Is a Ruby likely to be called Rube or Rubes?

[suzettenoisette]

Sorry for asking again, but I felt like my question wouldn't be noticed so much in the general thread and it is worrying me quite a bit.

We are searching for a name and the final four are Rosalind, Ruby, Keira and Annabel/Annabelle.

People have pointed out that a Ruby will be called Rube or Rubes.

I love Ruby, but I dislike Rube and Rubes. Especially Rubes reminds me of an unfortunate word :(

Does anyone know if these are common as nicknames? I personally never hear them and I don't think many girls would like to be known as Rubes. But maybe I'm wrong. Thanks again and sorry for posting twice today, but it's important to me as we are close to the final decision.

Thanks for your help, I really love this place and how much everyone has helped so far. You've been great.

Maybe it's a regional thing. I have never heard of the other ones either. Especially Maz and Kaz seem unusual/rare to me.

The only ones I hear somewhat regularly are Jules for Juliet/Julia/Juliette/Julianne/Juliana, Bells for Bella/Belle/Isabelle/Isabella and Luce for Lucy.

Not quite the same but our little 13 yr old Yorkie is called Ruby! She gets called roots, rooty, rube-ster, rube, rubes, roo, rooster etc

Where are you OP? As all those nicknames, along with Rubes, are common for where I live and have lived previously.

London.

Maz, Helz and Kaz? No, I never heard of them before. But no one here is called Marie, Helen or Karen either, those are names from my granny's generation and my granny passed years ago. Maybe it depends on location and age group.

She might well get a lot of 'Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby' (Kaiser Chiefs).

Also, Ruby Murray (curry). If you are in London.

Rue is cute though, tbf.

I know 4 Rubys and they are all Rubes

Every Ruby I know gets called Rubes at times. I don't think it's something you can prevent as her friends etc might call her it

@suzettenoisette , they were popular names in the 1970s.
Julia and Julie were Jules, Sarah Sez, Rebecca Bex etc.

Oh, apparently I have a long dead granny name ??? Interesting

Me too! (Also known by one of the nicknames). I’m in my 30s and wasn’t even the only one in my year group at school!

edited to add, I know two Rubys. One introduced herself to me as Rubes, the other is known as Scooby, which evolved from Ruby Dooby Doo. They both sign their names this way in cards etc.

Gosh I’m 30 and am friends with a Marie and a Karen (she is Kaz to me). My friend’s daughter is Helen.
We are in Scotland so perhaps explains the difference.

How old are you for Helen Marie and Karen to be your dead granny names? They are names of the 70s and 80s

the thing is you clearly associate it with pubes, a word that causes you so many issues you can’t even write it.

and if it does bother you that much you can’t use the name - nicknames either come from family (you can control) the child (less so) or friends (and by teenage years not at all - the number who have odd nicknames or who change their name is high)

so either you accept it as a nickname potential from friends or don’t use

A Ruby I went to school with was always called Tuesday.

You mean pubes, right, @suzettenoisette? You can say it, you know.

I honestly don’t think many people associate the casual nn Rubes with pubes. It’s an extremely common shortening among the local population of girls called Ruby (my dd knows at least three in secondary school). Nobody is mocking or evoking pubes when they say it. It’s kind of a ridiculous stretch.

It could have been an issue at age six or so when some children find words like ‘bum’ hilarious. But back then the girls were not yet being called Rubes, because they hadn’t reached the stage of being given affectionate short names by their friends.

Editing to agree that, as pps have said, it’s not a name the girls go round introducing themselves as. It’s conversational but it’s not like they’re known primarily as Rubes.

The Ruby in our family is either called Ruby or Bee. I’ve never heard anyone calling her Rubes.

The little girl next door has a good friend called Ruby. She's often called Roo (or Ru)!

There are a LOT of Karen's/Carols in their 60s, Caz isn't as common now but they definitely aren't all dead.

Every name gets shortened by somebody. Even if it's just other kids at school. You are picking between Roz, Kiki (I've only known two, but it was both of them), Roo/Rubes and Anna! Even if you already pick and use an alternative nn.

Thing is Rubes doesn’t rhyme with pubes, they just look similar written down. Rubes is roobs (so can see people say it rhymes with boobs), pubes is p-you-bes. Most teenagers I know would write is Roobz in any case.

But if it will forever worry/bother you I’d pick a different name.

But no one here is called Marie, Helen or Karen either, those are names from my granny's generation and my granny passed years ago.

How old are you, op ?

Shortenings really aren’t automatic. I’m a Julia and have never been shortened to anything, even Jules - I actually wouldn’t have especially objected to it, it just never happened. My son has a 3 syllable name with a popular shortening too - and at the moment he insists on the full version. I suspect it’s 4 plus syllable names where it gets trickier, as they are more of a mouthful to say.

What I do agree with, is not to go with a name that you really can’t stand the potential shortening of. It took me a while to find one for DS that I didn’t hate the potential nn’s/shortening of, and I think you should skip Ruby if overhearing her ever called “Rubes” by her friends when older might bug you (I think it will only be occasionally you’ll hear it, if it happens, but from this thread it seems the potential is obviously there).

ETA: Actually gorgeous Rosalind was taken off my girls list (before I knew I was having a DS) for the same reason -as both the Rosalind’s I know get shortened to Roz, which I don’t like. Same thing happened with loads of names on my boys list - the seeming British obsession with shortening names or giving nicknames means finding names where you can tolerate ALL the versions of a full name tough😩 Good luck OP!

You're over thinking it, Rubes is a common shortening of Ruby, our old dog had the name and a lot of people used it as an affectionate shortening.
You could say Rubes rhymes with pubes and Roo rhymes with poo, both silly and nobody will be making that link.

A lot of names rhyme with words

Of the three Rubys that I've ever known, two of them got Rubes all the time, nobody called her Ruby except formally.
The third Ruby for some reason, was nicknamed Red (ruby red) just to be different I suppose.

My Ruby, when aged 5, announced out of the blue that she was sick and tired of being famous... I queried this, gently explaining that she wasn't famous. She insisted she was and that "Ruby Ruby Ruby" was about her and she was fed up hearing the song all the time.

Years later, I worked with Ricky Wilson and he signed their new album with the words "to Ruby, the song really is about you" She now has that framed on her wall!

The two Ruby’s I know are often known as Rubes.

But nobody really cares about it sounding like pubes, it’s not really funny or entertaining at all. I think it’s probably not the name for you if it really bothers you, though.

Gosh I had no clue what the "unfortunate"