nickname

/ˌnɪkˈneɪm/

/ˈnɪkneɪm/

Other forms: nicknamed; nicknames; nicknaming

Your special, fond name for your cousin is a nickname. If his name is Steven, his nickname might be Steve — or it might very well be "Stinky" or "Junior."

Nicknames can be shortened forms of first names or surnames; affectionate pet names; or names that tease or ridicule their recipient. If your name is David, but your friends call you "Dave," that's your nickname. If your sweetheart calls you "Honey," that's also a nickname. And if your coworkers call you "Skinny," there's your third nickname. Before the fifteenth century, the word was ekename, "an additional name," from the Old English eaca, "an increase."

Definitions of nickname

1. noun

   a familiar name for a person (often a shortened version of a person's given name)
   “Joe's mother would not use his nickname and always called him Joseph”

   “Henry's nickname was Slim”

   synonyms: byname, cognomen, moniker, sobriquet, soubriquet

   type of:

   appellation, appellative, denomination, designation

   identifying word or words by which someone or something is called and classified or distinguished from others
2. noun

   a descriptive name for a place or thing
   “the nickname for the U.S. Constitution is `Old Ironsides'”

   type of:

   name

   a language unit by which a person or thing is known
3. verb

   give a nickname to
   synonyms: dub

   type of:

   call, name

   assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to