Vintage Nicknames: Ready to wake after a long nap?
Nickname-names still appear on birth certificates. In the U.S., such names as Ellie, Abby, and Charlie for girls; Jake, Jack, and Johnny for boys all rank high. In the U.K., nickname-names are even more fashionable, with Evie, Maisie, Millie, and Ellie in the Top 35 for girls, and Jack, Charlie, and Alfie in the boys’ Top 10.
But there are generations of nickname-names that have fallen off the Top 1000, yet sound cute and baby-ready today. The list here is drawn from names that were on the Social Security roster on their own in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but fell off by the early 1970s (the date of their last listing follows the name) and haven’t yet reappeared.
Whether you choose to use Bea or Mamie, Clem or Zeb as full names or as diminutives for Beatrice or Marietta, Clement or Zebediah, any of these nickname-names would make charming choices.
girls
Bea 1910
Bess 1927
Birdie 1948
Dot 1892
Edie 1965
Etta 1966
Goldie 1958
Kitty 1966
Letty 1932
Lottie 1959
Lulu 1939
Madge 1948
Mamie 1966
Minnie 1971
Nell 1956
Roxy 1891
Thea 1965
Tillie 1942
boys
Abe 1961
Alfie 1968
Art 1967
Cal 1963
Cam 1896
Clem 1949
Flint 1960
Gabe 1905
Ike 1957
Kit 1958
Lem 1910
Lex 1956
Lou 1960
Moe 1916
Nat 1919
Ozzie 1903
Rock 1962
Sal 1967
Sid 1961
Sim 1911
Val 1969
Wally 1968
Walt 1962
Woody 1965
Zeb 1909
Zed 1894