A nickname (also moniker)[1] is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing.

Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also
be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is distinct from both pseudonym and
stage name, and also from a title (for example, City of Fountains), although there may be overlap in
these concepts.

Contents

1 Etymology

2 Conventions in various languages

3 Uses in various societies

4 Computing

5 People

5.1 Abbreviation or modification

5.2 Name portions

5.3 Relationship

6 Geography

6.1 Titles of geographical places

6.2 Collective nicknames of inhabitants of a geographical place

7 See also

8 References

9 External links

Etymology

The compound word ekename, literally meaning "additional name", was attested as early as
1303.[2] This word was derived from the Old English phrase eac "also",[3] related to eacian "to
increase".[4] By the 15th century, the misdivision of the syllables of the phrase "an ekename" led to
its rephrasing as "a nekename".[5] Though the spelling has changed, the pronunciation and meaning
of the word have remained relatively stable ever since.

Conventions in various languages

English nicknames are generally represented in quotes between the bearer's first and last names
(e.g., Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower, Daniel Lamont "Bubba" Franks, etc.). However, it is also
common for the nickname to be identified after a comma following the full real name or later in the
body of the text, such as in an obituary (e.g., Frankie Frisch, "The Fordham Flash"). Any middle name
is generally omitted, especially in speech. Like English, German uses (German-style) quotation marks
between the first and last names (e.g., Andreas Nikolaus „Niki“ Lauda). Other languages may use
other conventions; for example, Italian writes the nickname after the full name followed by detto
"called" (e.g., Salvatore Schillaci detto Totò), in Spanish the nickname is written in formal contexts at
the end in quotes following alias (e.g. Alfonso Tostado, alias «el Abulense»), in Portuguese the
nickname is written after the full name followed by vulgo or between parenthesis (e.g. Edson
Arantes do Nascimento, vulgo Pelé / Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pelé)) and Slovenian represents
nicknames after a dash or hyphen (e.g., Franc Rozman – Stane). The latter may cause confusion
because it resembles an English convention sometimes used for married and maiden names.