Upper/Upper-Middle Class Nicknames

My sister has been called Dolly by us from almost the moment she was born (she’s early 20s). It’s nothing to do with her given name and I don’t actually know where it came from but I have never called her by her given name and it would feel very odd to do so.

We aren’t posh though and she used her given name at school/now work. However when I hear someone say her given name I don’t recognise that they are talking to her.

My husband found it very odd when he found out Dolly wasn’t her real name after knowing her for over a year because we met her new boyfriend who called her by her given name.

It is weird but i think there’s rarely an explanation, these things just stick and that person becomes their nick name to you.

Nor can I

I remember Chick who was male and Wig and Pop female

My sister's ex's father was an officer in the RAF, and we were told that his nickname was 'no nickname' surname.

also I think people get attached to their nicknames. I have a foreign name that everyone butchers anyway and the only people who use my full first name and pronounce it the way its supposed to be are my mother and husband...and ONLY when it's one of them "oooh shit, i've messed up" situations 🤣

I don't think it's entirely a class thing.

I've known elderly women that were Tig (Elizabeth), Tiger (Alexandra) and Bunny (to this day I have no idea)

It's useful for the shooting party.

When you're about to end something with the shotgun, "Get down Minty" is far more likely to result in quick and appropriate action than "Get down Marigold Elizabeth Catherine Phelps the Third"

I see this in working class circles too. Different types of nicknames however.

😂brilliant!

I went to a uni full of toffs too and the names were hilarious.

nicknames tend to stick for ages and often start of as something someone said ages ago and nobody may ever remember why it was said

i have a lot of friends who dont go by their first name and neither me nor them are "posh" or upper-anything class

And yet here you are on a thread about them.

You poor love, this must be torture for you.

The only Jonty I know is a girl. I don't understand any of the weird nickname stuff!

So my nickname is miles away from my actual name and couldn't tell you where the nickname started as I was so young but my mums family & friends call me Nellie
And my dad's family & friends call me Mittin
Non of these are anywhere close to my name!

I know a Bomber too, surname is Harris. Very few of my friends have nicknames, I can only think of one off the top of my head, everyone else is either called by their full name. Some though are known by their surname.

I think we're all middle class

Urgh - Can't stand adults with nicknames. Ick inducing, regardless of 'class'

I know a Bunty as well. A female. Never been able to work it out, particularly as her real name is very pretty!

"upper working class"? Is there a middle and lower working class?

A notch below ‘lower middle class’ but a notch above standard working class I would imagine

weirdly posh English uni

I know there are Russell Group Universities and old poly etc, but what is a posh uni thats weird?

My daughter has quite a posh name

Allegra

She gets called Tiggy

Not particularly posh (certainly not a member of the sort of social circles where Tiggy / Wiggy / Bunty / Pooh etc are standard), but a very old friend of mine goes by the nickname of Bridie.

On our first day of lectures at uni, he turned up wearing a shirt and tie and a spectacular pair of tweed Oxford bags, looking like a character from Brideshead Revisited.

Over the years, this has been shortened to Bridie.

This makes sense. I always wondered it myself, it's weird, especially to call a grown woman Binky to her face.

But I have also noticed a tendency amongst the more MC (so no generations of wealth and no string of names passed down) who purposely pick a name and a nickname for their child, in order to emulate the upper classes, and I do find it odd

But I absolutely find it cringe when colleagues or acquaintances expect you to use a nickname- fair enough if you’re mates but being asked to call someone twinky in a meeting is not on. Or at least give a choice- my name is Hortencia but you can call me Biffy if you want.

Oh yes, absolutely. If your name is John Webb, you can be called “Webbsy” by your mates down the pub, but I’ll stick to your actual name, thanks.

Probably outing, but someone called Desdemona (name changed, but similar length) joined my team a few years ago. One of the men joked it was too much to call her that all the time and decided it would be funny to give her a more “street” nickname, Desi M. Everyone started using it and he actually brought it up when I didn’t, wanting to know why I “was still calling Desi M Desdemona”. I said “Because it’s her name. I don’t do nicknames”. I’m sure he thought I was terribly po-faced and a fun sponge, but fucks gave I none.

I absolutely love these nicknames. I always wanted my family to call me Bunty, but they wouldn't oblige.

Minty, Dotty, Flossy, Mopsy - all great!

Sounds like the school my DH went to. I call my dh by his surname. Everyone who knows him does, all his friends and colleagues. The only person who calls him by his Christian name is his Mum and my Mum used to as well but she died.