Nicknames

Posted on May 5, 2010 by Josh Cordell: "i don't know if there is anything better than giving someone a really great nickname... no matter how they feel about it! :-)"

I quite agree, Josh! My family is one of the most nicknamey families I've ever seen. It all started with my Grandpa. He had nicknames for almost everyone! And there are a lot of us. There's just something about getting a nickname, or giving one, that brings you a little closer to each other. It's a bond of sorts, a right of passage, a badge of friendship or love. It's often inside information, a key to a memory from long ago.

Some of my Grandpa's nicknames for us:

Me (Julie), I'm Jellybean. My Grandpa named me this shortly after I was born, I'm not sure why, but it stuck. There have been lots of variations over the years. Sometimes he shortened it to just Jelly, my brother has now morphed it into Jellybug, my cousin teasingly and meanly morphed it into something quite wicked - Jubee Squib - and no, I will NOT tell you the circumstances in which that name came about.

Aunt Karen is Tuh-Tuh. This is apparently what one of my uncles used to call her when he was a baby because he couldn't say Karen correctly. It stuck. Interestingly enough, her daughter (my cousin) Kristie, was nicknamed Tee-Tee by the young daughter of a family friend years later, for virtually the same reasons.

My Uncle Gary is Short. And he kind of is...hence the name. His brother, Harvey was, for a long time Denny, because he looked like Dennis the Menace when he was little. I didn't even know his real name was Harvey until I was in my twenties.

Uncle Gary's wife, Anita, is Taco. She's half Mexican, and that was my Grandma's nickname, so Gramps picked it up and ran with it after she died. It's really a loving name, not derogatory. But in Grandpa's style, anything that caused even little ruffles, proved hilarious to him, and so...Taco remains Taco to this day.

One of my cousins he nicknamed The Village Idiot. I'll say this, Gramps was never one to mince words.

He had lots of other nicknames for us all, sometimes we were all just Myrtle - everyone, men and women. If we put on a few pounds, we were named Skinny. If we lost those pounds, we were back to our original nicknames. Almost every one of us was named The Fish Wife at one point or another - and again, men or women. This was because Gramps owned a fish hatchery and we all helped out during the busy seasons, weighing fish and collecting money, making bamboo fishing poles, and doling out kernel corn for bait.

Everyone in our family called him Grandpa Fishie. And we still do.


I, myself, have had many, many nicknames bestowed upon me. A lot of them are because I have a stupid last name that no one can pronounce. It is Krewina. You pronounce it Crew-ee-na. Pretty simple. But my cousins used to tease me and call me Krewiener, I have an old friend who calls me Crouton to this day. Some of my friends over the years have pegged me with Cruella (maybe I was bitchy that day). Most people call me Jules, Julz, Julsie, etc... and there are variations like Hoolie and Banulie that I also love! I can't say that any of this bothers me in the slightest. When someone takes the time to give you their own pet name, it is generally an honor.

In my circle of friends I have an Eme-Puta, a Jenni-bear, a Banana, a Tracie Lou, a Garb, a Romainiac, a Patty Cake, a Marth, an L-Mick, a Megs-a-bub, a KellyBell, a Lizzer, a Sarangie, a Step-On-Me, a Pagina, and a million Sisters. As I type each one, I remember their faces, I think of a time when we were together and laughing. I smile and know that even though we are far apart, we are always close.