OK, here’s a thought. Suppose you find yourself beginning to really like some of those classic mid-century nicknames like the ones you’ve been hearing on shows like Mad Men and in movies like Revolutionary Road, but you don’t really care for the names they’ve been traditionally attached to. Some of them mght be too Grandma or pa, some of them overused in the recent past. As in ‘Don? Maybe. Donald? No, thanks.’ So what we’ve done here is put together a list of some possible, more contemporary and/or interesting and/or less widely used alternatives that manage to hold on to the desired nickname.
ALBY — ALBANY rather than Albert
ALEX — ALEXIO rather than Alexander
ANNIE — ANNABEL rather than Ann
ART — ARTEMAS rather than Arthur
BEN — BENEDICT rather than Benjamin
BETH — BETHEL rather than Elizabeth
CAL — CALLUM rather than Calvin
CAT — CATALINA rather than Catherine
CORY — CORMAC rather than Cordell/Cornel
CRIS — CRISPIN rather than Christopher
DEE — DELILAH rather than Deanne
DON — DONOVAN rather than Donald
DOT — DORIT rather than Dorothy
ELLIE — ELODIE rather than Eleanor
EVIE — EVANGELINE rather than Evelyn
GUS — AUGUST rather than Gustave
JAN — JANUARY rather than Janet or Janice
JEN — GENEVA rather than Jennifer
JESSIE — JESSAMINE rather than Jessica
JO — JOCASTA rather than Joanne
JOE — JOSIAH rather than Joseph
KEN — KENYON rather than Kenneth
LIBBY — LIBERTY rather than Elizabeth
LIL — LILIA rather than Lillian
LUCY — LUCIA rather than Lucille
MARE — MARIBEL rather than Mary
MEL — MELISSANDE rather than Melissa
MIKE — MICAH rather than Michael
MILLIE — MILLICENT rather than Mildred
PHYL — PHYLLIDA rather than Phyllis
RAE — REAGAN rather than Rachel
ROB — ROBINSON rather than Robert
ROSIE — ROSAMUND rather than Roseanne
SAM — SAMSON rather than Samuel
SAM — SAMARA rather than Samantha
TESS — TESSA rather than Teresa
Just a nitpick: Lucy is not a nickname, it is a full name in its own right.
Nan is a nickname for Anne, as is Nancy.