What's In A Nickname?

Juliet:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Yes, Juliet/Willy Shakespeare, I get your point, but might I challenge you on this notion a wee bit?  True, a name gives us little to no information on the character of a thing or person, but to me it does often carry a depth of meaning.  Especially when it comes to nicknames.  We are big fans of nicknames around The Smockling household. This is due, at least in large part, to the fact that my husband is The Master of Nicknames.  He has a plethora.  Our children each have multiple nicknames.  They know and would likely respond to upwards of six or seven nicknames each. However, we certainly have our favorites.  Somehow, the endearments that tend to stick the best usually relate to baked goods.  Our children are all three "Biscuits."  Since we were dating, I was the "Muffin." To know me is to know that I am NO muffin.  But when HE called me that, I'd swoon. 

So when our first baby, sweet Henry, came along, he was promptly dubbed "Sweet Beeb" right out of the shoot.  Then simply "The Beeb."  Which transformed into "The Beebus" or simply "Beebus."  Which morphed into "Beeblington 9000."  Or for a variation, "Beeblingham 9000."  However, he was always, first and foremost, "The Biscuit."  As he "turned into a person," as my husband would call it (i.e. emerged out of the sweet, portable lump stage), he became "Small Buddy."  But he was ever The Biscuit.  He is now almost seven years old (gasp), and he is still The Biscuit.  So when SamSam came along, he was automatically dubbed a Biscuit as well.  He is also SamSam, of course.  But this is only because he was first BabySam, and once he was a baby no longer, just Sam simply seemed so impersonal.

That brings us to The Bean.  Why The Bean?  It may not seem to fit, since it is not a pastry product, nor is it a variation on her real name.  Well, no one can fully explain these sorts of things.  This is part of what I love about nicknames.  Most often, perhaps, nicknames are a version--sometimes shortened, sometimes not--of someone's real name.  Or initials are incorporated.  Or something-"dog" is involved.  But I find the best ones are often not directly related to a person's name at all.  They may not even be completely related to that person.  Rather, they are a reflection of the relationship between the one nicknamed and the nicknamer.  The dubbee and the dubber, if you will. 

Not to get all sociological on you, but it seems we as humans tend to use nicknames to signify, to that person and to all others around, that there is a special relationship with that individual.  We do this with our spouses, our pets, our best friends, and especially, it seems, with our children.  Not with the grocery check-out girl, sweet and familiar as she may be.  It is a way of laying claim to a person and letting them and others know that they are special to you.  Maybe this line of thinking is especially why I melt when my husband uses these nicknames so freely with us, and just us.  He is a guy's guy.  Not good with expressing feelings.  Don't get me wrong--he is quick to tell and show our children he loves them, and I am sure they have no doubt of this, but overall he is not the most expressive, demonstrative type.  This is his way of showing his love and his bond to us, subtly, but frequently and powerfully. 

I know "The Bean," like our other household nicknames, has been an evolution somewhat like the others.  I know it involved "Butterbean," "Della Bean," "Jelly Bean," and likely a few other forms along the way.  She is, of couse, also a Biscuit.  She has at various stages also been referred to as "Little Girl," or more simply, "LG."  She has been "Tiny," "Not So Tiny," "D-Bean," or "Bean Bean."  The other Biscuits most often refer to her as The Bean.  She responds to it as readily as she responds to her given name Della.  We are aware that it may sound a little strange to outsiders to refer to our precious, beautiful baby girl as "The Bean," instead of something like, "Princess," or "Sweet Pea," or even "Boo Boo," or "Monkey" or on and on and on.  To us, though, there is so much more meaning and endearment behind the moniker than outsiders could ever get.  That is what has become so special to me about our family's quirky nicknames.  They are a reflection of my husband's offbeat sense of humor, which I love, and of our family's love for each other.  And we are okay with the fact that others may not "get it."

So, would our Bean by any other name be as sweet?  Surely.  However, "The Bean," "The Biscuit," and all our other family endearments, and all the associations they carry with them, do hold ever so much meaning for me.  Does your family have unique nicknames?  What do you call your kiddos?  How did your family's nicknames evolve?  Please share--I know we are not the only ones!

Fondly,