Nickname Development - How much control do people have over their nickname?

The use of nicknames is common in today's society, from popular TV personalities and characters such as 'Arg' and 'Smithy' to places - 'the Big Apple'.  A nickname is a noun attributed to a person or object that is different from the person's given name; it can be used instead of or alongside the 'given name'. In theory people should have more control over their nickname than given name as nicknames are usually developed at a later age by a social group such as school class, but how much control do people really have over their own nicknames? 

A researcher in Taiwan carried out a study to investigate nicknaming, Liao found that boys were more likely than girls to have a nickname, and that 57% of those with a nickname disliked them. This could be because a lot of nicknames are based on an individual's characteristics, and these aren't always positive! For example, a person wearing glasses may be called 'four-eyes' or an overweight person could be called 'fatty' or 'chubster'. These are derogatory names so it is unlikely that a person would appreciate being called them, but they are easily formed by others as they can be decided just by looking at a person and are commonly used so don't require any use of imagination. It could be questioned why people allow others to call them a name they do not like, but actually how much power do we really have to stop unpleasant nicknaming? If a nickname catches on and is used by a wide group of people then it becomes very difficult for the individual to stop it. They can't control the behaviour of others and protesting could cause more unpleasant nicknaming! Sometimes nicknames just stick, whether the individual likes it or not. Personally, I would rather my art teacher had called me Chloe rather than 'Chlod' but there was just no stopping her, and two years later it's stuck!

Attitudes to nicknames can vary depending on society, if we travel across the pond to the USA, research by Busse shows that 70% of high school students with a nickname liked their nickname. This could be down to the different reasons behind nicknames formed in America, in Taiwan they often seemed to be based on negativity and insults, whereas in America it is thought a nickname makes students more popular! The reason behind the seemingly more positive nicknaming in America could be caused by different social rules between Taiwan and America. It is possible that American schools have stricter bullying policies than schools in Taiwan – mildly insulting nicknaming in Taiwan could be seen as humorous whereas in American classrooms it may not be tolerated. This would cause nicknaming to focus on more positive qualities, for example 'speedy' for a fast runner or 'chuckles' for a funny person.  They may also focus more on altering a person's real name by adding suffixes such as 'Whitey' for the surname White, in fact Shankle believed that there wasn't a name that Americans couldn't alter to form a nickname!  

Nicknames have been a feature in society for years and look like they are here to stay; maybe it is just dependant on luck as to what to what type of nickname a person will develop, be it positive or negative!

Chloe Humphreys