Del Amitri and other nicknames
11 June 10
Before I knew that Del Amitri was actually a Scottish band, I heard the name roll off David’s tongue and considered that Amitri would be a nice middle name for our fourth daughter Delaney. (I must have thought Amitri sounded a bit like Amity or something… perhaps it was just the pregnancy hormones!)
But then I discovered the truth about Del Amitri and swore to David that our daughter would never be named such. Until the nickname started.
David has a habit of bestowing our precious, beautiful daughters with crazy nicknames. It was easy to give Aisha the nickname “Grub” when she was a little baby, wrapped in a blanket and lying still. But he still calls Aisha “Grub”, and she responds.
Brioni’s nickname, “Hregdesh” is best said with a throat-clearing hawk as the first syllable. Hredgesh eventually has been shortened to “Hreggie” (roll the R), and Brioni still answers to it. When we’re out in public, I wonder what others think when David calls out “Hreggie”, and Brioni runs up.
Calista’s nickname (I don’t know where he gets the idea from) is “Bootennoire”, often shortened to “Booty” or “Booty-baby”. Cali loves her own nickname and sometimes calls herself “Bootenwa”.
But Delaney’s nickname — “Del Amitri” — has been picked up and is now also used by the other girls, Calista especially. Cali calls the baby “Del Amitri” almost exclusively, with a fantastic response. Delaney loves to hear her name called and smiles in response.
Now, everyone’s agreed that I’m stupidly pedantic with my alphabetical names, but recently David realised that he has done the same thing with the number of syllables in the girls’ nicknames — Grub (1), Hregdesh (2 syllables), Bootennoire (3) and Del Amitri (4 syllables). (Wow. When I write the names all down in a row they look mighty strange!)
So, is David committed to a five-syllable nickname for the next baby (which is still a twinkle in his eye, let me assure you)? Time will tell.
What nicknames have your children ended up with?
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1 · Erin J · 12 June 2010, 07:02
When we were trying desperately to choose baby names for one of the Goombas (forget which one now) Hubby suggested Hrothgar. Of course I was horrified whereupon the unborn babe was joking called Hrothgar for months. Your Hregdesh reminded me of it. Our kids’ actual nicknames are much more odd. Natta-Noo is Natalie’s. The Noo gets lengthened then into Noodle, then shortened into Nood, which of course sounds like nude. Sigh. Seth became Sethifer, then “The Fer.” Don’t ask me. He also gets called “Ball-man” for his round, round head. Cody is Cody-Bean, The Bean, Codius Beanus, Beanie-Weenie, Baby Bean, Brown-Butt and Code-Red. The Pediatrician asked me if Cody knew his name. I told her no, because we never call him the same thing twice. She gave me a tight-lipped look of disgust. Stupid parents, she seemed to be thinking. But we cannot help it, small children beg nicknaming! So our poor children grow up without knowing their real names and the Ped, who I think has no children of her own, shakes her head at me.
2 · Renee · 12 June 2010, 11:40
Your kids’ nicknames are cool! Way better than Megan, anyway. Remember when I was pregnant with Tirzah and J and K decided to call her Alfalfa? They just liked the word.
3 · Lauren · 12 June 2010, 21:38
Erin, thanks for the affirmation and the laugh!
4 · Marisa · 14 June 2010, 05:56
Ian was Nugget first in utero, but rapidly became SqueakerMouse (because he was little and, er, well, squeaked) as an infant, then Froggie (because he would pull his legs up into that froggie position whenever I’d try to get him dressed or change his diaper), then Monkey when he started climbing everything. He’s still Monkey, but is, of course, also called DramaBoy and Ian Mac. Jesse has, without even realizing at first that Ian’s middle name is MacGregor, been calling him “Mac” because he thinks Ian looks like the little alien from “Mac and Me”—some old American sitcom I never saw. Google it. He’s kinda right. Evan has simply been The Widget ever since I was pregnant with him. He still is. The name is so perfect for him, why use any other? I know people who think of him that way and never even call him Evan—and they’re not even people who only read my blog!
5 · Mizasiwa · 16 July 2010, 00:08
Befor Dominique was born Gabriel couldnt say his name but we called baby boy a lot and angel boy is what i call him. So he started to refer to himself as Babriel. this lastef for almost two years until Domanique who he instantly called Nika and has remained so called more than her actual name. Started calling him Gayel (said almost as Gail as in wind) so now we tend to call him that. Poor kid I also call him monster boy and her monkey girl (she clings like a monkey even at nearly three)