Nickname vs. Pet Name/Term of Endearment?

[nat108]

Ally and Lexie are both nicknames. It doesn't matter who calls you that or how often.

Pet names/terms of endearment are general terms that you affectionally use: honey, baby, dear, bear, bug, dolly

[jeska]

Agree with nat108.

A nickname is something that someone (or multiple people) habitually call you, that is not the name on your birth certificate. Dan for Daniel, Liz for Elizabeth, Molly for Margaret.

A pet name is a term of endearment.

Just an aside, I get a bit irritated when people on here ask things like, 'Can Maisie be a nickname for Michaela?'

If you answer 'no, too much of a stretch', other posters/the OP get huffy and say 'Anything can be a nickname for anything!' Which is true, actually, but then why ask the question?? I always assume that they're really asking, 'Does Maisie sound like a nickname that would naturally be derived from Michaela?' (Which, IMO, would be a 'no'. Miki might, Maisie doesn't.)

[r_j]

Good question. I guess I hadn't thought of it that way. I tend to agree with nat108 too. I suppose I think of Ally as a "nickname" for Allison regardless if that fits every Allison's actual situation. Or, Becky is a "nickname" for Rebecca in the general sense of the term, so if someone were to want to name their daughter just Becky or Ally, I would say it's too "nickname-y."

I can see why people think about it slightly differently though.

[millienow2011]

I'd agree that nicknames are related to your given name. Eg. Steh for Stephanie. It's like a long established abbreviation. So calling a called Teddy can be described as 'too nicknamey' because it was originally a nickname and is not seen as formal enough.

Pet names aren't usually but can be related to the given name. Eg Im a Stephanie who introduces herself as Steph (nickname) my parents call me Stephie (pet name) and my hubby calls me Willis (pet name) (no idea where Willis came from tho lol)

[lo]

I agree with the OP. And I do think pet names can relate to the original name. For my daughter Katharine my husband and I have both come up with pet names for her. Everyone calls her Kat some. Base on this my husband frequently calls her Mauw-Kat (no real way to spell Mauw - it developed from meow and is pronounced like Meow but without the long "E" sound. It rhymes with how). There is no way that she is going to introduce herself as Mauw-Kat at school. Similarly, I use to call her Kit Kat. Again a lovely name of endearment and a combo of two possible nicknames for Katharine but she's not going to use Kit Kat at school either.

[acawood]

I posted similar in another forum about nicknames, but now I can't remember which one! :P

Anyway, I think of a nickname as something you commonly go by, something that (almost) everyone calls you, what you introduce yourself as. Basically, the name you use on everything but official documents. A nickname can even be something you go by at work. For example, I know a Janet who always goes by Jan, even at work, and a David who goes by both Dave and David at work. Nicknames are derived from someone's actual name or middle name.

A pet name is something only friends or close family call you. It may or may not be derived from your real name. You wouldn't introduce yourself by a pet name. E.g. Petey or little lady.

That is exactly how I feel about it! However, I think that you stated it more eloquently than I did.

[acawood]

So, there are definitely different interpretations of "nickname." How does this play out when responding to posts? As I said originally, to me, a nickname is something that you introduce yourself as and use in most situations (aside from formal documents). However, it is obvious that this is not how everyone interprets that. Is there any good way to know when responding to someone who wants a nickname how they intend to use it? My responses might vary a lot depending of if they actually want a name that will be used by most people or something that will only be used informally by close friends and family.