"Surname related nicknames?" Topic

I'm looking for some surname related nicknames to add a bit of character to a British section for skirmish gaming. Looking for those nicknames given to people based on their surname eg. "Chalky" White, "Dusty" Miller and "Sandy" Shaw. Anyone got any other examples?

Jones 137? ( for the un initiated thats a Zulu reference)

'Chippy' Carpenter?

'Pat" Patterson?

William Williams = 'Billy Twice'

Mat Black, Lofty Little.

"Biscuit" Baker
"Hedge" Hogg

"Rusty" Steele

Gunner Thompson

Taffy Williams (or Evans or Lloyd or any other Welsh surname).

Bob Down.

Timber Forrest

Sandy Shaw was a 1960's singer – wouldn't have meant anything to a WWII Tommy.

But Dusty Rhodes, Smudger Smith, Nobby Clark as well as the usual Scouse, Geordie, Jock, Paddy and Taff are standard issue – and who can forget the infamous Spike Milligan?

BTW Ginger (red hair) is a male nickname in Britain but a girl's name in the US….

Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson. Or is that from something else?

Red hair was "Bluey" in old Australian slang. 'Ginger' is more common today and refers to a long running comic character with red hair. Not exactly surname related but popular.

Lofty Small

Fred – I soon ran out of traditional nicknames too but found it relatively easy to come up with new ones. They are tongue in cheek as they were intended to fit in with the spirit of naming conventions in IABSM. A few examples of what I mean:

"Soapy" Sudsworth
"Dozy" Bedwell
"Gunga" Dean
"Cocky" Legge
"Cheddar" Cheeseman
"Lefty" Wright
and one of my favourites, "" Woodcock

The bleeped word begins with T and isn't Roger. Surprising to see that bleeped I have to say.

"Windy" Gale for an actual historical one

Plenty of nicknames based on physical characteristics too – children weren't as PC then as they are forced to be now.

Tubby (my Dad's nickname), Beaky, Lanky (a schoolmate in the 60's), Fuzz (mine), Foureyes are amongst the milder ones. As I think back to my classmates' nicknames I doubt if any would survive the bleeper.

Haggis for a Scot, Woollyback for a country boy in a town – sometime stuck into adulthood as just Woolly.

If you have a guy with a big mustache (tash) he gets the name Chutney for some reason. I love that one.
Cheers fun topic

there was a kid a school whose name was Fitzhall…
We called him "onesize" (might be a bit too sophisticated for the 1940's.

There's a great navy list here, many of which would apply to the other arms too. Obviously "celebrity" based ones need date checking, but the pun based ones are obviously pretty timeless.

link

I'm pretty sure the "Sandy" Shaw or Shore is real. The pun is fairly obvious.

That navy list is good. There are a few missed there like "Nosey" Parker for example.

"Bandook" Shooter
"Woody'" Timberlaune

"Ducky" Pond

"Wahoo" Clarke (he was a Brigadier)

And of course "Lofty" and "Tiny" (applied to people of the opposite height)

Robertsons are traditionally "Robby"

Shakey. From Shackleton

We had a member of the platoon with last name Jorgenson so became Christine for the first sex change done in South Africa.

Had an Armenian ancestry with an unusual name so became Zeke as already had mist letters of the alphabet.

Had a guy with a Serbian background so to simpify his last name he was Skippy.

Probably when I sign off a ton of names will come to mind. Having been in the Canadian military there was quite a diverse amount of surnames.

"Dinger" Bell
"Grassy" Fields

'Dinah' Shore
'Spud' Tate or Tait (tatee=potato, for our continental cousins)
'Gordon' Zola (almost the cheese)

Recall a guy with the surname of O'Shea………….nicknamed 'Rick' of course.

"Hard" Knox

The only Robertson at my school was called Golly – after the jam.

A girl called Brush was Scrubber and I'll leave you to guess Mandy Vickers nickname. Another lass was called Pudding – I think her surname was Duff but it may have been her shape !!!

''Ticker'' Hart
''Smokey'' Bacon

My favorite real world example:

Sgt "Why do you guys always call me Notso" Swift

We used to have a Ronnie 'Notso' Bright

Chip Saunders

As noted in 'Pegasus Bridge' – all Sweeneys are Todd, and all Todds are Sweeney.

Also
Muddy Waters
Bunny Warren

SC "T*****r" Woodcock is great. Definitely in the Hugh Jarce school of Lardy nicknames.

One of my dad's old friends never wanted to be promoted above Major until just before retirement. Surname=Korn.

Then there's Lance corporal Boyle.

"Tiny" because he so big
"Poncey" because he was educated
"Smiffy" because he was called smith OR you would call a Smith "Smudger".

Nobby
Also see Spike Milligan's war memoirs for loads more.

Robinsons, Robbins, and Roberts also end up as "Robby" or "Robbie". Almost every Brown I know ends up as "Brownie" too.

Forgot about Two Sheds Jackson, good to see that one come up!

SC "T*****r" Woodcock is great. Definitely in the Hugh Jarce school of Lardy nicknames.

There can be no higher praise, thank you! I am happy to waive all IP rights if you want him in your section.

Has Dinger Bell been mentioned.

A few I can remember from my service days:
"Timber" Woods
"Chalky" White
"Tug" Wilson
"Spud" Murphy
"Jumper" Cross

and we had a Woodcock who was known as Splinter Dick!

Don't forget Peaser Green,Hovis Brown& Peat Burns

"London" Bridge
"Swampy" Marsh
"Dutchie" Holland

Druzhina
Illustrations of Costume & Soldiers

Hughes is yozzer for scousers.