Names

[flea]

When I was a kid, I knew lots of Kates and Katies (interestingly, no Kathys). Now most of the women I know whose names might diminuate to Katie go by Kat. I have a college friend named Catherine, who went by Catherine in college and is now more commonly Cat. It has taken some getting used to. My baby sister, also, is a Katherine who was Katherine, Kath in family circles, and now is Kat.

Today I saw a blog post involving a mother named Jenny. Again, when I was a kid, Jenny was a very common name. There were some Jennifers, but I think I met my first Jen(n) in high school. Now all the women I know named Jennifer are Jen(n)s. (And my sister went from a Jennie to a Jane, which is her actual name). I can't think of anyone I know named Jenny now.

Are there other names you can think of that seem to have undergone this generational nickname shift? I can think of some names that used to most commonly have one nickname, and now have another. For example, Roberts were Bobby in the 1950s, but more likely to be Rob in the 1980s (or maybe that was just my high school?) Williams tended to be Billy or Bill for many years, but nowadays there is no Billy in the day care, but several boys named Will. But this thing of changing one's nickname - or having it changed for one? - over the course of your life based on which nickname is more popular seem odd to me.

Comments

[gchick.livejournal.com]

My sis is a Kate, and will never ever shift nicknames -- and there's a brand-new Kate, born to a coworker, as you often say.

The only Jenny I know is actually that way on her birth cert, no Jennifer at all.

I don't imagine Cheney has made Dick any more popular than it's been for the last generation...

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Oh, did Cynthia have her baby? Or do you mean the 18 month old Kate of coworkers?

[gchick.livejournal.com]

Cynthia, on Friday

[serrana.livejournal.com]

I figured it was just that adult women didn't want to be called "Jenny," which has always sounded very little-girl to me.

And I think it's been common in one form or another for some years, because so many nicknames are diminutives.

[burrell.livejournal.com]

The only change I've noted fairly consistently is that a lot of people whose childhood nickname ends in -y" or "-ie" at some point cut it off. So Bobby becomes Bob, Lizzie becomes Liz, Ricky becomes Rick, Sandy becomes Sandra, etc.

[jesseh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure my childhood best friend Chrissy now goes by Chris.

[mearagrrl.livejournal.com]

Yes, that. Susie becomes Sue or back to Susan, etc.

But I do remember being very impressed by one girl I knew in elementary school who was "Beth" and then by high school had convinced everyone to call her "Liz".

I know more Kates than Kats, but do know a few.

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Huh, my mom (58) is still Debbie and always has been.

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Kitty used to be a common nick for Catherines, a century ago. I've never met a Kitty these days. I also don't know any Peggys, although I've met a couple of Margarets (all of whom are Meg or Maggie).

Now I am just waiting for Leticia to come back into style, so that there will be kindergartens full of Lettys.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I'm a little surprised that someone would go from Kate to Kat, but removing a -y or -ie diminutive sounds like a reasonable thing to do when you grow up.

A lot of people still call my sister "Debbie," but I've noticed that she signs her e-mails "Deb" and probably introduces herself that way (or as "Deborah") to new people.

[katie-m.livejournal.com]

Huh--I don't know any Kats. The more adult nickname, in my experience, is Kate. (I made a very brief abortive attempt to switch to Kate when I went to college, but couldn't take myself seriously and just stuck with Katie. I do pretty commonly use my full name professionally, though.)

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

You were my one adult Katie!

[dxmachina.livejournal.com]

I dropped Eddie when I reached high school. My family apparently never got the memo, so I accept it from them. It was also acceptable on one of the softball teams I played on because everyone on the team had an ends in y nickname.

I once dated a woman whose legal name was Cathy, which is what she went by.

[ellenbs.livejournal.com]

My brother turned himself from Charles to Chuck some time after grade school; He is Charles only to immediate family. I knew a bunch of Katies and C/Kathys (to the point where we used last initials - Katie B, Katie von, Katie S) - I only just this moment realized that Katie probably wasn't their given name (although this was Cincinnati, where my mother used to track the baby names against the soap opera synopses in the Enquirer, so they might have gone straight for the nickname if Katie was marrying Lance's evil twin while amnesiac that week).

My favorite nickname ever (from a business card at a conference): Neville "Butch" Pearl. (business card included scare quotes)

Totally cannot imagine your sister as a Jenny.

[non sequitur - did you know Prof. Arnold-Biucchi at BMC?]

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Hello! And, I have met Arnold-Biucchi - we interviewed her for the jobs that Sella Miller-Collet and Alice Donohue got I think - but I'd hardly say I know her.

I worked as a temp for a tort reform group in DC whose boss was "Tiger." Before the Tiger Woods era.

[ellenbs.livejournal.com]

I'm taking a class with her at the Extension School at Harvard right now (Sicilian Greek Coins) - very kind, semi-impenetrable accent - I thought she looked familiar, but assumed she was after my time. (She's the head of the numismatics dept. at Harvard now.) Ask me about late Archaic didrachms!*

*please don't

[ellenbs.livejournal.com]

(forgot! - how could I forget)
Merriweather "Sambo" Lewis
pop-eyed with an unbelievably fake-looking (red!) cavalry mustache

Used to be our Head of Equities, until he caught trying to make off (with clients) for another firm. The thought that he ever considered himself to be capable of stealth is sort of adorable.

(this is locked, right?)