Many people have nicknames. If your name is James, some people might call you Jim or Jimmy. If you’re Nicolas, Nick. Sometimes its a nickname that’s not derived from your actual name. People used to call one of my uncles “Frenchie” because his last name is Parris. One of my mother’s cousins calls her “June-bug”, because her first name is June. I never had a cool nickname, and pretty much everyone has always called me by my given name, Nicole. Just Nicole—no ‘H’. No offense to the ‘Nicholes’ of the world.

My Grandma Violet was from Jamaica. When I was born she called me Nikki. I hardly ever heard her call me Nicole. After a while Nikki became HER nickname for me: no one else could call me that. When she passed away, the nickname died with her. I didn’t want anyone else to call me Nikki. Lately, I’ve been in contact with my Uncle Donald (the one people used to call Frenchie) and he calls me Nikki. My Mom mentioned to him no one has called me that since my grandmother died. I said it was okay, I didn’t mind him calling me Nikki. It was actually kind of nice to hear the nickname again. So I’m cool with my uncle calling me Nikki.

But no one else can. 🙂

If you have a nickname you’d like to share, please post it in the comments section below.