GinaFish.com

When I was little, my dad had a nickname for me. Pickle. When I asked why he would say it was because I was just like a pickle, sometimes sweet, sometimes sour. My sister had a few nicknames: Princess, and bubble being two I can remember off the top of my head.

My formal first name is Regina. So as a little kid till about 7th grade, I was called Gina. When I got my first real job, I worked nights with a guy who fancied himself a rapper guy of sorts, and he called me ‘G’. So soon, everyone at work called me G. I also had a job where an anonymous name was a must, and I was called “Gigi”. And Ginafish is, of course, my alter ego online. It’s not like people call me that to my face.

So when I named my kids, I thought, okay, what names are no good for weird nicknames. Or initials that don’t spell anything odd. Well, despite my best efforts, my son has been given a nickname, but I don’t mind. When he was 2, we started to call him “Little E”, then after a while, just E. So now, it goes back and forth between E and Ethan. Which I guess will be handy if he is ever in class with another Ethan, seeing as how it was such a popular name the year he was born. If I had known that, we’d have called him by his middle name.

My daughter, so far, has faired better with only one person giving her a nickname and calling her by it. My mother-in-law calls her Suzie-anna. I’m not really sure why. My m-i-l’s nickname is Suzy, so she might say my little ones name like that to feel more like they are both Suzy’s. My father in law calls her “Pops Baby Girl” a lot, but I figure he’ll kind of have to let that go as she gets older and is distinctly not a baby. Every once in a while, my mom calls her Suzy Q. So now that I think about it, other people have nicknames for her, but in our house, we don’t. And most of those aren’t names she really responds to as if it was her name.

So this morning, I’m thinking about how I really liked being called Pickle when I was little. And I’m thinking, maybe I should carry it on as a family tradition. I thought about calling my son pickle, but then realized if it stuck, when he got to be a teenager, not so cute. Boys shouldn’t get phallic nicknames. So I’ll stick with E.

Maybe I’ll just rename myself again. GinaPickle. Hmmm… Pickle G. PickleFish. Hmmm…. Makes me wonder….

And yes, what’s your nickname? An odd one in your family? Why?