Interpreting Nicknames

Ever get tripped up by a nickname while searching for your ancestors? Here are some sites that may give you a hand.

The first is a dynamic list of nicknames and their associated full names. It comes from the FamilySearch Wiki. You can find the list at:  Traditional Nicknames in Old Documents - A Wiki List | Learn | FamilySearch.org

The second site belongs to the Connecticut State Library. You can find it at:  http://www.ctstatelibrary.org/node/2329 

The Largo Library Genealogy Center has several books in print dealing with names, although not necessarily nicknames. Here is a sampling along with the call numbers:

10,000 family names of French Canadians & their nicknames [929.3714 LABONTE]

Irish names and surnames : collected and edited with explanatory and historical notes [929.4209415 WOULFE]

Hispanic surnames and family history [929.420946 PLATT]

The Scottish surnames of colonial America [929.4209411 DOBSON]

A collection of upwards of thirty thousand names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French, and other immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776  [929.3748 RUPP]

German-American names [929.44 JONES]

Surnames of Ireland : origins and numbers of selected Irish surnames [929.4209415 NEAFSEY]

Black names in America: origins and usage [929.308996073 PUCKETT]

Clues to our family names : what do they mean? how did they begin? [929.4 STEIN] (Circulating collection)

British family names ; their origin and meaning [929.420941 BARBER]