Crazy Nicknames for Boys

  1. Pippin
    • Origin:

      Variation of Pepin
    • Meaning:

      "awe-inspiring"
    • Description:

      Super-sweet name that was the title of a Broadway play -- but best known as a type of apple. The Dutch variation is Pepijn is finding some popularity in that country, where short nickname names are stylish.
  2. Spike
    • Origin:

      English word name
    • Meaning:

      "a very large nail"
    • Description:

      Spike is part mid-century nickname-name, ala Buster or Buck, and part word name, with an all-over cool creative dude feel thanks to directors Spike Lee and Spike Jonze. Mike Myers named his son Spike. That's right: Spike and Mike. Spike qualifies as one of the distinctly American names.
  3. Mitt
    • Origin:

      Nickname for Milton
    • Meaning:

      "settlement with a mill"
    • Description:

      If you'd like to name your baby after Gov. Romney, Mitt isn't it: his birth name is Willard. Mitt is an inherited nickname from Milton Romney, a favorite cousin of his father's who was a Chicago Bears quarterback in the 1920's.
  4. Win
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Winslow, Winthrop, or Winston
    • Description:

      Win is an upbeat, can-do name that can be a short form of one of the buttoned-up British choices above or can stand on its own. Welsh Wyn is another possibility.

      Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and singer Ciara named their son Win Harrison. Harrison is Wilson's father's first name.
  5. Chevy
    • Origin:

      French, diminutive of Chevalier
    • Meaning:

      "horseman, knight"
    • Description:

      Eternally tied to the surname Chase, via the old English battle and ballad, the DC suburb, and the goofy SNL pratfaller (who was born Cornelius). It entered the US Top 1000 in 2014.
  6. Rebel
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Meaning:

      "rebel"
    • Description:

      Asking for trouble. Rebel Wilson is female, but this name is truly gender neutral, though hardly neutral in any other way. Rebel is undoubtedly one of the edgiest boys' names starting with the letter R.
  7. Biff
    • Origin:

      American nickname
    • Description:

      The quintessential midcentury nickname, famously found in Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman."
  8. Iolo
    • Origin:

      Welsh
    • Meaning:

      "weathy lord"
    • Description:

      Rhythmic Welsh nickname name, derived from the Welsh royal name Iorwerth, which has sometimes been anglicized as Edward.
  9. Moby
    • Origin:

      Literary and nickname name
    • Description:

      Moby, the nickname of musician Richard Melville Hall, was thanks to his ancestor Herman Melville, creator of the infamous whale. You can imagine calling a child Moby as a cute nickname in honor of a grandfatherly Richard or Dick, but the ghost of a Dick would always follow the name around. In Melville's classic book, Moby was an invented word whose meaning has never been firmly established, though the best scholarship calls it a fictional place name that, in the custom of whaling ships of the time, helped identify the whale called Dick.
  10. Buster
    • Origin:

      Modern nickname
    • Description:

      An old-fashioned nickname in the Bud/Buzz/Biff mold; this one's kind of belligerent. Michelle Hicks and Jonny Lee Miller moved outside the box when they used it for their son--given the safer middle name of Timothy.
  11. Trip
    • Origin:

      Word name
    • Description:

      This began as a nickname, usually for someone who was a "third," as in William III. But in an age where any noun goes, this could be thought of as representing a little voyager -- hopefully not into psychedelic realms.
  12. Tad
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Thaddeus, Aramaic
    • Meaning:

      "gift of God"
    • Description:

      An approachable mini name that could go on the birth certificate, but may work best as a nickname. Full name options include Thaddeus, Theodore, and Thomas, which was the given name of Abe's son Tad Lincoln. Taddy is a rare alternative to Teddy.
  13. Po
    • Origin:

      Italian river name
    • Description:

      A river (in Italy), a writer (Bronson), a Teletubby: the Bo of the new millennium.
  14. Tex
    • Origin:

      Place-name, nickname for state of Texas resident
    • Description:

      Despite its rakish western charm, still remains a cowboy costume without a real persona inside.
  15. Chip
    • Origin:

      Pet name for Charles
    • Description:

      Only if you're madly nostalgic for sixties TV.
  16. Pim
    • Origin:

      Dutch diminutive of Willem or William
    • Meaning:

      "resolute protection"
    • Description:

      The short, cute Pim is a Top 100 boys' name in The Netherlands though little-known outside that country. But in a family overrun with Williams, Pim could make an original nickname setting a modern child apart from father Will and grandpa Bill.
  17. Coy
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "shy, taciturn"
    • Description:

      Though rarely heard now, Coy has been around for a century and was not an uncommon name a hundred years ago. There have been a couple of NFL players named Coy, Coy Bowles is in the Zac Brown band, and of course there was Coy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard. Due to the flirty connotations of the word "coy", McCoy is a more popular and recommended choice today.
  18. Deuce
    • Origin:

      English word name or nickname
    • Meaning:

      "two"
    • Description:

      Basketball's Jayson Tatum introduced this to the naming lexicon when he used it as a clever nickname for his son, Jayson Christoper Jr. It fits in with nicknames like Trey or Trip for boys who are the third in the family with their name; we've even heard Quatty and Quinto.
  19. Tiger
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "animal name"
    • Description:

      Other wild animals like Fox, Wolf and Bear are catching on as baby names, and Tiger is a rarer option with several famous namesakes, including golf champ Tiger Woods, who was born Eldrick. Other famous Tigers include Indian actor Tiger Shroff, born Jai, and British actor Tyger Drew-Honey, who spells his name with a Y.
  20. Oddie
    • Origin:

      Variation of Odie, English or German
    • Meaning:

      "of the valley; wealthy"
    • Description:

      We can't get past the odd part of this name.