Nicknames?

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sat August 3rd, 2013, 11:08 pm

I am scratching my head at the nicknames PG is giving characters in The White Princess. Wondering if there's any basis in reality.

Elizabeth = Lizzie to her sisters.

Clarence's two children:

Edward = Teddy
Margaret = Maggie

Nefret · Post by **Nefret** » Sat August 3rd, 2013, 11:51 pm

I thought Teddy was a nickname for boys named Theodore?

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sun August 4th, 2013, 12:17 am

I thought the same, isn't Ned the usual for Edward back then? This book is just dire.I don't know why I picked it up again, but I'm skimming like mad.

Nefret · Post by **Nefret** » Sun August 4th, 2013, 12:30 am

Ned could maybe be an accent/ dialect pronunciation for 'Ed', which is already a nickname for Edward. No idea when it came into usage. Isn't Edward the most common name for English kings?

annis · Post by **annis** » Sun August 4th, 2013, 2:27 am

Ted is also an old nickname for Edward. My grandfather was an Edward and he was always known as Ted. I think both the Ned and Ted variants date from the Middle Ages.

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Sun August 4th, 2013, 7:18 am

Richard is almost invariably called "Dickon" by other members of his family in the novels that I've read about this period (though I don't know if Philippa Gregory does that). Would've been nice to see that here.

annis · Post by **annis** » Sun August 4th, 2013, 8:27 am

Just found this handy list some Christian names commonly used in the Middle Ages with their medieval diminutives alongside modern variants.
http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/advice/nickhistory.html

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sun August 4th, 2013, 12:21 pm

[quote=""annis""]Just found this handy list some Christian names commonly used in the Middle Ages with their medieval diminutives alongside modern variants.
http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/advice/nickhistory.html[/quote]

Awesome find! It seems Lizzie is a possibility,although I thought her' s was Bess.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Mon August 5th, 2013, 9:20 pm

Ted Kennedy is a modern example of an Edward nicknamed Ted -- I've never understood how Edward could morph into "Ted." I liked the list -- it explains how "Ned" became a nickname for Edward, which I never could figure out, either.

Lisa · Post by **Lisa** » Tue August 6th, 2013, 11:39 am

At least no-one has tried yet to morph two siblings' (or a couple's) names together, like with Jedward.

Sorry for the deviation, but all the mentions of Edward/Ned/Ted/Nedward/Tedward just had me thinking of Jedward. If you're in a country that hasn't come across these guys yet, you are fortunate indeed.