Sunday, April 13, 2008

nick·name [nik-neym]: -noun- a name added to or substituted for the proper name of a person, place, etc., as in affection, ridicule, or familiarity

"Nicknames stick to people, and the most ridiculous are the most adhesive." ~Thomas C. Haliburton

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

"Groucho is not my real name. I'm breaking it in for a friend." - Groucho Marx

Like it or not, I'm a girl prone to being nicknamed. I'm not really sure why either...it could be due to the unusual quality of my name, it could be phonetically induced as the "sh" sound is rather fun and easy to throw in front of any collection of sounds and pass it off as a term of endearment, or, and this is what I think is the real reason for the about 95% of my name replacement, people just can't remember the darn thing.

Well I'm not sure what got me to thinking about it, but I started tallying up all of my nicknames in my head as I walked down the street today, and the result is quite impressive if I do say so myself. The following is a master list of nicknames given to me for various reasons and occasions over my lifetime:


  1. Shiv
  2. Shivy
  3. Chevy
  4. Chevster
  5. Vonne Shivonne
  6. Shiv Non
  7. Non Non
  8. Non Head
  9. Shivontee
  10. Shinanders
  11. Shipoopi
  12. Chelsea (don't ask)
  13. Shananana
  14. Sguivebe (I've never actually tried to spell that one before. huh.)
  15. Skippy McSkipperson
  16. Bijon (that would be from when my baby brother couldn 't pronounce my name when learning how to talk)
  17. Shinequa
  18. Shinaynay
  19. Miss Texas
  20. Tex
  21. Scrappy
  22. Shivonay
  23. Chevron
  24. Shivoovi
To sum up, I just want to end with this one last quote I found on names that I really like:

"Names, once they are in common use, quickly become mere sounds, their etymology being buried, like so many of the earth's marvels, beneath the dust of habit." -Salman Rushdie

Lucky for me, this doesn't really apply since my name morphs and takes on new forms so often that I can't even remember them all to list here. But I kind of like it...if nothing else, it's a good way to keep me on my toes.

4 comments:

Ivy said...

shivy, i absolutley love this post. its so you. and i miss you dearly. i like chevy too.

Anonymous said...

you forgot scrappy.chris

Whitney said...

ummm you forgot my junior year of high school name for you "shivonay" well like if you were french or something. remember when we used to see what name the substitutes were going to say when they called your name for roll?! haha...i miss those times, chelsea. shananana. awww...this makes me sad :( come home, shivontee. and there's another one, my dad calls you "chevron". ha! i miss you and love you!

i realize now i also have alot of nicknames but they ALL came from my dad. and i dont even think that one of them has a single thing to do with my name.

i love you. miss you. muah muah muah

Heather said...

I think I have never called you by a nick name...I will get on that and let you know so you can add to your list!!

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel
read only a page." -St. Augustine