Posted by Magnus Smith on February 11, 2013 at 09:41:35 user Magnus.
In Reply to: Re: Peggy sometimes Margaret (was "Nancy based on Lenin?") posted by Allan_Lang on February 02, 2013 at 16:46:48:
There was once an odd trend (well, I find it odd) where people selected extra forenames to be known by. I suppose they were nicknames before nicknames became more like in-jokes known to a select few. For example, my grandfather-in-law, Herbert, was called Jack by all his friends. His wife was known by another forename too (not a middle name).
I noticed this during the 1980s and 90s, in anyone over the age of 70. Lots of the old people I knew had extra names. And not like the Peggy/Margaret and Bill/William derivatives; the extra names were not linked to their real names in any way.
Did this go back to the 1930s? Does anyone else recall the practice?
It was both women and men who did this. Most noticably, the nicknames had to be put on all the funeral notifications. I suppose those who saw that "Mr Edward Smith" had died would not bother attending unless they had the "also known as Phil" part too.