Tintin - what is short for?

[poppydaisy]

Read this name recently on a list at dd's school and keep wondering what it might be short for?

It's cute for a little boy (or a dog ), but not sure how suitable it is for a grown man. So, any ideas what could it be short for?

[brimfull]

timothy?

stupid name imo

[GrimmaTheNome]

Its short for Tintin, Boy Detective, isn't it?

Not for a dog, the dog is Snowy IIRC

[fembear]

Nah, it's short for tintinnabulation.

[LadyPinkofPinkerton]

Short for Herges Adventures of, of course.

[MadameCastafiore]

Little boy created by a guy called Herge - not sure if is a proper name or not!

I wouldn't call my kid it - the stories were pretty un-PC, although DH ans DS are obsessed!

[castille]

Quentin?

[Chrysanthemums]

Augustine?

[Chrysanthemums]

Or Austin.

[mumoftoomany]

Martin?
Quentin?
Justin?
I guess it could be short for any name ending in -tin.

[Scorpette]

Tintin is from the Tintin books! Even in the books, this was a pseudonym - the alias of the boy detective. My brother was and is a fanatic and even he wouldn't call a son Tintin!

[MommyHasaHeadache]

A friend of mine is called Clinton and his niece can't pronounce his name and calls him Tintin.

[8oreighty]

I love Tintin more than most things, but wouldn't got that far...Captain Haddock could be a cool name though.

[8oreighty]

And Cuthbert might make a comeback

[JRocks]

Is it a shortening of a foreign name perhaps?

[wuglet]

Could it not just be a nickname - lots of babies have that flicky up hair at the front and I bet a good proportion get called Tintin - maybe with this one it just stuck!

[Mamazon]

Quentin

[ThingOne]

from wikipedia:

Even the name "Tintin" remains a mystery, whether it is a first name or a surname is unknown. A possibility is that it is not actually the reporter's real name, but rather a pseudonym that the character uses to protect his identity while writing columns for his newspaper: Le Petit Vingtième. At the time when the stories first came out, journalists' usage of pseudonyms was commonplace. The possibility that it may not be his real name is also hinted in Cigars of the Pharaoh when Tintin is accused of poisoning one of a notable sheik's servants. Having been captured and brought to his tent, the enraged sheik demands Tintin's name. Tintin's characteristically placid answer is: "My name? It won't mean a thing to you...but at home they call me Tintin."

A simpler theory for his name is the fact that Franco-Belgian comics at the time generally had heroes with eccentric, memorable single names that could pass off as first names or surnames. Many people tend to think of "Tintin" as a surname, but it is likely that Hergé meant to keep it a mystery. Hergé was a great admirer of Benjamin Rabier and may have derived the name (and hairstyle) from Rabier's Tintin lutin (1897).

[AtheneNoctua]

There is a very nice MNer with this name in RL. I don't suppose she'll be terribly flattered by this (ignorant) thread.

[Chrysanthemums]

Well Athene, if you know what it stands for why not just tell us?

[AtheneNoctua]

As far as I know her name is Tintin and it's not short for anything. I've never really asked though.

[peachygirl]

Impressed with this as a first name but I can do one better.

We have a child called Benhur starting in september!!

[littlelamb]

at Benhur. Amazing.

[Chrysanthemums]

Benhur is cool.

Athene, please don't call us lot ignorant then, if you don't know the answer either. Nobody's trying to be offensive.

[AtheneNoctua]

I was referring to comments like "stupid name imo". Nothing wrong with a genuine inquiry about the history of a name of course.

[Chrysanthemums]

Fair enough AN