Comments on: The Logic of Italian Boys’ Names

By: francesco

francesco — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:33:45 +0000

Haha, I am from the UK born to Neapolitan parents and like Matt hinted at, the naming customs mean that there are a crazy amount of people with the same name in my family.
For example, there are four Francesco’s.
My grandfather – Ciccio
Me – Ciccio – Cheech (its how I would spell it anyway!)
My cousin – Francu (His father is Sicilian…)
My uncle – Frankie

My father Ruggiero is known as Rino and my mother Gaetana is Tania.

Is there anything more satisfying than a large and loving family? I think not.

Love it, Francesco! Thanks for sharing

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:24:03 +0000

In Australia my family uses nicknames because of how the grandchildren are named after the nonni….some of them derive from a cute way of saying their name when they were children like my bisnonna’s name Annunziata, sometimes said Annunziatina, and becuase of I have many aunts and my mum named Annunziata, they’re all called Tina to this day (except my mother who chose Nancy instead at primary school)

And although me and my brother have non-Italian names, (Matt and Justin), we have been called nicknames deriving from our Italian names – Matteo>Matteuzzu>Uzzu & Augustino>Stuni

Other names:
Vitantonio: Vito
Domenico: Mico
Francesco: Ciccio
Vincenzo: Vinzzi
Maria-Teresa: Matresa
Guiseppe: Peppe
Filomena: Menuccia

So fun! Thanks for sharing, Matt

By: Sara

Sara — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:50:52 +0000

Too funny! This is great stuff! I’m an American living in Florence and I’m married to a Calabrese, I have a brother-in-law called Mimmo, or Dome’ (Domenico) and another called, Giova’ or Gianni (Giovanni) and my husband is Gigi, Gi or Lui (Luigi) and then there is my father-in-law Turu (Salvatore) and the nephew Dodo’ (another Domenico) and Tonnino. I always joke about the fact that Italians only have 10 or so names for men! and then there was my grandmother her name was Sabina and somehow that became Sara. oh it just goes on and on. I love it.

Then there is our cat Michelangelo who has become Mumu or Michelangeluzzu con il culo che ci puzzu, or even sometimes just Cucuzzu.

I can’t wait to hear more!

Haha, this is a great subject indeed; I really should do one on girls’ names, but they just don’t seem as fun, you know? Hmm….

By: baby names list

baby names list — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:16:13 +0000

Thanks for the list of Common Name for Males. I do research for Female and male names for our baby names:)

baby names list’s last blog post..Popular Baby Name Trends for 2009

Fun job

By: kat

kat — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 01:08:01 +0000

Besides being called Kat, my parents have also called me either “Sugar” or “Bug”. My birth name is actually a “nickname” for a longer name.

Of course, pets always have to have nicknames. My cat Brandon was Trouble, then TroubleBubble, and then eventually just “The Bubble”. He loved giving my other cat Oliver a bath so of course Oliver (The Big Guy) got “Bubblebaths”, literally. I like to think the Bubble is giving Oliver Bubblebaths in heaven now. My cat Maggie answers to : Maggity, EvilGirl, Sissy, Magpie, and Girlfriend. When I wonder out loud where The Pie is out we all know who I’m talkin’ bout.

The Pie is pretty darn cute

By: Ice Tea For Me

Ice Tea For Me — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:56:38 +0000

Mine is Pete. Seeing I’m a female this would seem a bit strange.

I’ve never questioned my nickname as I always thought it was my dad’s fading hope for a son as I was the third and final daughter of the family. I happened to be born on Father’s Day, have always been a daddy’s girl, and was the only sibling who did sports – you could say I was a tomboy.

It wasn’t until a couple of years ago I asked my parents where the nickname came from and guess what, they couldn’t remember. Dang, I waited too long.

Ice Tea For Me’s last blog post..happy holidays

Hah! Classic

By: bonggamom

bonggamom — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:51:21 +0000

EVERYBODY in the Philippines has a nickname. The more monosyllabic, the better, and more often than not they are completely unrelated to the person’s name on the birth certificate. Examples:

Ling
Boy
Tet
Dong
Jo
Baby
Nats

Even my name, Ana, has to be shortened — to An or Ans! (i.e. “Hey Ans, how are you doing?”)

Wonderful topic! Can I steal this idea for a future blog post?

bonggamom’s last blog post..Monday Mornings: In my pj’s

Please do! Looking forward to reading yours Too funny that Ana has to be shortened!

By: qualcosa di bello

qualcosa di bello — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:06:46 +0000

i our house, phil takes all the torture…it goes something like this:

phil ‘er up!
let’s have a phil-ibuster
i’ve had my phil of this
phil me up buttercup

& on, & on, & on…

poverino!

qualcosa di bello’s last blog post..shakespeare made interesting…

Hee hee hee

By: nyc/caribbean ragazza

nyc/caribbean ragazza — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 16:49:20 +0000

Some of my friends call me Starlene which became shorted to Star. I had to tell folks I did not have the same name as Star Jones. Please.

Another name was Leneski. A former boss gave me that name. I worked with someone named Maureen and she became Moski. Years later we still call each other by those nicknames.

My dad was called Pinko. I think it’s because he was the baby of the family. He family left the country when he was 7 and moved to another island because of my grandfather’s job. My parents moved back to their hometown a couple years ago. My dad has not lived there in over 60 years and what does everyone on the island call him? Pinko.

West Indians love nicknames as well. I wish I could remember some of the more creative ones.

nyc/caribbean ragazza’s last blog post..Flashback Friday – Eddie Murphy/Randy Watson – “The Greatest Love Of All”

Great stuff, Star

By: Jen

Jen — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 06:19:29 +0000

A couple of years before my stepdad came along, my mom lived happily and quietly with her dog, Lilly. Then along came Big D and the names of all the pets began to, uh, alter. Lilly became Lilly Le Douf, and finally DoufDog or just Douf. Go figure! (I wonder what he calls me when I’m not there…)

Jen’s last blog post..Opening Doors

Hmm…some things are best left to the imagination