Editing Nickname (section)

== Various societal uses ==
In [[Viking]] societies, many people had ''heiti'', ''viðrnefni'', or ''kenningarnöfn'' (Old Norse terms for nicknames)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLJPAQAAMAAJ&q=heiti,+vi%C3%B0rnefni,+or+kenningarn%C3%B6fn+(|title = Icelandic Nicknames|last1 = Willson|first1 = Kendra Jean|year = 2007|publisher = University of California, Berkeley}}</ref> which were used in addition to, or instead of, the first name. In some circumstances, the giving of a nickname had a special status in Viking society in that it created a relationship between the name maker and the recipient of the nickname, to the extent that the creation of a nickname also often entailed a formal [[ceremony]] and an [[gift exchange|exchange of gifts]] known in Old Norse as ''nafnfestr'' ('fastening a name'). Nicknames are widely attested in [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon England]], and similar social models have been applied to these names.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alphey |first1=Tristan. K. |title=Nicknames in Early Medieval England: A Socio-onomastic Study of Agnomina Before the Twelfth Century |date=2025 |publisher=PhD Thesis |location=Oxford}}</ref>

In [[Bengalis|Bengali]] society, for example, people will often have two names: a [[Bengali name|''daknam'']] (pet name) which is the name used by family and friends and a ''bhalonam'' which is their formal name.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Lahiri|first=Jhumpa|date=2003-06-09|title="Gogol"|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/06/16/gogol|access-date=2021-12-24|magazine=The New Yorker|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Singh|first=Amardeep|date=2007|title="Names Can Wait": the Misnaming of the South Asian Diaspora in Theory and Practice|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02759527.2007.11932500|journal=South Asian Review|language=en|volume=28|issue=1|pages=21–36|doi=10.1080/02759527.2007.11932500|s2cid=166091604|issn=0275-9527|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In England, some surnames have nicknames traditionally attached. A man with the surname 'Clark' will be nicknamed 'Nobby'; the surname 'Miller' will have the nickname 'Dusty' (alluding to the flour dust of a miller at work); the surname 'Adams' has the nickname 'Nabby'. Several other nicknames are linked traditionally with surnames, including Chalky White, Bunny Warren, Tug Wilson, and Spud Baker. Other English nicknames allude to a person's origins. A Scotsman may be nicknamed 'Jock', an Irishman 'Paddy' (alluding to Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland), or 'Mick' (alluding{{clarify|date=June 2023}} to the preponderance of Roman Catholicism in Ireland), and a Welshman may be nicknamed 'Taffy' (from Welsh ''[[Dafydd]]'', David). Some nicknames referred ironically to a person's physical characteristics, such as 'Lofty' for a short person, 'Curly' for a bald man, or 'Bluey' for a redhead.

In Chinese culture, nicknames are frequently used within a community among relatives, friends, and neighbors. A typical southern Chinese nickname often begins with a "阿" followed by another character, usually the last character of the person's given name.<ref>{{cite book|last=Liwei|first=Jiao|title=A Cultural Dictionary of The Chinese Language: 500 Proverbs, Idioms and Maxims|date=12 November 2019|publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781000713022|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kb29DwAAQBAJ&q=southern+Chinese+nickname+with+a+%22%E9%98%BF&pg=PT157}}</ref> For example, Taiwanese politician [[Chen Shui-bian]] (陳水扁) is sometimes referred as "阿扁" (A-Bian). In many Chinese communities of Southeast Asia, nicknames may also connote one's occupation or status. For example, the landlord might be known simply as ''[[:wiki: Towkay|Towkay]]'' ({{zh|t=頭家|s=头家|poj=thâu-ke}}), [[Hokkien]] for "boss") to his tenants or workers, while a bread seller would be called "Mianbao Shu" 面包叔 (literally, Uncle Bread).