May 27, 2010
How do we get “Jack” from “John”…And 9 other nicknames explained
After reading my brother’s recent tweet about Jack Bauer’s given name probably being John, this article on the origin of nicknames caught my eye.
Here’s one theory it suggests for the origin of “Jack”:
Normans added -kin when they wanted to make a diminutive. And Jen was their way of saying John. So little John became Jenkin and time turned that into Jakin, which ultimately became Jack.
The article also take stabs at explaining…
- Dick
- Bill
- Hank
- Chuck
- Peggy
- Ted
- Harry
- Jim
- Sally
* * *
Writing this post reminded me of a joke:
A guy says to his wife that he wants to name their son John. She replies with some consternation, “Seriously? Every Tom, Dick, and Harry is named John.”
* * * * *
Richard = Rick = Dick (it’s up there with Robert = Robby = Bobby = Bob) I had a really amusing conversation with a friend from India who was very concerned about the origin nickname.
But hey, if Elizabeth can become Lily and Betsy… why not Margret to Peggy?
I wouldn’t really call some of those “explanations.” More like declarations without any real reasoning. The jury remains out for me on Margaret == Peggy.
Margaret = Margie = Maggy = Meggie
Then one day someone gets a cold and it becomes something akin to “ngoupeggy.”
How did Samuel become Sam?
But how do you get Jack from Clive?