Crazy Nicknames for Boys

With the fashions for tree names, place names, and nickname names, Derry is a three-way winner.

Tolly is an antique short form that is not only jolly but makes Bartholomew usable in the modern world, when Bart is too Simpsonesque. For the adventurous nicknamer, Tolly might even be a novel short form of Oliver.

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

Friendly but flimsy.

This is a Scottish pet form of John, the equivalent of Jack in England. Has long been used as a generic name for a Scotsman, here it's a generic name for a--well--jock.

Ax makes a somewhat threatening short form of the popular Axel, given to more than 3000 baby boys last year. It can also be used on its own, though it usually isn't. There were, however, seven baby boys named Axe in the US in 2015.

In addition to being the term for a job performing music, Gig has been used as a name, as in onetime actor Gig Young--who was born Byron but took his stage name from a character he played.

Rhythmic and sensual -- maybe too sensual, in terms of playground teasing. Sax Rohmer was the nom de plume of the prolific English novelist who created Dr.Fu Manchu.

Flash Gordon makes this a superhero name, but Flash might just appeal to modern parents looking for one of the new active boys' names, ala Ace and Breaker and Ranger. We'd recommend something more pulled-together as a proper name with Flash as a nickname or middle name.

Boo as a first name first achieved notoriety as the name of the child-man in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Arthur "Boo" Radley was meant to be frightening, but only in a simple, non-threatening way. More recently, Boo has been used as the middle name of one of chef Jamie Oliver's children and the nickname in the middle of television's Honey Boo Boo. Boo is also the name of the world's cutest dog and of the adorable little girl in Monsters Inc. In a more basic way, Boo is a term of endearment.

Sounds a bit like a nickname in a Dickens novel, but this short form was used in New England a few centuries ago, back when names like Micajah were popular. Both short and long forms are now ripe for revival.

A bit too cunning.

Short form of Alfred that had fallen out of favor, but could come back alongside Alfie and other clunky old-style nicknames like Gus and Ike.

Flip is a cute, attitude-filled nickname for the very proper Philip and variations. A perfect choice if you're looking for a buttoned-up proper name with an informal short form.

A name that shows up on the Social Security roles of a hundred years ago. Let's hope it was a never-to-be-repeated mistake.

Superhero names are fit for humans today, and there's no reason Rambo can't take his place among a generation of babies named Loki, Odin, and Atlas.

A forgotten nickname for Columbus, which itself is becoming ever rarer. Radio comedy program Lum and Abner, which ran for over two decades beginning in 1931, featured a character named Columbus "Lum" Edwards.

Frisco is a frisky, roguish semi-place-name (San Francisco natives never call it that) that could make a lively, unusual o-ending choice.

The charming Hitch played by Will Smith in the eponymous movie put this into the lexicon. Also known as the nickname of director Alfred Hitchcock and writer Christopher Hitchens, who titled his autobiography "Hitch."