 There are, of course, other non-standard ways how to form the diminutives.


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## jazyk

In Brazil it's usual to add inho (masculine) or inha (feminine) to names: Aninha, Joaninha, Carlinha, etc.

Some regions may use the first syllable of a person's name. If somebody is called Carla, she would be talked to as Cá, Fábio would be Fá, Luciano would be Lu, etc.

There are other possibilities, but I think these two are the most common.


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## LilianaB

Thank you all. The Catalan way of creating diminutives is very interesting. I did not realize that the nicknames were created like that in Latin languages, except for Toni. Bibax, do you have any unusual nicknames in Czech, which do not begin with the same letter as the name itself.


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## francisgranada

LilianaB said:


> ...Bibax, do you have any unusual nicknames in Czech, which do not begin with the same letter as the name itself.



Some examples (though I am not Bibax  ....)

Jan > Honza
Josef > Pepa, Pepík, ...
Alžběta > Bětka, Bětuška, ...


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## bibax

Yes. The most common examples:

Jan (regular diminutives Jeník, Jeníček): Honza, probably from German Hans, from Latin Johannes. Honza has regular diminutives Honzík, Honzíček.

Josef (regular diminutive Josífek): Pepa probably from Italian Beppe (Giuseppe). Pepa has regular diminutives Pepík, Pepíček.

Jakub (regular diminutive Jakoubek): Kuba, dim. Kubík, Kubíček.


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## LilianaB

Thank you. Would you call a grown-up man Honzicek? Is it just for a child, or both?


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## AutumnOwl

There are some Swedish names that usually gets nicknames:

Male:
Karl/Carl -> Kalle
Olof/Olov -> Olle
Per/Pär -> Pelle
Bo -> Bosse
Nils -> Nisse
Jan -> Janne
Ulf -> Uffe
Mats -> Matte
Jonas -> Jonte
Mikael -> Micke
Niklas -> Nicke
Alexander -> Alex

Female:
Kristina/Christina -> Kicki, Tina
Ann-Kristin -> Anki
Katarina -> Kattis, Katta
Margareta -> Maggan
Josefin/Josefina - Jossan, Fia
Lillemor -> Lillan
Barbro -> Babsan
Siv -> Sivan
Elisabet -> Lisa
Charlotte/Charlotta -> Lotta
Maria -> Mia
Sofia -> Fia


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## LilianaB

Thank you. I did not know Kristina could be Kicki. Is this something new or rather traditional. What about Lillian from Lillemor. Is it Lillemor from Little mother or from the flower. It is very interesting.


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## catlady60

In English, the pattern typically goes something like this.  I posted a small example of names.

Men's and boys' names:
John -> Johnny
Robert-> Bob, Bobby; Rob, Robbie
Richard -> Rick, Ricky; Dick, Dicky, Rich, Richie
Joseph -> Joe, Joey
Edward -> Ed, Eddie
Matthew -> Matt
Michael -> Mike, Mikey
Andrew -> Andy, Drew (irregular)
Jason -> Jay

Women's and girls' names:
Elizabeth -> Liz, Lizzie
Roberta -> Bobbie
Susan -> Sue, Susie
Maxine -> Maxie
Christine -> Chris, Chrissie


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## apmoy70

Various Greek Male names:
«Ιωάννης» (io'annis)--> John, becomes «Γιάννης» ('janis).
«Νικόλαος» (ni'kolaos)--> Nicholas, becomes «Νίκος» ('nikos).
«Κωνσταντίνος» (konstan'dinos)--> Constantine, becomes either «Κώστας» ('kostas) or «Ντίνος» ('dinos).
«Γεώργιος» (je'orjios)--> George, becomes «Γιώργος» ('jorɣos) and rarely «Γώγος» ('ɣoɣos).
«Δημήτριος» (ði'mitrios)--> Demetrius, becomes «Δημήτρης» (ði'mitris), «Μήτσος» ('mitsos) and rarely «Μήτρος» ('mitros).
«Θεόδωρος» (θe'oðoros)--> Τheodore, becomes «Θοδωρής» (θoðo'ris) or «Θόδωρος» ('θoðoros).
«Εμμανουήλ» (emanu'il)--> Emmanuel, becomes «Μανώλης/Mανόλης» (ma'nolis) or «Μάνος» ('Manos).
«Μιχαήλ» (mixa'il)--> Michael, becomes «Μιχάλης» (mi'xalis) or «Μίκης» ('micis).
«Βασίλειος» (va'silios)--> Basil, becomes «Βασίλης» (va'silis) and some times «Βάσος» ('vasos).
«Αγαμέμνων» (aɣa'memnon)--> Agamemnon, becomes «Μένιος» ('meɲos).
«Μιλτιάδης» (milti'aðis)--> Miltiades, is «Μίλτος» ('miltos).

Some Female ones:
«Ιωάννα» (io'ana)--> Joan/Joanna, becomes «Γιάννα» ('jana).
«Κωνσταντίνα» (konstan'dina)--> Constance, becomes «Ντίνα» ('dina).
«Γεωργία» (jeor'jia)--> Georgia, becomes «Γιωργία» (jor'jia) or «Γωγώ» (ɣo'ɣo).
«Θεοδώρα» (θeo'ðora)--> Theodora, usually is «Δώρα» ('ðora), «Ντόρα» ('dora) οr «Θοδώρα» (θo'ðora).
«Αικατερίνη» (ekate'rini)--> Catherine, is either «Κατερίνα» (kate'rina) or «Καίτη» ('ceti).
«Καλλιόπη» (kali'opi)--> Calliopoea, is «Πόπη» ('popi) or «Κική» (ci'ci).
«Κυριακή» (ciria'ci)--> Sunday (or Lord's Day) usually is «Κική» (ci'ci) too.
«Βασιλική» (vasili'ci)--> Basilica, is either «Βάσω» ('vaso) or...again «Κική» (ci'ci).
«Ελένη» (e'leni)--> Helen, becomes «Λένα» ('lena) and in rural areas, «Λέγκω» ('leŋgo).
«Χάρις» ('xaris)--> Grace, is «Xαρά» (xa'ra) and «Χαρούλα» (xa'rula).
«Μελπομένη» (melpo'meni)--> Melpomene, becomes 99 οut of 100 times, «Μέλπω» ('melpo).


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## AutumnOwl

LilianaB said:


> Thank you. I did not know Kristina could be Kicki. Is this something new or rather traditional. What about Lillian from Lillemor. Is it Lillemor from Little mother or from the flower. It is very interesting.


Kicki have been used for some time, I don't know if it can be said to be traditional. "En liten kicka" is a kind of petname for a little girl, I'm not sure if it have to do with the name Kristina, but Kristina have been a common name for girls for a long time. 

Lillemor have nothing to do with (the English name) Lillian, the nickname Lillan (no i in it) means "little one", and Lillemor means "little mother". In some parts of Sweden Lill-(little) have traditionally been used in front of girls' names if there have been several members of the family/a group of friends with the same name, I have had friends that have been called Lill-Anna and Lill-Britt to differentiate from others with the same names. Lill can also be used as an independent girls' name, and sometimes short for Lillemor.


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## bibax

> Would you call a grown-up man Honzicek? Is it just for a child, or both?


Honzíček is a little boy. However many adult men are still little boys for their mothers.

The diminutives of the first names are also very common surnames in the Czechlands. For example Kubíček is little Jacob. And J. Kubitschek was a president of Brazil.


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## LilianaB

Thank you AutumnOwl and Bibax.


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## snoopymanatee

*In Turkish:*

*Male:*
_Abdullah --> Apo
__Bülent --> Bülo
__Çetin --> Çeto
__Fikret --> Fiko
__Hidayet --> Hido
__İbrahim --> İbo
__Mahmut --> Maho
__Mehmet --> Memo
__Mehmet Ali --> Memoli
__Muhammed --> Ahmet
__Murat --> Muro
__Musta__fa --> Musti
__Muzaffer --> Muzo
__Mükremin --> Müko
__Ramazan --> Ramço
__Selahattin --> Selo
__Şerafettin --> Şero

_*Female:*
_Nagihan --> Nagiş
Şebnem --> Şebo
__Zeliha --> Zeliş
__Zeynep --> Zeyno
_

These are what I remember right now.

I think diminutive form of names is very popular in English, not in Turkish.

By the way, I realized that lots of diminutives end with "*o*" in Turkish, I don't know why.


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## Rintoul

LilianaB said:


> Thank you all. The Catalan way of creating diminutives is very interesting. I did not realize that the nicknames were created like that in Latin languages, except for Toni. Bibax, do you have any unusual nicknames in Czech, which do not begin with the same letter as the name itself.



The examples that were given in Catalan -i.e., using the last syllables as in Cesc, Toni- are not exactly diminutives, but just informal, familiar forms.
Diminutives mostly take -et/-eta. So for instance Miquel would give Quel as a, but Miquelet to be used for a child (even if sometimes these can be carried well into adulthood). Sometimes you have both things altogether -so Pepet is a small Pep which is how family and friends may address someone called Josep


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## 涼宮

In Spanish they are sometimes formed as in Català, or using the first part of the name or using the diminutive suffix, -ito(a), -ico(a). There is an irregular nickname I remember, it's for the name Jesús, it becomes Chuy (dunno why).

Antonio= tony/toni or toño
Miguel= Miguelito or Miky
Leonardo= leo
Gabriela= Gaby
Alejandra/Alejandro= ale
Elisa= Eli
Patricia= Pati/paty
Leticia= leti
Vanessa= vane
Isabel= isa
Liliana= lili
Natalia= nati
Josefa =pepi ( irregular)
José =pepe (dunno why)
Ignacio= nacho (irregular)
Valentino= tino
Manuel= manolo
Sara=sarita
Christina= christi
Magdalena= maida
Yenifer= yeni
Daniela= dany
Lucia= lucy
Yolanda= yoly
Tomás= tom
Alberto= beto
José María= chema
Mía= mimi
Susana= susi
Alfonso= poncho


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## Encolpius

In Hungarian you cut the end off and put an -i: 
Then you can put "pet ending" -ka/-ke [vocal harmony]

Péter > Peti, Petike
Sándor [Alek*sando*r] > Sanyi, Sanyika
Rudolf > Rudi, Rudika
Gábor > Gabi, Gabika
Pál > Pali, Palika
László > Laci, Lacika

Mária > Mari, Marika
Erzsébet > Erzsi, Erzsike
Zsuzsanna > Zsuzsi, Zsuzsika
Katalin > Kati, Katika
Piroska > Piri, Pirike

or irregular

István [Stephanos] > Pista, Pistike
János > Jancsi, Jancsika
Károly > Karcsi, Karcsika
Tamás > Tomi, Tomika
Gyögy > Gyuri, Gyurika
Gyula > Gyuszi, Gyuszika

....and many many other


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## puny_god

I guess some people are already familiar with the Filipino fondness for repeating nicknames

For example, Christine would be Tin-Tin
Catalina would be Cat-cat
Jonathan - Jon-jon
Michael - Mik-mik
Mark - Mac-mac
and so on...

and there are also the "door bell" nicknames like Bong-bong


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