That's the idiosyncracy of some cultures. Chris for Christina in one and Tina for the same in another. Just as some will call a Leroy
"Lee" while others will say "Roy". But the quaintest cultures I find, are the ones that will give you two names, say: "Joseph Alexander" then proceed to always call you Alexander (or a variation thereof) and forever more ignore your first name, Joseph.
Sometimes that occurs when sons are named after their fathers, and they go by their middle names to avoid confusion (as in the case of my nephew,) or sometimes they just detest their first names, (as in the case of my brother.)
then you would have to call catholic people like 20 names. Just because a person has more than one name before their last name does not main all of them are their first name. Only if they they are joined into one, like Jean-Luc, or MarySue
Margaret has lots of nicknames. A few of them include Meg, Peg, Peggy, Maggie, Margie, Marge, Margot, Magpie, Ret, Retta, Gretta, Rita, Mimi, Pearl, and believe it or not, Daisy, which is the English translation of the flower from French, marguerite, and Spanish, margarita. (Which begs the question, was Jimmy Buffet getting wasted on daisies?)
never in my life have i heard someone named Elizabeth be called "Betsy." they were always called "Liz" or "Lizzy" or "Beth," but never once did i hear "Betsy." i also totally thought "Madge" was short for "Marjorie."
Same here. Also, I know five girls/women called "Sasha", and in each instance, their given name is Natasha. Knew Sasha as Alexander only because of some movie I saw (don't remember its name now) where the characters were Russian, and one of the males named Alexander was nicknamed "Sasha". Still, Natasha was my first choice here.
I never heard any natasha being called sasha. If you indeed have heard that personally I think that is a recently made up thing, because I dont think it is traditionaly the case. I know Natasha as Nat or Tash or Tasha (or as a real abbreviation and not making a name Natash)
I think using "Betsy" as a nickname for "Elizabeth" is out of fashion nowadays. I am 64 and grew up with several girls who were called "Betsy" as a nickname for "Elizabeth."
Sasha baron-cohen? No not a girl. It comes from the slavic "abbreviations" of both Alexander and alexandra, though generally in my experience, when someone is from a slavic country and is called sasha it is a guy. (And also when a guy is called sasha, most likely has roots in a slavic country)
I personally thought that Uk/Us (and western europe?) just borrowed the name and applied it to girls. I wasnt aware sasha was originally also the nickname for alexandra. But it makes sense obviously.
I guess "our" (English/other germanic languages) made Sander and Sandra from Alexander and Alexandra. And ofcourse Alex and Xander, And I guess Lex (and Alexia but that seems so forcefully made up imo)
I have to say most american "short names" make about as much sense as their most recent presidential selection. I mean Dick from Richard and Jack from John?? Really?! Also calling Elizabeth "Betsy" is the perfect way to make one of the most elegant names sound like a venereal disease.
Many of these forms are really old. You'd have your "proper" name and the name you'd use for friends and family. Over time, the less formal names entered common usage.
Look up Betsey Balcombe, an English girl b. in 1802, who befriended Napoleon during his exile. Betsey as a nickname for Elizabeth wasn't invented by Americans. Neither was Dick for Richard nor Jack for John. Those go back to medieval times in England.
Lilylee; "John" is the shortened English version of the German "Johan" (or Johannes) which, when shortened in German or Dutch, becomes "Jan". I have no idea how "Jack" evolved from John.
How about accepting Elinor as a variant spelling of Eleanor? It is certainly not unheard of (for example, Jane Austen used that spelling for one off her heroines).
The only Babs I know is actually named Babette. All the Barbaras I know are called Barb' or Barbie (mainly for teasing). Would it be possible to also accept Babette?
That's actually more of an English thing than an American thing. In America Jack is normally short for Jackson and John is normally short for Johnathan. They're using only antiquated naming for this quiz
Some of these just don't make sense. Jack is short for John when they're both 4 letter words. Peggy is short for Margaret, where did that come from? Where did Betsy for Elizabeth come from? There's others too that just confuse me.
Agreed that some don't make sense when you look at them, but they're definitely all correct. The term "short for" is not always literal. People often use it in place of "nickname for." "Jack," for example, is a term of familiarity that was historically used to indicate a personal relationship with someone named John, as in the famous "Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy...you're no Jack Kennedy" remark. On paper and to strangers, he's John. But if you know him well, he's Jack.
Bella is often used in place of Helen since they both mean “beautiful”. I had an aunt Helen who was usually called Bella for that reason. Bella isn’t shorter than Helen, but Jack isn’t shorter for John (as per a guy named John!)
In Germany the name "Sascha" is also an original name for a man that is also totally separate from "Alexander", especially when one doesn't descend from Russian/Slavic ancestry.
Tina can be short for any name ending in -tina (Martina, Valentina, ect.), same with Nora (Honora, Lenora, Eleonora), Tony can also be short for Antonio, and Patty has traditionally been a nickname for Martha (Matty - Patty). Jake is also a medieval variant of Jack, despite also being used as a nickname for Jacob.
"Lee" while others will say "Roy". But the quaintest cultures I find, are the ones that will give you two names, say: "Joseph Alexander" then proceed to always call you Alexander (or a variation thereof) and forever more ignore your first name, Joseph.
"Paddy" is short for Patrick.
Isn't Sasha a girl's name???
I personally thought that Uk/Us (and western europe?) just borrowed the name and applied it to girls. I wasnt aware sasha was originally also the nickname for alexandra. But it makes sense obviously.
I guess "our" (English/other germanic languages) made Sander and Sandra from Alexander and Alexandra. And ofcourse Alex and Xander, And I guess Lex (and Alexia but that seems so forcefully made up imo)
The 3 Kennedy brother politicians had nicknames which add inexplicable consonants to the given name.
Bobby=Robert
Jack=John
Teddy=Edward
37% of people : oH yEa SaShA mEaNs AlExAnDeR