What's In A Name?

The genesis of nicknames is a complex, fascinating process. Since group endorsement is required for any name to stick, rarely are they self-generated. Remember Bud Bundy trying to assume the identity of “Grandmaster B.?” The closest his social group, in this case the dysfunctional Bundy family, would let him get to self-naming was to call him “Flabmaster B.” The other derivations were worse. Nicknames are so tenuous in their fledgling stage that often, even if a suitable choice has been made, it doesn’t survive the vetting process. When I was pregnant with my first child (and then each subsequent child), I determined that the baby’s nickname should be “Roo,” like the little kangaroo of Winnie the Pooh fame. It’s perfect, right? I’m the mama “Kanga” and my tiny new bundle would naturally be a “Roo.” Despite my best efforts all four times, I couldn’t make it happen. And the ones that did stay around were rarely as cuddly as “Roo.” Keilana ended up as “Miss Muffet” and “Beast.” Connor is “Son-Son or “Con-man.” Addison got “Bratty Addie” and “Addie-San.” And now Scarlett has come along to join the crew. The most common nickname I use for her evolved from Patricia Cornwell’s forensic detective character, Kay Scarpetta. So, at the park or playground I am usually calling “Scarletta!” the whole time. Weird, huh? The other one she gets is “Miss Mouse,” for some unknown reason. In Jan Ormerod’s Miss Mouse’s Day, the narrator really is a mouse--but she can’t help that.
http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Mouses-Day-Jan-Ormerod/dp/0688163335

http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Jan-Ormerod/707595