Shaz as a nickname

[Spellit]

What would people think of the nn Shaz? As a foreigner I get the impression that in Britain anything that sounds like Chezza is a no no. What about a non British name, which when shortened, would be Shaz? Would you judge? Please be honest because I am not particularly attached to the name. Is it better to avoid, for a person who's going to spend their life in this country?

I'd assume it was short for Sharon. I personally don't like those Z nicknames, reminds me of idiots called Baz and Daz.

Better to avoid.

Not good. There is nothing wrong with the name Sharon (I have 2 very good friends called Sharon), but Shaz is (imho) awful. It implies someone who would fit in on Shameless. The child would risk being typecast.

I think there would be a strong assumption that it was short for Sharon, a name which is currently very much out of fashion and strongly associated with a generation.

80s short for Sharon. Shaz or Shaza as a NN.

Yep, 1980s nn for Sharon. Carries connotations for a particular generation. There were loads and loads of Sharons and Tracys and the names were considered a bit 'rough'.

Not agreeing with that, btw, but that's how it was and I suppose that association will linger for a while longer.

In twenty years they will be the names du jour

If the full name is something like Shazia, I don't think the Sharon connection would be made.

Was it Viz that came along and made those two names so risible? I mean, Sharon is a bible name. Tracy, I can see why that went pear-shaped. It was a new name (for a woman) that came out of nowhere. That was something that put me off freya even though I thought it was such a pretty name. It came from nowhere like Tracy I had to keep arguing with that voice in my head!

I thought Tracey was a corruption of Theresa.

As a Viz reader, I don't think The Fat Slags came along till v late 80s, certainly long since the conotations around the names Sharon and Tracey were established.,

Freya came out of nowhere?
I think she has been a Norse goddess for a few centuries.
I have always loved it because of Freya Stark. (1893-1993).
Agree about Shaz though.

Screams 80s stone-washed jeans, bad perms and shoulder pads....ooh, and Sharon Watts. However I'm in my late 40s. Perhaps if you are younger and/or lived somewhere more civilised than 80s Britain (so, just about anywhere then ), it would be OK.

Hmmm....no. Shaz and Caz are two forty something women who drink too much white wine when they get together. They're great people, but I just wouldn't use the nn shaz for a child.

Tracey is a transferred surname (think Spencer Tracey) and was originally a boys' name (and I knew one in RL, who would probably be in his 50s now).

Sharon is a Biblical place name (not a girls' name until 20th century).

Tracey is a much older name than 1950s. As a nickname for Theresa, it goes back to the 17th century if not before. I think that the 17th cent poet Marvell had a spaniel called Tracey.

Dickens used Tracy as a man's name in The Pickwick Papers.

Tracy as a female might have been popularised as a name after the film The Phildelphia Story, 1940.

And, as earlier poster said, Freya is a Norse goddess.

Avoid it.

Shazia, fine -- I've known Shazias and never made any mental association with Shaz. But Shaz itself is a bit 1980s, and not in a good way.

I wouldn't judge, no. But I really don't like the name (Shaz that is, not Shazia, I have no strong feeling either way about that)

I dunno, think 25 odd years out of date names can be pretty cool.
I knew a Jeanie my age when we were in our late teens in the late nineties, and I thought her name was just the coolest thing ever (still do!).
There will be no other Shaz-es in her cohort, at least.

The 'Fat Slags' were Sandra ('San') and Tracey ('Tray'), so any issues with Sharon or Shaz is nothing to do with them.

I agree, it has 'Sharon' connotations and unfortunately that is a name that has just become associated with chavvy forty somethings (Apologies I know there are lots of lovely classy Sharons out there. But sometimes a few stereotypes can just murder a name).

I think there is a world of difference depending on context.
Shaz used as a nickname for someone of clearly non- white (middle eastern?) extraction, it's clear it is short for something other than Sharon and 80s stereotypes wouldn't even cross my mind.
If used as a nn written down without any further information, I may think Sharon.

Def no

You don't mention if it's for a boy or a girl- for a girl, I'd avoid it for similar reasons to previous posters. For a boy, I don't think if bat an eyelid, I'd just assume it was a name from another culture and that would be that.

Shaz/Shazza = bogan

Google "bogan hunter Logan" for the best bogans Australia has to offer.

Oi watch it with the insults you lot...... I'm a Shaz