What's in a Nickname?

When I was pregnant with Mr. B, Jon and I struggled with finding an in-utero name for our unborn child. You know, something we could call the baby that wasn’t set in stone, but was more exciting than Baby.

Most folks like to go with what the baby looks like, or what sized fruit or vegetable the baby is at any given point. Cute names like Bean, Nugget, or Persimmon.

With Mr. B, Jon appropriated his nickname for me to use for our child – Peanut Jones. It’s a long, complicated story involving me reenacting a dancing peanut from an e-card. But it was my nickname.

And then it became Mr. B’s. So much so, that a friend even mailed me a personalized bib with “Peanut Jones’ printed at the bottom.

We never actually called our son that once he was born. I don’t know why, really, perhaps the name just didn’t fit. The nickname got picked up for my niece, and feels like it has lost its origin. And now, Mr. B really only gets called Mr. B. Nothing fancy, no backstory. Plain and simple, just the way he likes it.

But Miss P is a different. When I was pregnant with her, Mr. B bequeathed her as “Two.” As in, “I’m number one, you’re number two.” My niece started calling her Priscilla Toenail. Has a good ring to it, no?

And once again, the moniker fell to the wayside after she was born. She’s had others since. Kung Fu Panda and Godzilla were good ones for a while, but they’ve since been replaced.

There’s a new nickname in town: Booby Tutu.

Let me explain. I have Momkinis. You know, the bikinis that are regular on top, with a full coverage skirt for the bottom? They’re enough to show off my arms, enough to hide my thunder ass. One day this past summer, Miss P was looking through her drawer of bathing suits and found this hand-me-down bikini; bright pink, with a ruffled bottom. She held it up and exclaimed, “Look, Mommy! A tutu! And boobies!” Because she wanted to be just like me.

When she’d want to wear that bathing suit, she would ask for “the booby and the tutu.” And the nickname ‘Booby Tutu’ was created.

And it was good.

Lately, though, she has been saying she’s not happy with that nickname anymore. I told her that I could start calling her what my dad called me when I was a little girl: Peetie Pie. A combination of Sweetie Pie and Sweet Pea that feels cute without making me want to vomit.

Peetie Pie has been rejected, much to my dismay.

We’re now in the market for a new nickname.

What nicknames do you have for your children, and how did they come about? What was yours growing up?

Gina hold the titles of wife, mom, former dancer, blogger, butt-wiper, paper airplane maker, princess/fairy costumer, snack connoisseur, pillow fort architect, and house D.J. Please visit her blog, Full of It.